Hi you all! Whaat's going on? I have a question about daily protein intake for muscle building. I know that i should have posted this thread on 'Diet and Nutrition' section, but only few peopple read this section and less more answer there. This is a pretty advanced question..

Let's get to the topic. Me daily protein intake is 200g. Almost 90-120 g are being taken from "quality protein sources" and of course i mean: meat, eggs, whey, milk, greek yogurt etc. The rest of the protein gramms are being taken from all the rest of the foods i eat (because almost EVERYTHING has got some or less protein in it).

Some foods that have protein, for example are: bread,pasta, veggies, almonds, rice and anything else.

My point here is if it is correct the fact that i add up every kind of protein of every food that has some in it. I mean, bread protein (for example) is absordable protein? Should i add it on my total ammount or i should add only the "good protein sources" ?

Thank you

John

Protein is protein. You should absolutely be counting everything. Almonds, for example, have 5g Protein per serving in New Zealand.

If you didn't add up all your protein from breads etc, you could think that each day you are only getting 200g protein, whereas you could be eating between 210-220g or more.

Now I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but in terms of calories you could be mis-calculating how many calories you are actually having each day.

So focus on gettin the majority of your protein from all of those good sources you mentioned, but certainly keep track of the other bits and pieces of protein from other foods too.

John,

You count total protein but you need to account for the fact that not all protein is the same just like not all fat is the same. Proteins differ in their bioavailability rating and their profile rating. Bioavailability is the ease of absorption and use by the body - the higher the value the more protein that gets absorbed and used by the body. Protein profile has to do with how many of the essential, semi-essential, and non-essential amino acids the protein source has - the higher the value the more complete the protein. Proteins are ranked from best to worst for bioavailability and protein profile in this way:

1) Eggs - The Gold Standard for all proteins

2) Milk and dairy

3) Meats and Fish

4) Soy

5) Nuts

6) Vegetable proteins

So as you can see it is not really the quantity but more the quality of the protein you eat. A person getting 150g of protein from meats and fish will be better off than a person getting 220g of protein but it is mostly from soy and vegetables. They all add up but it is best to get the majority of your protein from animal sources and protein powders and look at plant and nut proteins as "fillers". This is why gorillas and horses, which are very muscular animals, need to eat 5x-8x more food per day to grow and maintain muscle than a carnivore because plant sources aren't as efficient sources of protein. This is why a human digestive tract is small in comparison to a horse, cow, or other herbavore because they need more digestion surface area (longer intestines) and longer time to absorb the nutrients from plants.

John

Were helpfull both of you! Thank you!

Oh! Something that i just got in mind: should i add bcaas on my total ammount? I think yes because these are protein. What would you say?

I have been studying info about BCAAs lately as I am contemplating taking them. I think you'll find BCAAs are not actually protein.

BCAAs are just some of the many essential amino acids, and included in BCAAs are isoleucine, valine and leucine. Leucine is one of the most important amino acids when it comes to protein synthesis and muscle gain. When you diet and get leaner, BCAAs can also help to prevent muscle and protein breakdown. The protein sythesis is one of their really key aspects though, because they increase the rate of protein synthesis and increase cells' capacity for protein synthesis.

Some protein powders, like whey especially, tend to include BCAAs, in particular leucine. However, in whey, they're tied to other amino acids, and take longer to be absorbed into your bloodstream. BCAAs alone as a seperate supplement are not tied to other amino acids, and get absorbed far quicker.

A final benefit to BCAAs are that they can give you an energy boost and mean you can workout harder, and help you lost more fat even.

So, after all that, in answer to your question, you don't need to count BCAAs into your total protein amount, because they aren't actually protein. They are, however, extremely beneficial to include in your diet.

Hope this was helpful!

Yes i know the benefits of the BCAA's! I 've been using them for 4 months now and there are plenty of good results. I am taking 5 gramms before 5 gramms during and 5 gramms immediately after my training (they are in my whey). I think this is a good ammount. Anything about 5-40 gramms daily is a safe ammount if i am not wrong..

The information above is great for explaining proteins.  I have done a lot of research on BCAAs.  Overall they do what they describe.  However, the overall effectiveness may leave something to be desired.  The BCAAs tied in with other compounds require time to breakdown.  Taking a pure supplement dramatically increases the absorption rate.

With that said, often with the proper nutrition and timing of your protein intake the supplement is not necessarily adding any benefit.  I do take BCAAs as a supplement because I would rather have saturation versus not enough.  The supplement I use tastes amazing and has only 5 calories.

John,

Yes, BCAAs are a very important amino acid group and part of the 9 essential amino acids your body can't produce and must get from your diet. They are especially important before workouts if you are doing intermittent fasting and train in a fasted state as they preserve muscle and sacrifice themselves as energy sources. They also help stimulate the anabolic pathways thru mTor and other compounds in the body.

I take them in capsule form and consume 3 grams per day (6 capsules) - 4 before I workout and 2 after I work out with my protein shake. Excess BCAAs get added to the body's amino acid pool to be used for other body processes. Too much BCAAs just end up going down the toilet so more is not necessarily better and can get quite expensive. 5 grams a day is plenty but I wouldn't take anymore than 10 grams per day for this reason because BCAAs are in all protein based foods as well as protein powders.

John

Yes, almost every Whey protein has 5-5.5 gramms of BCAAs in itSo you think that 5 gramms before 5gramms during and other 5 gramms after training is too much and my body doesn't use them all ?

My protein powders have BCAAs as well but I still take the BCAA caps. Your body will use what it immediately needs and store some of the excess amino acids in an amino acid pool for the body since protein is used for many more body processes beyond building muscle. The key take-away is more is not always better and you get to a point where you are just pissing money down the toilet. If the amount you are taking now is working for you, stick with it. I wouldn't suggest doing any more.

John