What you need to know:
Protein has a lot of physiological functions within our bodies; it’s not just for muscle growth.
These are just some of protein’s physiological functions:
Enzymes – catalysts for chemical reactions in our bodies
Fluid Balance – regulate volume of fluids within our bodies
Active constituent in growth – plays integral role in both growth and maintenance of many bodily structures
Hormones – Not all but some but some hormones are proteins. Hormones are chemical messengers which regulate various functions
Acid-Base balance – act as buffers by maintaining proper pH levels in our body
Transporters – think hemoglobin, for example, which carries oxygen throughout our blood
Antibodies – protect us from outside infections
Energy – can be used as a source of energy for our body
To reduce muscle protein breakdown you need to consume adequate amounts of protein, ideally from complete sources. To create an anabolic environment you will need to consume adequate amounts of protein so that muscle protein synthesis not only balances with degradation, but exceeds it, to end up with a positive nitrogen balance. Not all proteins sources are the same, nor do they all possess congruent amino acid profiles. Proteins form the building blocks for the majority of body structures including muscles, blood and skin, just to name a few. The type of protein you select can have serious implications. A diet which is abundantly inadequate in any of the essential amino acids will limit muscle protein synthesis levels. One of the biggest issues I have with the IIFYM approach is the lack of regard given to the source of the macronutrient when hitting individual macro requirements for the day. I myself practice flexible dieting with my clients with specific caveats, ie. Protein sources should come from high quality sources If the client is vegetarian or vegan than I advise proper mixtures of foods containing complimentary protein sources at each meal to supply the missing amino acids being consumed from the individual incomplete protein sources they may be otherwise consuming.The majority of carbohydrates should come from complex carbohydrate/ low glycemic sources. Should aim for 20-30g of dietary fiber per day. Cut out Trans-fatty acids from your diet.These are just a few of the guidelines I typically recommend. When it comes to protein sources I tend to be a little pickier with protein sourcing than I am with carbohydrates and fats. I personally consume the bulk (roughly 85-90%) of my protein for the day from high quality protein sources, with the remaining 10-15% coming from intrinsic amounts found in some of the carbohydrate sources I select. When I refer to a protein as being high-quality I mean that it contains all of the essential amino acids. The essential and non-essential amino acids are not arbitrarily named so, rather they imply their actual availability. Hence essential amino acids are essential in our diets. They cannot be produced endogenously, and thus must be consumed from an exogenous source. Non-essential, on the other hand, can be produced within our bodies so it’s not as critical consuming these or making it a point to. Your liver will produce non-essential amino acids if it’s in short supply by linking them into protein strands.The high quality protein sources I typically consume on a daily basis come from animal and dairy sources such as:
Red meat: Beef, steak, etc….
Chicken
Turkey
Eggs
Fish
Dairy sources : Milk, cheese, Greek yogurt, etc….
Whey protein/ casein blends
Pork, Ham, Bacon, etc….
I usually aim to include each of these sources on a daily basis to provide my body with a variety of amino acid profiles. So a typical day for me may have my meals and protein sources broken up as follows:
Example of what my usual work week meal breakdown looks like:
Meal 1 : Egg Omelet containing: Egg whites/ Caged Free whole eggs/ Mozzarella Cheese/ spinach/ mushrooms and side of Bacon or sausage links
Meal 2: Chicken with a side of vegetables
Meal 3: beef with a side of vegetables
Meal 4 : Preworkout Meal -Greek yogurt and some fruit and nuts (usually almonds or cashews) – (I typically aim to eat pretty light pre-workout and have this meal at least 1.5-2hrs before lifting. This is just my personal preference).
Intra Workout Nutrition: 1 Gallon of water with: 4 scoops Muscle Fiber or Glumatic / 50g Karbolyn or Mass Fuzion / 2-3 Scoops Active Amino / 2-3 scoops Betabol (HMB supplement) / 2g Sea Salt
Meal 5 – Post workout: Casein and Whey Shake with 1-2 bananas or other type of fruit or honey
Meal 6 : (Usually eaten 1 hr after this shake when I get home from the gym) – Turkey or fish meal with complex carb sources of my choice or whatever else I want
Meal 7: (pre-bedtime meal) – remaining carbs for the night from oatmeal, cereal, bagels, ice cream, muffins, etc… and either a protein shake/ smoothie or egg white skillet with hash browns, vegetables and bacon thrown in.
My macro nutrient requirements vary throughout the year pending my current phase of prep and training. In the off-season it’s not uncommon for my protein intake per day to climb in excess of 300g. Sounds crazy right? But I tend to subscribe and base my recommendations and modifications throughout the year on my protein intake from the Protein Spread and Change Theories. For more reading on this, I highly recommend reading a great article from my friend/ colleague Cliff Wilson on Determining Optimal Protein Intake for Muscle Growth. A simple Google search will pull this article up. To surmise, the theory states that protein intake essentially has to increase over a given time period over an individual’s lifting career and be adjusted to compensate for metabolic adaptation to continue further eliciting increases in protein synthesis and net anabolism. I think that the strongest implication that can be extrapolated from the article is that there exists no “maximum” amount of protein that our bodies can utilize.
Quality and Digestive RateThe amino acid composition of the protein source is not the only thing I look at when selecting protein sources. I also consider the sources digestibility and the rate at which each source can provide amino acids. Protein digestibility can be influenced by both the source and the composition of your meal (whatever else is consumed with it). Animal protein sources tend to have a much higher percentage of digestibility than plant sources, with the exception of soy and legumes. There exists a variety of testing methods which measure a protein’s quality to determine which qualify as a high quality source. The BV (Bioavailability) and PDCAA’s (Protein digestibility corrected amino acid score) are two great examples for measuring your protein’s quality. At the end of the day, I really don’t think it’s imperative to do the math and figure out the PDCAA’s of foods especially if you don’t have any food allergies or diet based restrictions. If you select protein sources with low leucine content, or weak amino acid profiles simply aim to combine it with another protein source with a stronger amino acid profile or consume an amino acid/BCAA product with that meal. Just to cover my bases, I usually consume anywhere from 10-20grams of BCAA’s per day in addition to this intra workout. I just mix 2-3 scoops in each gallon of water I drink for the day and continuously drink those fluids throughout the day.
Protein Metabolism
Protein is essential in our diets. Our bodies are in a constant flux of protein turnover. A term which essentially means proteins are constantly being created and broken down, which is why we must continuously consume protein since amino acids cannot be stored. Proteins are broken down to its simplest monomer form, which are amino acids, and these amino acids circulate throughout our blood stream and within cells. Without consumption of protein, you would not be able to synthesize the essential amino acids, nor would you be able to consume nitrogen. Normal production of cells, DNA production, protein production, and tissue repair are all dependent upon nitrogen consumption. Perfect transition to our next key concept: Nitrogen BalanceWhen considering protein turnover, one must also take into consideration the amount of nitrogen consumed vs that excreted, known as the nitrogen balance. If your body synthesizes more than it degrades, you’re in a positive balance, think anabolic state. Inversely, when the body degrades more than it synthesizes, you’re in a catabolic state (state of breakdown) due to the negative nitrogen balance. Consuming adequate protein is crucial to both maximize protein synthesis levels, but also by diminishing breakdown and allowing synthesis rates to exceed degradation rates.Recommended IntakeTime for that million dollar question and probably why you are reading this article. You want to know exactly how much you should be taking in on a daily basis right? Open any nutrition text book, read any nutrition based article, or listen to any podcast on the topic and you’ll find a number of recommendations on daily intake based off of grams per pound or kilogram of bodyweight, but at the end of the day only 1 thing matters: how much have you been consuming per day up until this point? Metabolic adaptation must always be taken into consideration prior to making any modifications to an individuals macronutrients. For more information about this, check out my brief article: Easy Guide To Establishing Starting Macros. As I stated earlier at the front end of this article, I subscribe to recommendations on protein intake with a higher distribution. Many coaches work protein intake up sometimes during a cutting phase while decreasing carbs, fat or both. I personally like to work Protein as high as possible in the offseason or in metabolic building phases for my clients. At the tail end of preps if carbs are to low you can always redistribute some of those protein numbers towards carbs to continue to maximize fat loss potential. If you’re looking to take all of the guess work out on how to do this shoot me an email for customized assistance to take all that guess work out.
Disclaimer
All programs and articles provided are intellectual property of James Shmagranoff. No copies or redistribution of these is allowed without express permission from James Shmagranoff. James Shmagranoff is not a doctor and nothing contained within this article is to be taken as medical advice. Always follow the directions of your medical practitioner.
Sources:
W.M. Rand, P.L. Pellett, and V.R. Young, Meta- Analysis of nitrogen balance studies for estimating protein requirements in healthy adults, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 77 (2003): 109-127
J. Bosse, B. Dixon. Dietary protein to maximize resistance training: a review and examination of protein spread and change theories. J Int Soc of Sports Nutr 2012,Published: 8 September 2012
L. Combaret, D. Taillandier, and D. Attaix, Nutritional and hormonal control of protein breakdown, American Journal of Kidney Diseases 37 (2001): S108-S111
Wilson, C. (2013, February 13). Determining Optimal Protein Intake. Retrieved from: https://www.corenutritionals.com/determining-optimal-protein-intake
Symons TB, Sheffield-Moore M, Wolfe RR, Paddon-Jones D. A moderate serving of high-quality protein maximally stimulates skeletal muscle protein synthesis in young and elderly subjects. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009 Sep;109(9):1582–1586PubMed PMID:19699838. Pubmed Central PMCID: 3197704. Epub 2009/08/25. Eng.
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