Let’s dive right in. Protein intake alone does not seem to be effective for increasing strength or muscle size. This is a real bummer for anyone depending on protein-infused vodka to give them an edge. But it’s good news for anyone actively working out. Of course, strength training pairs best with protein intake but if you ever find yourself in a dungeon and one guard who only tells the truth, says…
Hang on. I lost my train of thought. Anyway, the point is that even modest protein intake paired with strength training is miles above a high-protein diet without exercise.
What are the upper limits of protein absorption?
Only being able to absorb 30 grams at a time has been debunked. So, what should protein-maxxers consume? About 1.6g/kg/day. Thats 128g/day for a 176 lb person and 80g/day for a 110 lb person. I wouldn’t stress about how that’s broken up. This is pretty doable.
I should point out that eating more protein is probably fine. It’s filling and has a high thermic effect (you burn a relatively high number of calories to digest it). It may not do much for muscle gain but if you want to get leaner, eat bigger meals, or otherwise need healthier options than ice cream soup to eat-cry over, let’s talk about it.
Protein-forward products are everywhere now. As an example, Oikos, made by Danone, recently released a high-protein product (see below). essbar, whom we recently did a pop-up with, sell an ice cream bar with 20g of protein. Tasty. Locally made. Full marks. But there are also some more cynical products, that use protein as a buzzword without delivering on quality. That includes collagen protein and protein puffs, the idea of which is enough to make my bowels convulse.
In contrast, Oikos looks solid but as a PSA, “prepared in Canada” is not as straightforward as it may seem. Look for the Dairy Farmers of Canada symbol for milk products that come from Canada.
What are the concerns about protein? Let’s look at three:
The risks of red meat
You’ve probably heard about this one, but it’s not quite so cut and dried. Poverty is, as you might expect, a big factor in all-cause mortality because of its association with stress, lifestyle factors like smoking, less proactive medical care, and food quality (more processed meats, lower fruit and veggie intake). Nevertheless, the most recent paper I looked at recommended being cautious about excessive red meat intake. Again, this is a personal choice but you should have a sense of the statistical level of risk.
Food quality trade-offs
The all-in carnivore diet crowd often experiences great initial progress by eliminating most of the nonsense they were previously eating and reducing total intake. Decreasing calories tends to decrease fat and decreasing fat tends to decrease inflammation. And the carnivore diet works better than you might expect for many. For the first month or two, anyway. However, both blood work and relationships (”sorry, buddy, I can’t bear to watch you eat raw steak for every meal”) may suffer. A number of carnivore “influencers” have notably abandoned the diet in spite of being incentivized to be edgy online about what they’re eating.
For the less extreme protein-maxxers, the issue is often being so fixated on protein that they miss out on dietary fibre and other nutrients that contribute to gut health and overall function. There are also people out there who want to tell you that eating a salad is bad. This is a deeply silly take; almost all of the supposed issues with eating plants are addressed by things like soaking and cooking things.
Environmental footprint
This is a big one. Especially since there are so many healthy, nutrient-dense, and options that are more affordable. Personal trainers know this. Now you do too. Yet, many of the folks conspicuously trying to jacked and/or immortal (i.e. the Brian Johnsons and Bryan Johnsons of the world), ignore the fact that we’ve all got to live here together. There are useful, healthy options with a smaller environmental footprint. We just have to let go of the idea of maxing out at all costs.
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