How Much Protein Is Needed to Grow?

Opener

Few numbers in bodybuilding get repeated as often as the protein-per-meal limit, and few get checked less. I want to start with one word.

"I'm going to do a quick video on something that's frustrated me for a long time, and it's protein absorption. I always hear the word 'assimilate' used, and they often reference a study that says you can only assimilate 20 to 30 grams per meal. But I've never seen that study."

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Before I go further, I need to be clear about one thing, because this topic is easy to misread. This is not an argument for eating less protein.

"I'm not for a low protein diet. My guys eat protein. A lot of my guys are at 70 grams six times a day."

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What follows is the math of how much of that protein actually becomes new muscle, and what that means for how I build a diet.

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1. Define the word first

"The part that bothers me is that we use words like 'assimilate' without any real clear definition of what they mean. And two, that we never actually extend things out to see what happens if what we're saying is true."

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