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I've always heard of that 30-40g protein per sitting as well but never sure theres any evidence behind it whatsover.

Being only 160lbs i try and aim for around 180g or so and for me eating 6times a day i go for 30g protein a sitting. I basically wont have any food without a decent amount of protein in. 30g seems to me to be a decent amount and a relatively easy target to hit for each meal. Sometimes i buy ready made sandwiches and do look a lot at the protein content - some are only around 18g so that pack is a no for me! Plus i absolutely love meat so another excuse for me too eat more and have it every meal. now and then i pig out and have an entire chicken and around 150g of protein with it - but even after this i will have my usual protein with every meal after it

i aim for around 30 to 40 grams of protein every 3 hours.Alot of people have way to much like if you have for instance 50 grams or more then there's a very high chance at least 15 grams is wasted .personally unless you are 21 stone ripped like a pro bodybuilder you can get away with only having 30 grams of protein for muscle development.
My daily routine consists of
7.30 = 30grams
10.30 = 30grams
1 0clock ish 40grams
3 oclock 40 grams
6 oclock = 30 grams
9 oclock = 40 grams
and before bed 30 grams(casein)

240 grams of protein for me is perfect and any more my stomachs very gassy and uncomfortable.

I've heard it a lot but I'm pretty sure the 'anything over 30g is a waste' is a bit of a myth/broscience. Well I hope so as I have approx 60g at breakfast, 50g lunch and 50-70g evening meal!

You can digest as much as you like. Here's Alan Aragon on the matter: http://www.bodyactive-nation.co.uk/Arti … le-serving

What is optimal however to maximise protein synthesis pertinent to meal frequency is very much under scrutiny. Layne Norton's findings are of particular interest to bodybuilders and athletes looking to gain muscle. I believe this is the closest to the truth so far we have of knowing for those not using anabolic substances: http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/protein_ … quency.pdf

For maximal muscle growth, I've always recommended 4-5 meals ideally spaced around 4 hours apart throughout the day. I also believe fasting has many alternative benefits for fat loss and physique enhancement.

I think for the majority of people, the stereotypical high meal frequencies are actually by far the worst recommended and the most responsible for people failing and not dealing with the nutritional side of things well enough. It's almost life-consuming to most individuals to eat like that and I do sympathise with them a lot when they get told this is the only way...

Bundy wrote:

this cant be true its pretty common and i think most will agree we all know if we have had too much cos it just comes out the other end.

If this was the case then no one would get fat all excess calories would be expelled from the body, your body won't waste protein it will use what it needs for protein synthesis etc and what is left over will float around the blood stream and be used for energy. The reason people mess up on crash diets is that a lot of initial weight loss on crash diets is water which is easily regained when the dieting stops, plus people tend to go back to their old eating habits after dieting

Ted, contrary to popular belief, you can absorb 200grams of protein in one sitting. It's what's optimal for muscle growth is what is the true debate between bodybuilders. We evolved by eating copious amounts of protein often in one sitting (most probably), so to think our bodies can only digest 30-35grams in one sitting every 2-3 hours is very naive of us and the human body deserves much more credit.

As for fasting just leading to muscle loss, I think these people beg to differ (they fast for 16 hours a day): http://www.leangains.com/search/label/Client%20results

The only thing I'm fairly convinced on Mike pertinent to research is that the common bodybuilding approach of insanely high frequencies of 7 upwards is in fact adverse to results as opposed to beneficial. I am fairly convinced based on what's been proven so far that for most people this will completely oversaturate the body's ability to utilise protein synthesis and peak highly, and as such I much prefer a 'peak and dip' approach of longer without protein, a lower meal frequency, but more satiating meals.

But inevitably there will be a ton of cofactors involved dependant on the individual which is why we never have one set answer.

Yes, but somebody said it wasn't possible to absorb that amount when it is. I'm just saying that if somebody can't adhere to a frequent eating approach, then you can still eat your meals with a higher protein content to get the days necessary income, although the results may not be as great.

Also, on the topic of meal frequency, as Layne Norton says, the traditional high frequency approaches we are usually associated with and recommended may not be optimal. 4-5 meals per day is actually most likely to maximise hyperaminoacidemia more effectively than oversaturating the cells.

yeh ok your'e rite you can take in 200g of protein in one go but your body will not use anywhere near this for muscle growth so a complete pointless task and a waste of money. joe's got it spot on you can train your'e body to take in more but this doesn't happen over nite and joe takes in this much cos he's a unit lol. like i did say in my original post the average guy.