What's the maximum amount of protein your body can absorb?

It is often claimed that our body can only absorb a certain amount of protein per meal. Therefore, we should eat protein-rich meals regularly, and especially athletes should eat every few hours to meet their daily protein needs and prevent muscle breakdown.

But is it true that our body can only absorb 30 grams of protein per meal? Do we need to keep eating regularly or is our body capable of absorbing more protein?

In the article "Protein and timing" you have already read that it doesn't really matter when you eat your protein and that the total protein intake per day is the most important factor when it comes to protein synthesis for muscle growth.

It is not necessary to eat 20 to 30 grams of protein 5 to 6 times a day. Below we explain why it is incorrect that this myth is still perpetuated.

Protein absorption

When we eat protein, it is digested in our stomach. Then it is broken down into amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) by our intestines and transported to our (muscle) cells via our blood, stored, or used as fuel. And this process takes much longer than people generally think.

It is important to know that the digestion of a meal, depending on its composition (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) and the protein source, can take more than five hours to be completely digested. After five hours, amino acids are still being absorbed into the bloodstream.

Your body regulates the absorption rate of a meal itself, depending on the composition, the size of the meal, and the protein requirement.

Your body does this to ensure that all nutrients are actually absorbed. Whether you eat once a day or four times, there is no clear difference found between eating one large protein-rich meal or spreading the same amount of protein over a whole day.

Although it is true that 20 grams of protein is already sufficient to achieve maximum protein synthesis, it says nothing about how much protein our body can absorb at once.