How Much Protein Can You Absorb At Once?

18 Feb 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:27

In this short explainer, the presenter challenges the popular claim that the human body can only absorb 20 g of protein per meal for muscle growth, with any excess wasted. He first cites a study showing greater muscle gains when participants ate 20 g of protein four times daily versus 40 g twice daily, but points out a critical flaw: the total daily protein intake was only 80 g, far below recommended levels for muscle building. He then references a second study with a much higher overall protein intake, comparing six small meals to four larger meals, which found no significant difference in muscle mass gains. The presenter concludes that meeting your total daily protein target is far more important than the amount consumed in a single meal. He ends with a call‑to‑action, directing viewers to a free calorie and protein calculator linked in his bio.

Chapters

Your body can only digest 20 grams of protein at once to build muscle, and the rest goes to waste. You've probably heard some butt sniffer on the internet tell you that before, but is it actually true? Well, if we look at this study right here, this shows people who consumed 20 grams of protein at each meal 4 times a day built more muscle than the people who ate 40 grams of protein 2 times per day. But there was one major flaw with that study. The total daily grams of protein they were eating per day was only 80 grams per day, which is significantly lower than the daily recommended grams of protein per day to build muscle. Whereas if we look at this study right here, these participants ate a much higher daily protein intake. One group ate 6 smaller protein meals, the other group ate 4 bigger protein meals. There was no significant difference in how much muscle mass they gained. So what seems to be more important than how much protein you have in one meal is if you are hitting your total daily protein goal. And if you need to know what your total daily protein goal is, just click this link in my bio to use my free calorie and protein calculator.