Sunday, September 15, 2013

How Much Protein can your Body Absorb

Protein digestion occurs in different stages. The first phase of digestion and absorption occurs in the stomach and then in small intestines. Proteins are digested into smaller portions called amino acids, which are essential for body muscle building. Human body is unable to generate its own amino acids so it has to depend upon other sources for its proteins. There different kinds of enzymes that help in breaking down of proteins in to amino acids and there are set of enzymes which helps in absorption of these amino acids in the body. The kind of enzymes found in stomach is pepsin which helps in breaking down of proteins in to amino acids and this enzyme works best in acidic conditions of the stomach. In the small intestines there are few more enzymes which help further breaking down of proteins in to simpler forms for absorption.

Protein is quite a hot topic when it comes to body building. The biggest question is how much protein would the body absorb in one sitting and how much it would affect my body mass. Well, firstly, it depends upon ones genetics constitution in the ability of increasing muscle weight. However, there is possibility to increase muscle weight by protein in take also. Protein is one of the important nutrients in increasing of muscle. Most of the people think that more the protein intake more will be the benefits of building up of the muscle. This is true to the extent because when you exercise, the fiber gets torn up and we need proteins to rebuild this fiber. Now when the fibre is rebuilt, it is built much stronger and bigger and that’s how one increases in size.

There has been rigorous talks around which food is absorbed the most. The basic rule is your body would absorb only till its capacity, beyond which it can not absorb. What ever extra proteins that are consumed with then get converted to fats or they would be excreted. If protein in take is not accompanied by exercise then the excess proteins are converted in to fat again. Also absence of food and rigorous exercise would cause net catabolism. So ideal thing to do is to consume as much food in the ration of Proteins: Carbohydrates: Fats in as many time gaps as possible. This would help in maintaining metabolism in optimal levels through out the day.

When it comes to post workout meals a combo of carbohydrates and proteins, 4 hours before and 20 minutes immediately post work out is an ideal thing to do to increase muscular size. After an exercise one is supposed to intake protein and carbohydrates immediately. This is when maximum absorption of the proteins happens due to the blood circulation from the exercise.

The recommended intake of proteins is as follows. For a sedentary person, the intake should be around 0.8 grams per kg bodyweight. For endurance athlete, the intake should be around 1.8 to 2.0 grams per bodyweight. For resistant trainers, the intake should be around 1.8 grams per body weight. Remember these are ideal absorption capacities of individuals based on the body work out. So there is no standard absorption capacity for one sitting. It basically depends up on the exercise levels of the body and when is the proteins intake happening.

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