How much protein do you need?

What are the best protein sources?

What makes a protein source of high quality?

Does protein help with fat loss?

Why high protein intake is a must if your goal is muscle growth?

These questions will all be answered in this email.

The Smartest Way to Use Protein To Build Muscle

1) Why protein matters

When you consume protein, it's broken down into amino acids that are the building blocks of muscle.

It's sort of like asking the workers to start making the building bigger but there are no materials to make it happen.

This is similar to muscle growth.

You can lift weights and signal the muscles to grow but without amino acids, nothing will happen.

Protein is also the most satiating macronutrient. That means consuming protein makes you feel full for longer.

This is huge for people with the goal of weight loss.

One of the biggest pitfalls people fall into when dieting is hunger.

They get hungry and as a result break their diet.

But a high protein intake can help reduce hunger and therefore increase adherence to the diet.

2) How much protein do you need?

Generally, consuming 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight is great for most.

A person who weighs 90 kilograms should aim for 198 grams of protein.

Now this works best for people who are in the normal weight range. (Not massively overweight)

A person who is 120 kilograms and overweight doesn't need 264 grams of protein.

That person should use their goal weight when calculating their intake or their height.

3) What protein sources are best and why?

Protein quality is usually determined by its amino acid profile.

There are 9 essential amino acids you need from food.

Out of these nine essential amino acids, the more a source has it, the higher quality it is considered.

So the following list highly takes into account amino acid profiles.

Example of high quality sources: beef, chicken, turkey, elk, game, pork, eggs, egg whites, Greek yogurt, whey protein, cheese, lentils.

Now, although I added lentils into this list and they are high in protein, lentils are not a complete protein source.

In that case you could combine lentils with rice and make it complete.

This can be done with many incomplete protein sources to make them complete.

4) Protein timing

Now protein timing (when you eat protein) doesn't matter nearly as much as getting enough protein.

Although not as important, still a couple of pointer here for you.

Note: because muscle protein synthesis is highest during the first 12-24 hours it's smart to provide enough amino acids during that time.

1- You want to eat some protein soon after waking up.

Because you've just slept for many hours, your body has no protein to work with.

Having some protein early allows you to make the most out of the 24h window.

2- Have some protein after your workout

Ideally as soon as possible after finishing.

I always have a protein shake after a workout.

Easy way to get tons of protein in.

3- Consume a slow digesting protein a few hours before bed

Whey isolate is a fast digesting protein source.

Beef on the other hand is a slow digesting protein source.

So if you can make a choice, it would be smart to consume some slow digesting protein later in the day because you're not going to have any more protein for the next several hours.

Now I want to add, although I made quite a few points here, timing really isn't that big of a deal.

As long as you hit your daily protein target and have all 9 essential amino acids present, you're basically getting all out of protein that you can.

Timing is maximum 5% of the game. (For those serious lifter, definitely worth optimizing)

Thanks for reading!