Morning, noon or night? What’s the best time of day to eat protein?
Ever wondered ‘What's the best time to eat protein?’ or ‘When is the best time to eat a protein bar?’ Well, you’re not alone. And although the specific timing of when you eat protein matters way less than your overall protein consumption, eating protein at set times throughout the day may help you reach certain health goals, including gaining muscle and supporting exercise recovery.
First, some common questions, answered....
How much protein should you eat?
According to the British Nutrition Foundation, the Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI) is 0.75g of protein per kg of body weight, per day.
So, for example, if you weigh 60kg, you should aim to eat 45g of protein per day.
That said, since protein is needed for both building and repairing muscle, those who exercise regularly may need additional protein. Kelly Jones, RD, a board-certified sports dietitian says people who regularly exercise likely need 1.4 grams per kilogram or slightly more to aid tissue growth.
Working with an expert can help you figure out the best amount for your lifestyle and fitness goals.
Are animal or plant-based protein sources best?
Depends on what you're eating and how you go about it. What you should know is that meat provides all of the essential amino acids your body requires in one fell swoop, but you’ll need to mix and match plant-based sources in order to get the optimal amount of these nine essentials.
Most vegetarians get enough protein in their diets, but it’s important to include a variety of foods to provide protein as well as other vitamins and minerals. Think: beans, pulses, nuts, seeds, milk, yoghurt and eggs.
Meet the experts: Kelly Jones, RD, is a board-certified sports dietitian and the owner of Kelly Jones Nutrition. Tracy Anthony, PhD, is a professor of nutritional sciences at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Ok, so what’s the ideal time of day to eat protein?
Generally speaking, the time of day during which you eat protein doesn’t really matter, in and of itself, as much as how you distribute your intake throughout the day.
Data from the NDNS show that the biggest contributors to protein intakes in the UK are meat and meat products (34%), cereals and cereal products (24%) and milk and milk products (13%). Chicken, turkey (and dishes made of these) alone contribute to 16% of intakes.
According to the Mayo Clinic, most people tend to eat most of their protein at dinner and the least at breakfast. What we should be aiming for instead is an equal distribution of protein throughout the day, including at breakfast, say experts.
‘Research shows spreading out protein intake every three to four hours or so into moderate doses versus a lot at once is associated with more optimal muscle repair and for those who are looking for growth, more optimal growth too,’ says Jones.
Indeed, evenly spreading protein consumption among meals, rather than skewing it towards dinner ‘stimulated 24-hour muscle protein synthesis more effectively,’ according to researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch.
Why is it smart to eat protein all day versus in one sitting?
This could be due to the way our body metabolises protein and its building block, amino acids. Whereas surplus carbohydrates are stored in the body as glycogen and surplus fat as body fat, amino acids aren’t squirrelled away as amino acids to be used later.
Rather, after our body has used what it can of the protein we eat at a meal — by supporting metabolism, producing hormones, maintaining bones and, yes, aiding muscle protein synthesis — it is then converted into either fat or glucose.
Research seems to indicate that around 20-25 grams of protein at one time is the upper limit that our body can use in muscle synthesis (though one study put the number closer to 30 grams). Essentially, anything in excess of 20-30 grams at a single meal may not make a huge difference as far as protein actions in the body go.
Another reason you may want to consider equal distribution throughout the day? You’ll probably just get less hangry.
‘People notice that when they start to emphasise protein at breakfast and they ensure that it's there at their snack too, they feel more satiated throughout the day,’ Jones says. ‘They're less likely to be distracted by hunger, they're less likely to have blood sugar spikes and crashes.’
Do I need protein right after a workout?
Perhaps you’ve heard the term anabolic or metabolic window (they’re often used interchangeably), which refers to the time period after a workout in which your muscles are repairing themselves and nutrition can play a role in aiding that process.
Depending on who you talk to, you may be told that time period is as brief as 15 minutes. Which would essentially mean you’d have to sip a protein shake while showering in order to get the timing just right.
Thankfully, research has led experts to widen this window considerably, to three or four hours (sometimes even five or six if you’re really pushing it). But both of the experts WH spoke with agreed that within two hours is optimal.
‘Don't go longer than two hours, and if you have big goals for gaining muscle and repairing muscle, get it closer to your workout, if you can,’ says Jones.
As for the amount of protein, aim for 20-25 grams post-workout, recommends Tracy Anthony, PhD, a professor of nutritional sciences at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
What about pre-sweat protein?
Now, if all of this talk about post-workout fueling has you wondering about pre-workout fueling, we have that answer too. If you’re exercising for an hour or less, you probably don’t need to worry about protein intake ahead of time and can simply focus on getting high-quality protein after, says Jones.
However, if you’re going for, say, a two-hour run or you tend to feel peckish if you don’t eat before exercising, grab a carb-rich snack with a few grams of protein first.
‘It will help a little bit with your energy levels and reduce the amount of muscle damage you're going to have to go on there too,’ Jones says.
What might a day of protein look like?
Keeping with the principle of spreading your protein out, Jones recommends three meals (and potentially two snacks) to keep amino acids steady throughout the day:
Morning: If you’re planning on waking up and getting an early workout in, nibble on a banana beforehand to stabilise your blood sugar. For a post-workout breakfast (or your first food of the day if you didn’t exercise), Jones suggests a veggie omelette and a slice of avocado toast. If by three hours later it isn’t time for lunch, nibble on a snack of peanuts or pistachios with a side of crackers and hummus, or pair the nuts with a small piece of fruit.
Afternoon: Cook up either a chicken breast or a salmon filet (or, if you prefer a plant-based protein, tofu), and prepare accompaniments of cooked vegetables and quinoa. (Or you can throw the protein and quinoa on top of a bed of lettuce for a salad and add a little dressing.) If you’re someone who eats a later dinner, you’ll once again want a snack in between meals. Jones suggests roasted edamame with some raisins.
Evening: For your final meal of the day, opt for a protein you haven’t had yet (either one of the above or shrimp), paired with farro (which is a higher-protein grain) and some roasted broccoli. Since you’ve ensured your protein is spread throughout the day, you hopefully shouldn’t need an evening (or midnight) snack.
Of course, these are just suggestions and everybody’s body will respond to protein amounts and timings differently.
‘You can try timing; you can try eating a little higher and a little lower within that range and see how you feel,’ she says. ‘That's the beauty of personalised nutrition: You have that flexibility because each person is an individual and you don't know until you know.’
The bottom line: Spread out protein consumption evenly throughout the day. General recommendations are to consume 15–30 grams of protein at each meal.
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