Probably. And they’re sticking protein in places that it doesn’t belong.
And there’s strong pushback. Which is good.
The argument is simple. If you’re getting between 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per kg of your body weight a day, that’s enough.
That’s 70 to 105 grams of protein a day for someone that weighs 70 kgs.
So far so good.
Next comes an argument. That the body can only process 20-25 grams of protein in a meal.
Is that always true ?
How about someone that weighs 90 kgs and needs to eat 110-120 grams of protein. They eat 5 meals a day? That’s absurd.
Or even a person like me who wants to eat 1.6 grams of protein a day at a body weight of 80 kgs (compensating for a predominantly vegetarian diet).
128 grams of protein divided by 25 grams is 5 meals. I can have a snack and 3 meals. But no way am I doing 5 meals.
And what counts as the ideal duration between meals? If I have a shake at 7 am with 20 grams and 3 eggs at 8:30 am i pissing away 15 grams of protein? Would 9:10 am be the magic time?
Context matters
Your body weight, appetite, food choices and body composition will determine how much protein per serving makes sense for you.
And the space between meals will come down to individual habits, convenience and preferences. Not a magic window between 20 grams of protein.
And last but not least, what you eat consistently over a regular day of eating consistently day in day out matters.
While it’s easy to make daily recommendations, your actual outcomes are going to reflect years of habits and choices. Adherence turns into nightmare when you’re stuck with stupidly precise recommendations that treat you like a machine.
So don’t agonise over oddly specific recommendations. Getting things broadly right over years trumps getting it precisely right for a few days.
