Written by Travis Hansen (ResultsbyScience)
For many reasons, common training culture is under the impression that you can eat an abundance of protein everyday without it somehow not being stored as fat and or used as energy… but is this belief really possible? Well, to start, except in rare circumstances, the human body doesn't elect to use protein as actual energy, and when it does it's a very inefficient process. To explore further, let's look at 3 more common protein myths right now
#1: We lose a lot of protein and muscle everyday
This concept is referred to as "Daily Protein Turnover” in nutritional science. Daily protein turnover scales around 1-2% per day in reality. So, what this means is that for most of us that aren't giants, you'll only require a relatively small amount of protein to maintain what you have right now. So don't worry if you can't eat as much protein as what others are telling you, because your body doesn't need it.
#2: The Carnivore Diet works
Unless you are a steroid or PED user then there is no conceivable way the body could support a predominant protein-based diet for far too many reasons. For example, protein possesses an element of nitrogen which is toxic to the liver, and limits daily processing of protein. Dr. Cordain has stated that this upper limit is around 30% of calorie intake, which coincides with what legitimate nutritional authorities have been saying for decades now.
#3: “I build muscle fast so I need more protein than most”
Research from decades ago showed that the upper limit of muscle growth annually was 40-50 lbs. Sounds like a lot but it's not when you do the math. Moreover, you've already seen that daily protein loss is indeed slow. Not to mention that absorption and utilization of protein during and after digestion is very slow, regardless of the source in question. Lastly, study after study from every credible nutritional authority has routinely shown that our body prefers protein within a very specific range. This range is 20-30% of total calorie intake universally, and far less than what people assume in many cases.