What are the timings? We asked Manjula Sridhar, nutritionist, certified diabetes educator and certified renal nutritionist at Apollo Spectra Hospitals, Chennai.
Instead of piling most of your protein into one meal and making your intake nutritionally uneven, she recommended spreading it throughout the day, as this is more effective for building muscle than consuming a large amount at once.
Why is it important to avoid uneven protein distribution?
When people focus only on meeting their daily protein target, they often end up consuming most of it by lunch or eating very little at breakfast and saving the majority for dinner. But this distribution is not even. It is not the correct way forward. The nutritionist warned that this is a major mistake.
“The body does not have a ‘storage tank’ for protein as it does for fat. It can only process a certain amount for muscle repair in a single sitting, usually between 20g and 40g,” she said.
Now what does this mean? This means if an individual eats 70g of protein in one meal, the body uses what is necessary for muscle tissue and burns much of the rest for energy. Suppose you leave out protein, as per the nutritionist, the muscles remain in a “breakdown state” for hours, which causes a loss of prime recovery time.
Often, breakfasts are carb-heavy, from cereals to toast, leaving out protein with the assumption that the requirement can be met later in the day. However, this is a flawed belief. As Manjula pointed out, doing so can cause you to fall behind on optimal muscle repair, especially if higher-quality protein sources are concentrated in only one meal.
Wondering how to calculate your intake? Manjula described, “Protein intake can be structured around a target of approximately 0.4g of protein per kilogram of body weight, per meal. For a person weighing 175 lbs (approx. 80kg), this equals 32g of protein”
She also explained that to build muscle, the body needs to start a process called Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS). This is how the body repairs and builds muscle tissue. To keep this process working well, protein should be eaten in the right amounts throughout the day based on a person’s body weight.
Three critical windows
What are the three important time windows when protein intake should be non-negotiable? Manjula shared:
Breakfast:
- The body breaks down muscle for energy while sleeping.
- Eating 30g of protein at breakfast stops this breakdown and jumpstarts the repair process.
Post-workout:
- One doesn’t need a shake the second they finish a lift, but they should eat protein within two hours of exercise.
- This is when the muscles are most sensitive to nutrients.
Before sleep:
- The body does its heaviest repair work while sleeping.
- Eating a slow-digesting protein (like Greek yoghurt or cottage cheese) before bed fuels this overnight recovery.
For a better perspective, eating protein in an even distribution will only increase efficiency. “A person who eats 120g of protein spread across four equal meals will often see better muscle growth than someone who eats 160g in a single dinner,” the nutritionist concluded.
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
