Andrew Huberman· PhD
I mean, I think the benefits really start to plateau out around 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight. There's some evidence that maybe even up to like 2.4 or 2.8 grams per kilo may give a little bit more benefit.
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The evidence is convergent. Multiple independent sources reach the same conclusion, the underlying mechanism is well-characterized, and even the field's most cautious voices treat it as worth doing.
I mean, I think the benefits really start to plateau out around 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight. There's some evidence that maybe even up to like 2.4 or 2.8 grams per kilo may give a little bit more benefit.
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in order to maximize your deposition to get that 5 to 10 grams you need to maximize protein synthesis but to maximize protein synthesis requires a disproportionate amount of total protein so in order for you to maximize protein synthesis we we think it's around 1.6 to 2.4 gram per kilogram of body weight
And so there was a study that that was that was referenced that looked at as you went from 08 to 1 to 1.2 to 1.4 to 1.6 six grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. What did the rate of muscle protein synthesis do? In other words, where did you start to achieve the the plateau and beyond which you were not going to get more? And um what I think this study demonstrated was that in less trained individuals, you will achieve higher levels of MPS for lower lower
So, let's leave bodybuilding out of it. Um, you you sort of hit the saturation curve, but can't seem to find the evidence that it's causing any harm, right? So, this is experimental evidence, even epidemiologic evidence, just no evidence. So, but that said, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's go back to we've established a new floor. Really, there is nobody that should be consuming less than 1.2 2 g of protein per uh per kilogram per day. What happens as we start to increase that from 1.2 to 1.6?
Um but that doesn't mean you can't go above that and still get a little more benefit, right? And as certainly when you start to get into that, you know, energy deficit phase as well, like so we were talking about elite, you know, endurance athletes, that's one way to be in an energy deficit. But there's also people that are actively trying to lose fat, gain muscle. If you want to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, you're going to have to take in a lot of protein.
Aiming for a daily protein intake of 1.2-1.6 g/kg bodyweight may be optimal for muscle protein synthesis.
For optimal muscle protein synthesis, especially for people that are training or trying to build muscle, 1.6 g per kilogram bodyweight
However, benefits plateau beyond 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, showing no additional significant gains in lean mass.
However, benefits plateau beyond 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, showing no additional significant gains in lean mass.
There really seems to be some relatively strong consensus around 1.6g/kg as an ideal target for optimizing muscle protein synthesis during training—and after that point, diminishing returns really set in.