[quote]Pugsley wrote:
as I had said I just did not want to consume too much protein soo that my body cannot utilize it all and it gets stored as fat(I know the process is long but it does happen in certain situations) or converted to energy instead of using my fat or glycogen stores…[/quote]
There’s a general or very common problem where people doubtful of the value of higher amounts of protein suggest that there is some amount that is the max the body can “use,” and more than that must be waste, and that amount isn’t big.
But, examining this closely doesn’t work out for that concern. For example, suppose a 200 lb lean athlete who could still stand to cut up a little more is consuming 3000 calories per day, of which 1200 calories is protein (from 300 g, an “oh my goodness” value to protein skeptics), say 400 calories from carbs (100 g) and 1400 cal from fat (156 g.)
Is there some sense in which say the last 100g of protein isn’t being “used” and so nothing positive is accomplished that the same diet minus those 400 protein calories would do?
No. The amount, though large by conventional standards, is principally providing fueling and only very secondarily, mass-wise, replacing lost amino acids. Viewing it as simply dealing with that replacement is missing the big picture.
Protein actually is turned to fat or glucose – different amino acids convert differently – easily enough but there can be advantages to having taken it in as protein originally rather than taking in the same amounts of glucose and fats that might be generated. Nutrient partitioning will be different, hormonal response will be different, steadiness of blood amino acid levels with particular interest on the BCAA’s can be better.
Without taking supplemental androgens, T production is best with fat intake around 40% and still good at 30%. Drop it to around 20% and a price will be paid in this regard. These figures being at typical caloric intakes: high intakes may need no more than those corresponding gram amounts of fat, hypothetically.
So, get the daily fat consumption around this area and then do carbs and protein as you choose, not worrying that there’s some small amount that if going over would be too much. There’s nothing wrong, unless it’s giving too many calories total or to achieve correct total the higher protein is costing other macronutrients from being present enough. Typically 1.5 or 2 g per lb of bodyweight is reasonable for lifters.