Thought I would share this article I came across. It's well-thought out, succinct and well-cited.

(protein) food for thought....

http://www.muscleforlife.com/the-truth-about-protein-absorption-how-often-you-should-eat-protein-to-build-muscle/

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Thanks!

That was an interesting article. Thank you!

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Interesting. Thanks for the information.

Interesting article. The real question then is, what happens when you change your digestive system? For example, gastric bypass has a built in malabsorption factor that plays into this.

I have often wondered how much Protein of what I eat does my body actually absorb? I am only allowed, 1 gram for every inch I am tall. That makes 70 grams in a whole day.

I guess the good news is, my protein levels have been in the normal range ever since surgery which will be 2 years ago on the 29th.

I am also 53 and I know my age and the fact that I only get minimal exercise given my back and severe psoriatic and osteo arthritis. I do the best I can and so far it has worked for me. I will say that I know I lost some muscle mass but not to horribly.

Gastric juices break down the Protein so that when they enter your intestines, they can be absorbed.

Couple of things to consider-

Bypass reroutes the gastric juices as well, so that it is also happening at the Y created of the small intestines ( duodenum). So, we are breaking things down there, as well.

The actual protein is absorbed and put to use in the jejunum - the second part of the small intestine. This area is untouched during bypass surgery.

The ileum is the last part of the small intestine, which then feeds into the large intestine. It primarily absorbs things like Vit B12, bile salts, etc. and if memory serves, the ileum also absorbs fatty acids.

So- to your point- we do absorb and use the amino acids that are broken down from the proteins- and we ALL recall from basic HS biology that amino acids are the "building blocks" of our body.

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