I heard that any Protein consumption over 30 g turns into fat. All of the protein you take in does get utilized. Protein beyond what your body needs to replenish its amino acid pool (or can put to use for muscle building) is metabolized into glucose and used for energy. And whenever you have more food energy than you need, the surplus is stored as fat. Nothing is wasted.

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From what I've been able to figure out, the 30g number is an average for people with unaltered bodies. As a baseline, if you are a woman it's different than if you're a man, biologically, and different again if you're menstruating. If you are vegan it's again different because the protein is less efficiently metabolized, so you need a higher quantity. If you are building/rebuilding/repairing muscles or tissues it's significantly higher. For bypass/sleeve patients there is an increased need for protein, especially in years 1 & 2, to help the body recover and minimize emergency mode, which is where you see lowered metabolisms (weight loss slows/stalls,) and the closing down of nonessential functions (hair loss.)

My understanding is it is 30g at a time. So a single meal with more isn't helpful.... but there has to be a reason bariatric patients are advised to get over 60g a day.

Even if I eat more than I strictly need, as long as I am losing, (or maintaining at the end) why does it matter?

4 hours ago, Iona said:

From what I've been able to figure out, the 30g number is an average for people with unaltered bodies. As a baseline, if you are a woman it's different than if you're a man, biologically, and different again if you're menstruating. If you are vegan it's again different because the Protein is less efficiently metabolized, so you need a higher quantity. If you are building/rebuilding/repairing muscles or tissues it's significantly higher. For bypass/sleeve patients there is an increased need for protein, especially in years 1 & 2, to help the body recover and minimize emergency mode, which is where you see lowered metabolisms (weight loss slows/stalls,) and the closing down of nonessential functions (hair loss.)

Unaltered bodies is exactly right! When I went to have my blood work done for my 3 month post-op follow-up, looking at my results and what was considered "normal" is different than what is really normal for us. I thought my protein levels looked fine according to the chart, but my doctor said that chart is for normal people, and that I'm not normal anymore. I needed to be at a much higher level than I was to be considered "normal" now.

There's a limit to how much protein the body can absorb in a given time frame, and many nutritionists seem to think it's 30-40g.

But excess anything eventually is stored as fat. Excess broccoli gets stored as fat.

The key is to think holistically: if you eat 50g of protein in a sitting, but only 800 calories in the whole day, your body will use that excess protein as energy, not store it.

The reason we are told to eat so much protein daily it's because when you lose weight, that includes approximately 25% muscle mass. For people who lose a lot of weight over a short period of time that percentage is actually much much higher. In order to avoid becoming frail and losing too much muscle mass, we eat extra protein. I think many female patients, who have less muscle mass begin with, don't notice the lost muscle mass as much as men. Speaking for myself, I definitely notice it in the mirror and in everyday activities.


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