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No matter what you may have heard from various fitness experts, a body building diet doesn’t have to include huge amounts of protein. A common suggestion is one gram of protein per pound of body weight. That means a 200 pound man would have to consume around 200 grams of protein per day. The body building magazines recommend an even higher number compared to this.

The recommendation by the RDA for Protein for Adults is .8 gram per kilogram of body weight.

That would translate to about 64 grams if you’re weighing 175 pounds. So why do these numbers vary so widely? Well, to start with the RDA’s suggested levels have been based on research done with college-aged men. This was the amount of protein needed to keep the nitrogen balance in these young men stable. However, using a nitrogen balance as the basis to predict muscle gain or loss has not been proven to be 100% accurate. Because of this it’s not the best way to estimate protein intake for a body building diet.

The AMDR Recommends Between 10%-35% of Daily Calories to Be Protein

So depending on what your daily calorie intake is, this will affect how much protein you should be eating. The acronym AMDR stands for Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range and the Institute of Medicine established it in 2005. The issue taken with this recommendation is the fact it has a fairly large range. Neither this recommendation or the RDA takes into account . Someone who is training hard would have to consider their activity levels when putting together a body building diet for themselves.

So when it comes to creating a good body building diet, neither the RDA nor the AMDR seem very helpful.

Many of the body building magazines use numbers as high as 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight as a suggestion. That is 350 grams per day, for a 175 pound man! Let’s face it, body building magazines aren’t the most neutral parties. The number one way they make money is by selling ads to advertisers. And the number one product advertised in body building magazines is protein supplements. No doubt that 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight is way more than necessary.

The More Protein You Eat, The More Protein You Can Digest

Here’s a weird body fact; if you eat large amounts of protein at every meal, your body becomes used to it and has an easier time absorbing it. If your body is accustomed to eating smaller amounts of protein, then a high protein meal will make your stomach upset because your gastro-intestinal system won’t be able to digest it all. Most people assume that the more protein you digest the more muscle you will build, but it’s not that easy.

Ten Times More Protein Digested Does Not Equal Ten Times More Muscle

Research has shown that the more protein you eat, the more your body switches to using amino acids as fuel. The human body is fueled by carbs, fat, and protein. The body just simply adjusts itself, based on what you eat, for what it will burn for energy. So there is a certain level beyond which more protein just won’t make a difference – so how do you determine how much is right for your body building diet?

A Study Which Shows 70-120 Grams of Protein Per Day for Exceptional Muscle Gains

Brad Pilon is the author of “How Much Protein”, a book on this very topic. He compared several studies and found that between 0.55 to 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight would be enough for exceptional muscle gains. He also references several studies that have shown that going over 120 grams of protein each day will not help add to your muscle gain. So you can believe the supplement companies or scientific research. The choice, as always, is yours. I would suggest eating around 100 grams of protein per day, which is easy to achieve without making expensive protein shakes part of your bodybuilding diet.