Research
Macro partitioning
Distributing protein intake evenly across meals (approx. 30g per meal) maximizes muscle protein synthesis compared to skewed distributions, particularly in older adults.
Try to eat about 30 grams of protein at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This helps your body build and maintain muscle better than eating most of your protein at one meal, especially as you age.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
The even pattern resulted in greater 24-h muscle protein synthesis than with the skewed distribution.
Why this rating
Based on short-term acute studies; long-term translation to lean mass gains is less clear.
Source
Protein “requirements” beyond the RDA: implications for optimizing health
Stuart M. Phillips et al. · Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism · 2016
DOI 10.1139/apnm-2015-0550
narrative_reviewCited 375×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Consuming high-quality protein at intakes of 1.2-1.6 g/kg/day, distributed across meals with ~30g per occasion, optimizes health outcomes by preventing sarcopenia, improving weight management, and enhancing athletic performance.Good
- Consuming ~30g of protein at breakfast improves satiety and reduces evening snacking in individuals who habitually skip breakfast.Moderate
Related findings · Macro partitioning
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- Resistance exercise training combined with sufficient dietary protein intake acts synergistically to maximize skeletal muscle hypertrophy, with protein intake saturating around 1.6 g/kg/day for general populations and potentially requiring 2.0-2.2 g/kg/day for resistance-trained individuals.Strong
- Trans fats should be completely eliminated from the diet, as they increase LDL cholesterol, decrease HDL cholesterol, and are directly associated with increased coronary risk.Strong
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