A lot of bodybuilders have the somewhat mistaken idea that eating large quantities of protein always leads to maximizing muscle gains. While it’s critical to get in at least a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight each day, one thing many bodybuilders don’t consider is how effectively their bodies are using the large quantity of protein they’re consuming.

Here’s what we mean: Let’s say that you’re a 200-pound bodybuilder taking in a gram and a half of protein per day — 300 grams. But, if you’re only absorbing half of that, then your net absorption of protein per day is 150 grams. On the other hand if you’re a 200-pound bodybuilder who takes in 200 grams of protein per day, but your body is absorbing 90% of that intake, then you have a net absorption of 180 grams of protein — that’s significantly more than the guy who’s consuming 50% more protein than you are!

“The conclusion is pretty obvious,” says amateur competitive bodybuilder Dwayne N. Jackson, PhD, and professor of medical biophysics at the University of Western Ontario (London, Canada). “While net protein intake is important, perhaps even more critical is how effectively your body is absorbing the protein and other nutrients you consume.” After all, when protein passes through your body undigested it can’t be used for muscle building or other physiological processes. So, the bioavailability of protein is of primary importance and its optimization relies on a number of dietary tweaks, Jackson says.

1) Consume moderate amounts of protein throughout the day.

One of the keys to improved digestion and absorption of protein is appropriate dosing. Taking in 100 grams of protein twice a day isn’t going to do nearly as much to support muscle building as consuming that same 200 grams of protein split evenly over six or so meals a day. Think of your protein intake as a campfire you want to keep feeding 24 hours a day. You don’t want to throw all the logs on the fire at once because the fire will go out much faster.

2) Use probiotics supplements.

One of the least understood elements of bodybuilding nutrition is the important role that healthy bacteria play in efficient digestion and muscle building. These “good” bacteria live in your digestive tract — in your stomach, and small and large intestines. Probiotics can also help you digest foods that you typically have trouble with. This includes improving the digestibility of lactose for the lactose intolerant. Of course, if you’re lactose intolerant, you can’t just take a dose of probiotics and swig milk to your heart’s content, but it will allow you to include more dairy-based foods in your diet in small amounts, and may help you better tolerate some milk-based protein products.

3) Use whole food proteins that agree with your body.



Guess what? If you’re consuming 50 grams of milk and then sprinting for the bathroom, chances are pretty good you aren’t absorbing very much protein from that meal. In fact, this milk-based meal may have a net negative effect. Your digestive distress could be driving out foods farther along the pipeline that would’ve been effectively used by your body without that later milk meal that caused your intense GI (gastrointestinal) distress.

4) Use supplemental proteins that agree with your body.

Supplemental protein shakes can be a challenge for many digestive systems for a couple reasons: First, they’re liquid so they hit your system quickly; second, they contain large doses of a particular type of protein so you’re getting a lot of one type of nutrient. If your shakes are coming out of you as liquid or gas, then you may want to switch brands or at least cut back on the dose.

5) Add new protein sources in slowly to allow your body to adapt to them.

You may have the idea that your body doesn’t handle certain protein sources very well so you need to avoid them altogether. That isn’t necessarily true. If you want to introduce a new food into your diet and you’re having trouble processing it, then you may just need to reduce the amount your consuming at first. If you cut meat out of your diet, then your body will have trouble processing large amounts of beef because you haven’t provided it with the information it needs to create the enzymes necessary for breaking down large amounts of beef.

6) Make sure you get plenty of dietary fiber.

Fiber serves many important functions in the body and in the digestive process. Of interest is that fiber is a “non-nutrient”, meaning it doesn’t get absorbed into the body. So, why do we need it? Fiber provides several benefits including enhancing absorption, particularly of vitamins and minerals. In essence, it has the effect of “cleaning” the intestines to enhance overall absorption.

7) Supplement with glutamine.

Glutamine is an amino acid and the most abundant one in the human body. When you supplement it, you provide your body with many advantages including enhanced recovery and stronger immune response. Most importantly for our purposes here, though, glutamine helps improve digestion, helping to make your body more regular.

8) Take in di- and tripeptides because they're absorbed differently than individual aminos.

Another way to enhance protein absorption is to understand the differences between different types of protein molecules. Amino acids are single protein molecules. A dipeptide is a protein molecule made up of two bound amino acids, and a tripeptide is a protein molecule made up of three bound amino acids.

By consuming foods or supplements that are rich in di- and tripeptides, you’re helping to maximize absorption by allowing protein to be taken into the body in two different ways.

9) Take digestive enzymes.



Enzymes are found throughout your digestive tract, beginning with your mouth. When you chew food, enzymes mix with saliva and begin the process of breaking foods down so that they can be more readily absorbed. By supplementing with digestive enzymes you further enhance this process.