Posting this under the heading it deserves: Whether protein timing matters at a large deficit Everything below is what sits behind that.
A follow-up question about whether protein timing that I did not know to ask the first time.
The earlier thread answered what I asked. What I should have asked is below, and I think it is the one that matters.
This settles it for me, at least until somebody posts a reason it should not.
Protein supplements: whey, casein, and plant-based protein powders can help hit targets when whole-food intake is limited by appetite. Protein quality (all essential amino acids) matters more than form.
The practical problem is that appetite suppression makes hitting a target genuinely hard, and "eat more protein" ignores the actual constraint.
The interesting part of this is the exception, and I do not understand the exception.
Where intake has fallen a long way, protein is usually the first thing to fall because it is the least appealing macronutrient when appetite is reduced.
Meeting protein targets on suppressed appetite: this is where the practical difficulty lies. Eating more protein when appetite is suppressed is genuinely hard. Front-loading the day, prioritising density over volume, and accepting this is a problem worth solving all help.
Post #6 describes the usual case. This is about the unusual one.
Timing of protein: spreading protein intake across the day, with some at each meal, is more practical than trying to hit the whole target at one sitting on suppressed appetite.
Worth one more sentence than it usually gets.
Density matters more than quantity when total intake is limited. The same protein in a smaller volume is the whole game.
Leucine and MPS: leucine stimulates muscle protein synthesis at a threshold of roughly 2 to 3 grams per meal. That influences how much protein per meal matters, but total daily protein still matters most.
I read post #9 twice before replying, because I had assumed the opposite.
Fibre and fluid tend to fall alongside protein when intake drops, and the constipation reported here follows from that as much as from the mechanism.
I would treat the number as indicative rather than as a measurement.
Post #13 answers the question as asked. The question underneath it is different.
Targets in the literature are usually expressed per kilogram of body mass and are higher during a deficit than at maintenance. Which body mass is used matters.
I have separated what I observed from what I concluded, which does not always happen.
Micronutrition alongside protein: eating protein foods that are also good sources of micronutrients (iron, B vitamins, zinc) solves two problems at once.
Coming back to post #13, because the follow-up matters more than the original answer.
Micronutrient adequacy becomes a real question at very low total intake and is much less discussed than protein.
I am aware this is the third time this month I have made this point.
Distribution across the day appears to matter less than total for most outcomes, and it matters practically because a single large meal is harder when appetite is reduced.
Adding the measurement that post #17 says would settle it.
Eating anything at all: on substantial appetite suppression, eating enough total calories to maintain lean mass is the priority. Protein comes second to total intake.
I would put this at better than even and not much better.
Picking up post #18: that is the part I would want checked first.
Liquid versus solid: protein in liquid form (shakes) is easier to consume in volume but might not be as satiating as solid food. Using both together can help.
Protein sources: animal sources (meat, fish, eggs, dairy) are denser and easier to hit targets with. Plant sources require higher volume. Neither is nutritionally superior; volume and personal preference matter.
Adding this to the thread rather than to the wiki, because I am not confident enough for the wiki.
Adding the measurement that post #23 says would settle it.
Adequate protein during a substantial deficit is the part of this conversation that gets least attention and probably deserves most.
That distinction has done more work for me than anything else in this category.
Reading rather than contributing, but this is the most useful thread I have found on it.