Thirty grams is not an absorption ceiling
Your digestive system can digest and absorb much more than 30 g of protein in a meal. The more useful question is how much protein maximizes the muscle-protein-synthesis response in a given context.
A practical heuristic
For trained adults, roughly 0.4 g/kg per meal across several meals is a reasonable planning target when total intake is around 1.6 g/kg/day. Larger meals are not “wasted”; amino acids also support other tissues and metabolic uses.
Review + meta-analysis
Evidence notes
- Schoenfeld & Aragon: about 0.4 g/kg/meal across at least four meals is a practical target—not an absorption ceiling.
- British Journal of Sports Medicine: total intake around 1.6 g/kg/day captured most average fat-free-mass benefit during resistance training in healthy adults.