Nutritional Bio-Availability: A Primer

You look at the back of a protein bar. It says "20g Protein". You eat it, log it, and think you've done your job.

Mathematically, you have consumed 20 grams of nitrogen-containing compounds. Biologically, you might have only consumed 8 grams of usable material for building contractile tissue.

In the engineering of the human body, inputs do not equal outputs. This is the concept of Bio-Availability.

1. The Measurement Problem: PDCAAS vs. DIAAS

For decades, we used PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score). It was flawed because it truncated values at 1.0 (100%) and measured digestion in the entire digestive tract, ignoring that amino acids not absorbed by the small intestine are useless for muscle building.

The new gold standard is DIAAS (Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score). It measures ileal digestibility—what actually enters your bloodstream from the small intestine.

The Implication: If your 30g of protein comes from peanut butter on wheat bread, your DIAAS score is largely below 0.5. You are effectively getting the anabolic equivalent of ~15g of high-quality protein. You are under-dosing.

2. The Anabolic Trigger: Leucine Threshold

Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS) is like a light switch, not a dimmer. It requires a specific threshold of intracellular Leucine to turn "on."

This clarifies why "snacking" on low-quality protein is ineffective. Eating 10g of protein (providing 0.8g Leucine) every 2 hours keeps you in a refractory period without ever triggering the anabolic switch.

Optimal Strategy: Fewer, larger boluses of high-quality protein (3-5 meals of 30-40g) ensure you cross the Leucine threshold every time.

3. The "Collagen Hacking" Scam

Many modern "High Protein" snacks use Hydrolyzed Collagen or Gelatin as a primary ingredient. Why?

1. It's cheap.
2. It's chemically protein (chains of amino acids).
3. It dissolves well and tastes neutral.

However, collagen has a DIAAS score near 0. It contains almost no Tryptophan and very little Leucine. It is great for your skin and joints, but for hypertrophy, it is metabolically inert.

If you log a collagen bar as "20g protein" in your daily total, you are lying to your spreadsheet.

4. Essential Micronutrients in the Matrix

We cannot look at macros in a vacuum. Real food contains a matrix of micronutrients that aid absorption (The Food Matrix Effect).

• Zinc & Magnesium: Critical for testosterone production and protein synthesis. FOUND IN: Red meat, oysters.
• B-Vitamins: Essential for energy metabolism. FOUND IN: Eggs, dairy.
• Selenium: Antioxidant support. FOUND IN: Fish, brazil nuts.

Conclusion: Engineering Your Intake

Stop tracking numbers. Start tracking sources.

In Salvya, we focus on Deep Nutrition. We prioritize whole food sources in our database and search learning. We don't just want you to hit a number; we want you to fuel the machine with high-octane material.

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