Random Thought - Meal Frequency and Protein Synthesis
People will say (in arguing for higher meal frequency):
“Well, less frequent meals means less frequent and less numerous elevations in protein synthesis!”
The problem is that, the way I see it, protein synthesis will only be elevated proportionally to the bodies needs at any given time. In non-enhanced individuals, this will mostly be determined by the effectiveness of their resistance training program. If the amount of protein your body is capable of incorporating into muscle tissue per day were a staircase - you could get there either by walking 1 stair per hour or all 24 stairs at once (or anything in between).
In the same way, I could eat ‘x’ protein at 5 different intervals today or I could eat 5x protein all at once today and my body would still end up incorporating the same amount (give or take minutia) into muscle tissue.
“But while you were waiting for that meal you were breaking down muscle tissue for energy”… First of all - the amount of catabolism is most likely very small if you have no metabolic diseases such as diabetes, etc. And second of all - Protein synthesis has been shown to be elevated to a greater degree when total protein was ingested as one large bolus, rather than many small feedings. This shows a compensatory mechanism that is trying to make up for the extra losses during fasting. Now that I think about it, there are also studies showing that the effect of having a protein feeding before resistance training (unlike the traditional fasted subject training before having a protein drink) equally elevates post exercise training synthesis.
Long story short: At the end of the day, you just need to get your protein in. The body will do with it what your workouts tell it to do.