Response to protein ingestion during recovery from exercise has no upper limit

https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-3791(23)00540-2

by T-A • 2 years ago

39 13 2 years ago

lukevp• 2 years ago

Can someone ELI5? Sounds like we should work out hard (lifting?) and eat a crap ton of protein right afterward?

WaxProlix• 2 years ago

Basically. Existing literature seemed to show that 20-25g of post exercise protein maximized skeletal muscle (what you think of when you think of muscle), but new techniques show that response continues to grow despite projected back pressure in amino changes well up to 100g of protein.

lylejantzi3rd• 2 years ago

Except that never made sense. Existing literature also shows it takes at least 3 hours and up to 6-7 to digest protein. That protein then stays is your system for up to 24 hours. You'd be better served by ingesting the protein the night before your workout.

I want to see a similar study with BCAAs. Those absorb very quickly, within 30 minutes of ingestion.

ericmcer• 2 years ago

I was always told if you eat > than a certain amount/hr you will be unable to use it and it could even be hard on your kidney

xarope• 2 years ago

Previous "wisdom" was that there is/was an anabolic window of 30-60mins post workout, and limited to approx 20grams of protein uptake, with the rest being excreted.

Current trends show that it doesn't matter when you ingest your protein (before/after, or much after), nor how much of it at one sitting, as long as you take that protein. So I guess the study is trying to scientifically justify that trend, as well as posit that there is no limit (since they said the 100g ingestion showed substantially higher amino acids in circulation

"We observed higher plasma, muscle, and whole-body protein synthesis rates following the ingestion of 100 g protein when compared to 25 g protein and placebo, respectively. The greater metabolic responses were present during the early postprandial phase (0–4 h) but were even more pronounced during the prolonged postprandial phase (4–12 h)."

And for the protein they used, looks like just concentrate from a specific lactating cow (talk about controlled source!): "In the present study, milk protein was applied because it is the food item with the largest contribution to daily protein intake in the Western world. Because milk protein consists of 20% rapid digestible whey protein and 80% slowly digestible casein protein, it could be speculated that a more prolonged anabolic response to protein ingestion is unique to slowly digestible proteins."

Sample size of 36 males, between 18-40, doing leg press/extension, chest press, lat pulldowns.

idiotsecant• 2 years ago

The conclusion I'm taking from that is that they picked some kind of supercow.

Alternate headline: how not to do a control.

belltaco• 2 years ago

Dupe https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38727001

arlattimore• 2 years ago

Supplement companies are going to love this research.

questinthrow• 2 years ago

Who knows maybe they even lobbied for the result, its a big problem in nutrition science and how the "science" seems more like one fad after the other depending on which lobby sends more money

adrian_b• 2 years ago

It is unlikely that they will be affected.

The conclusion does not influence the total amount of protein that you should eat daily for increased muscular mass.

It just says that there is no need to spread the proteins over 4 or 5 meals per day.

Even if you eat all proteins during a single meal, the effect will be the same.

For instance, if you practice time-restricted eating, that will not conflict with the desire of increasing or preserving the muscular mass.

Moreover, proteins that are digested more slowly seem preferable, and this favors the natural sources of proteins, not those more processed, like in supplements.

ianand• 2 years ago

Peter Attia did an analysis of this study and pointed out the use of casein limits the conclusions we can draw.

https://peterattiamd.com/protein-anabolic-responses/

Effectively the upper limit of protein absorption was increased by stretching out the absorption window with a very slow absorption protein (casein). Whether this applies to other proteins is less clear.

mondocat• 2 years ago

A total of 36 healthy, recreationally active young men were selected to participate in this parallel group, randomized double blind placebo-controlled trial. Inclusion criteria were: male, aged between 18 and 40 years, healthy, and body mass index between 18.5 and 30 kg m−2. Exclusion criteria were: smoking, sports/exercise <1 or >3 sessions per week

It's well known that the immediate post-workout response to protein is far greater in the untrained population. Once you've been training a while, the necessity of eating in the immediate postprandial window for gains disappears. It's unfortunate that not only did this study not control on weight training experience but it seems to have eliminated anyone who trained more than 3 times a week.

heroiccocoa• 2 years ago

Subjects were randomized to receive 25 g protein (25PRO), 100 g protein (100PRO), or a placebo (0PRO) following a single bout of resistance-type exercise.

Wait, so the 25g protein group didn't even get to match the 100g group on calories, while we _know_ insulin response to carbs+protein is much higher than from either alone? This seems like a junk study

Response to protein ingestion during recovery from exercise has no upper limit

Related Stories