The price of whey proteins has been rising in recent years and the trend looks set to continue. Fortunately there are also plant-based proteins, such as rice protein. Right now rice protein is more expensive than whey, but in five years it won’t be. And if you use rice protein in the right way you can get the same results as you would with whey protein, researchers at the University of Tampa write in Nutrition Journal.
The price of whey proteins has been rising in recent years and the trend looks set to continue. Fortunately there are also plant-based proteins, such as rice protein. Right now rice protein is more expensive than whey, but in five years it won’t be. And if you use rice protein in the right way you can get the same results as you would with whey protein, researchers at the University of Tampa write in Nutrition Journal.
Plant-based proteins have a bad name in the strength sports world, and not entirely without reason. The amino acid composition of plant-based proteins is not as good for muscle building as animal-based proteins.
This is mainly because plant-based proteins contain less leucine, according to researchers. Muscle cells recognise leucine and make their anabolic machinery work harder the more leucine molecules they ‘see’. Animal experiments have shown that rats can build up just as much muscle mass with wheat protein as they can with whey protein – as long as the researchers add a hefty amount of leucine to the wheat protein.
The table below compares the amino-acid content in whey with that of rice protein. The quality of rice protein is not bad for a plant-based protein, but whey contains one and a half times as much leucine.
For a reasonable anabolic stimulus you need about 3 g leucine. A standard amount of plant-based protein is 20-30 g and this isn’t enough to give you 3 g leucine. That’s why strength athletes react less well to plant-based proteins than to animal-based proteins in experiments in which researchers generally use standard quantities.
But what happens if you give an athlete more plant-based protein than the usual 20 g? Say 48 g? Will a plant-based protein still have less effect on strength and muscle mass than whey?
The researchers tested this in an 8-week-long experiment. They got 24 students, who’d been doing strength training for at least a year, to train using a nonlinear periodization scheme, in which they alternated hypertrophy and strength days. On hypertrophy days the students trained using weights with which they could just manage 8-12 reps; on strength days they used weights with which they could manage a max of 2-5 reps.
After working out half of the subjects were given a shake containing 48 g whey isolate. The other half were given a shake containing 48 g rice-protein isolate.
At the end of the eight weeks the subjects in both groups had made the same amount of progression.
“Differences in protein composition are of less relevance when protein is consumed in high doses throughout periodized resistance training”, the researchers write. “Rice protein isolate consumption post resistance exercise decreases fat-mass and increases lean body mass and skeletal muscle hypertrophy comparable to whey protein isolate.”
The effects of 8 weeks of whey or rice protein supplementation on body composition and exercise performance
Jordan M Joy1,2, Ryan P Lowery1, Jacob M Wilson1, Martin Purpura3, Eduardo O De Souza4, Stephanie MC Wilson5, Douglas S Kalman6, Joshua E Dudeck1 and Ralf Jäger3*
Nutrition Journal 2013, 12:86 doi:10.1186/1475-2891-12-86
Abstract
Consumption of moderate amounts of animal-derived protein has been shown to differently influence skeletal muscle hypertrophy during resistance training when compared with nitrogenous and isoenergetic amounts of plant-based protein administered in small to moderate doses. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to determine if the post-exercise consumption of rice protein isolate could increase recovery and elicit adequate changes in body composition compared to equally dosed whey protein isolate if given in large, isocaloric doses.
24 college-aged, resistance trained males were recruited for this study. Subjects were randomly and equally divided into two groups, either consuming 48 g of rice or whey protein isolate (isocaloric and isonitrogenous) on training days. Subjects trained 3 days per week for 8 weeks as a part of a daily undulating periodized resistance-training program. The rice and whey protein supplements were consumed immediately following exercise. Ratings of perceived recovery, soreness, and readiness to train were recorded prior to and following the first training session. Ultrasonography determined muscle thickness, dual emission x-ray absorptiometry determined body composition, and bench press and leg press for upper and lower body strength were recorded during weeks 0, 4, and 8. An ANOVA model was used to measure group, time, and group by time interactions. If any main effects were observed, a Tukey post-hoc was employed to locate where differences occurred.
No detectable differences were present in psychometric scores of perceived recovery, soreness, or readiness to train (p?>?0.05). Significant time effects were observed in which lean body mass, muscle mass, strength and power all increased and fat mass decreased; however, no condition by time interactions were observed (p?>?0.05).
Both whey and rice protein isolate administration post resistance exercise improved indices of body composition and exercise performance; however, there were no differences between the two groups.
