After a strength training session a shake containing 20 g whey and 1 g BCAAs stimulates muscle growth more than a glass of milk containing 6 g milk protein. Researchers working for Danone come to this conclusion in an article in Nutrition Journal, based on a study that’s not completely above board.
After a strength training session a shake containing 20 g whey and 1 g BCAAs stimulates muscle growth more than a glass of milk containing 6 g milk protein. Researchers working for Danone come to this conclusion in an article in Nutrition Journal, based on a study that’s not completely above board.
Post-workout nutrition can speed up strength athletes’ progression, but it’s still not clear what type of post-workout nutrition is most effective. Most research has been done on protein concentrates and amino acids.
We also now know that muscles grow faster if you drink a pint or two of milk, but we don’t know how much better a shake that contains whey works. The researchers set out to find out more by doing an experiment with 20 over-60s.
The researchers got their subjects to train their upper legs on a leg extension machine. After a warming up, the subjects did 4 sets of 8-10 reps at 80 percent of their 1RM. Between sets they rested for two minutes.
Fifteen minutes after they had finished their mini training session, half of the subjects drank a shake containing 20 g whey and 1 g BCAAs [EXP]. The shake contained a total of 3 g leucine. The other group drank a product containing the same amount of calories as the whey shake, but whose composition bore a striking resemblance to milk [Control]. The exact composition of both products is listed below.
After drinking the whey shake the synthesis rate of muscle tissue [FSR] was higher in both the trained leg and the untrained leg than it was after drinking imitation milk. The figure above shows this.
“A specifically designed nutritional supplement high in whey protein and enriched in leucine is more effective than a conventional dairy product to stimulate postprandial muscle protein synthesis overall in healthy older subjects”, the researchers write. “This acute effect on postprandial muscle protein synthesis is promising for potential long-term effects on parameters of muscle mass, strength and function in sarcopenic older people. This requires further study.”
It may be the case that Danone is developing a muscle-strengthening protein product and is already priming consumers, broadcasting the message that gym visitors will be better off if they use the new product rather than an ordinary dairy product.
Danone’s study is not completely honest. The imitation milk used in the study is an inferior product. If you drink 150 calories’ worth of skimmed milk youll ingest 16 g protein’ – not 6 g.
And if you eat 150 calories’ worth of low-fat quark, you’ll ingest as much as 27.4 g protein, which amounts to 2.5 g leucine.
It would be interesting to discover what works better: the Danone shake or honest-to-goodness (and probably considerably cheaper) low-fat quark. And once the Danone product is available in supermarkets, there’ll no doubt be a dairy company that’s willing to sponsor a study to find out.
Postprandial muscle protein synthesis is higher after a high whey protein, leucine-enriched supplement than after a dairy-like product in healthy older people: a randomized controlled trial.
Luiking YC, Deutz NE, Memelink RG, Verlaan S, Wolfe RR.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Decreased ability of muscles to respond to anabolic stimuli is part of the underlying mechanism for muscle loss with aging. Previous studies suggest that substantial amounts of essential amino acids (EAA), whey protein and leucine are beneficial for stimulation of acute muscle protein synthesis in older adults. However, these studies supplied only proteins, and no bolus studies have been done with dairy products or supplements that contained also fat and carbohydrates besides proteins. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a specifically designed nutritional supplement in older adults stimulates muscle protein synthesis acutely to a greater extent than a conventional dairy product. Moreover, the combined effect with resistance exercise was studied by using a unilateral resistance exercise protocol.
METHODS:
Utilizing a randomized, controlled, double blind study design, healthy older adults received a single bolus of a high whey protein, leucine-enriched supplement (EXP: 20g whey protein, 3g total leucine, 150kcal; n?=?9) or an iso-caloric milk protein control (Control: 6g milk protein; n?=?10), immediately after unilateral resistance exercise. Postprandial mixed muscle protein fractional synthesis rate (FSR) was measured over 4h using a tracer infusion protocol with L-[ring-13C6]-phenylalanine and regular blood and muscle sampling.
RESULTS:
FSR was significantly higher overall after EXP (0.0780?±?0.0070%/h) vs Control (0.0574?±?0.0066%/h (EMM?±?SE)) (p?=?0.049). No interaction between treatment and exercise was observed (p?=?0.519). Higher postprandial concentrations of EAA and leucine are possible mediating factors for the FSR response, while plasma insulin increase did not dictate the FSR response. Moreover, when the protein intake from the supplements was expressed per kg leg lean mass (LLM), a significant correlation was observed with resting postprandial FSR (r?=?0.48, P?=?0.038).
CONCLUSIONS:
Ingestion of a high whey protein, leucine-enriched supplement resulted in a larger overall postprandial muscle protein synthesis rate in healthy older subjects compared with a conventional dairy product. This acute effect is promising for long-term effects on parameters of muscle mass, strength and function in sarcopenic older people, which requires further study.
TRIAL REGISTRATION:
This trial is registered in the Dutch Trial Register under number NTR1823.
PMID: 24450500 [PubMed – in process] PMCID: PMC3909458
