Ingestion of 20 g of a plant-derived protein blend with and without added leucine or whey protein does not increase muscle protein synthesis rates in older males
Study Details
This new study compared muscle protein synthesis after ingesting either…
1️⃣ 20 g of soy-pea protein
2️⃣ 20 g of soy-pea protein + 2 g leucine
3️⃣ 20 g of whey protein
…in 45 healthy older men 🔍
Key Findings
🥛 Whey protein produced a greater rise in circulating essential amino acids than either plant-protein condition
📈 Adding leucine to the plant blend produced the highest peak blood leucine concentration
💪 However, despite these differences in amino acid availability, muscle protein synthesis rates did not differ between the three protein sources
Muscle protein synthesis averaged…
~0.034%/h with plant protein
~0.035%/h with plant protein plus leucine
~0.034%/h with whey
↔️ None of the three 20 g protein servings significantly increased muscle protein synthesis above post-absorptive levels
❌ Adding 2 g leucine therefore did not rescue the anabolic response to the 20 g plant-protein serving
🥛 Even 20 g of higher-quality whey protein failed to significantly stimulate muscle protein synthesis in these older men
Conclusion
These findings suggest that protein quantity may have be the limiting factor, rather than protein quality alone 🥩
Older adults may require a larger protein dose to overcome age-related anabolic resistance and meaningfully stimulate muscle protein synthesis 📈
Simply improving the amino acid profile of a relatively small protein serving may not be enough if the total protein dose is insufficient to maximise the anabolic response in older adults ⚠️
Reference
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022316626004384?via%3Dihub
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