Comments on: Protein After Exercise – An Interview with Dan Moore

By: Christy

Christy — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 23:32:21 +0000

Thanks Mark. I found that in my research and it makes sense now. I think the “burn” comment confused me!

By: markyoung

markyoung — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 16:42:25 +0000

Christy – I’m not sure about the “burn muscle instead of fat” comment as the body does really not prefer to use protein as fuel, but there is certainly a benefit in terms of muscle gained/retained by consuming some carbs and protein post workout. Studies have shown that in women drinking milk post workout results in increased muscle gain and fat loss. I think a shake and a piece of fruit would be pretty similar.

By: Christy

Christy — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 01:19:53 +0000

The local supplement store insists that I must ingest approx 20g protein after exercise (correct for my BW) or my body will burn muscle (protein) instead of fat. This doesn’t fit with what I know regarding muscle synthesis and mateabolism of protein + fat.
I’m moderately active doing a mix of cardio and strength training for overall health, not to build muscle.
Anyone have an opinion on this or can explanation how it works?

By: Post-exercise refueling… « Wright State University Sports Medicine Blog

Post-exercise refueling… « Wright State University Sports Medicine Blog — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:57:31 +0000

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By: Karkym

Karkym — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:20:38 +0000

20g 5-6 times during the day.. But this study only investigates the amount of protein needed to maximally stimulate protein synthesis after a workout. What about research that has tested the dose response of protein synthesis to protein outside of the time right after exercise? Wouldn’t that be needed to confirm how much protein to eat outside of immediately post exercise?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12368423
If you look at table one, leucine balance was better in the 0.61 than the 0.44g/kgbw study. Though this is comparing two different studies where the subjects haven’t all been randomized from the same population, so it doesn’t tell us anything definitively, but it is interesting.

I think it’s important to find how much protein you need to maximally stimulate protein synthesis and how often you can do it (with regards to the refractory period seen with constant infusion, maybe this could trigger if you eat too frequently).

Another interesting observation is that there is that if protein synthesis has a refractory period after a meal that lasts more than 1.5 hours, whey protein can “bust” through it and doesn’t affect the increase in protein synthesis from the next meal
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15572657

perhaps we can gain additional muscle by supplementing with fast proteins in between our meals?

By: markyoung

markyoung — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:55:26 +0000

I tend to think that protein intake is more related to the total calorie intake than the composition of the diet. If people are dieting I might be inclined to raise protein intake to some degree if their body composition measures dictate this change is needed. If people are consuming a maintenance intake or are trying to gain muscle their calories will be higher so their protein intake doesn’t need to be as high.

However, I don’t think it is necessary to increase protein if the composition of the diet is changed. If I drop carbs I’ll likely increase fat and keep the overall calorie amount the same so I don’t think protein needs will be affected very much.

So does this mean that I’ll adjust protein intake after exercise while dieting? Probably a little. Would I adjust protein intake depending on diet composition? Probably not. Regardless of the situation, I would add some carbohydrates to my post-workout beverage to maximize the effect…even while on a low carb plan.

By: Leo

Leo — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:20:13 +0000

Would protein intake needs vary depending on the composition of the diet? i.e. low carb, therefore more energy requirements are going to be comming from protein sources.

By: markyoung

markyoung — Sat, 23 May 2009 20:22:28 +0000

I chatted with Dan and he thinks it is a valid point that you brought up. People of different body sizes (especially at the extremes of small or large) could have different acute protein requirements.

However, he also stated that the individuals in the study were recreationally trained individuals who were about 85kg (~185lbs) and were consuming about 1.5g of protein/kg/d (~130g protein per day) so unless a person is much heavier (i.e., 20kg or 45lbs) or consuming more daily protein (>2g/kg/d) than these individuals, he’s probably not going to benefit from consuming closer to 40g of protein post-exercise.

By: markyoung

markyoung — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:37:14 +0000

I’ve dropped Dan an email so hopefully he’ll chime in on this one.

As with most things, I’d be willing to bet that the true answer is somewhere in between the extremes.

By: Conor H.

Conor H. — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:37:45 +0000

I think the impetus of this study is great but I have to question how well these results transfer to a different population. If you take subjects that are much stronger or can work out a lot harder, could they utilize more protein? What about if they are much larger?

Maybe they could use more of that 40 grams rather than 20. How much more, I don’t know. I know I’m definitely not going to start consuming less protein on the basis of this one study.