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. 2012 Oct 16;9(1):91.
doi: 10.1186/1743-7075-9-91.

Daytime pattern of post-exercise protein intake affects whole-body protein turnover in resistance-trained males

Daniel R Moore  1 , Jose Areta, Vernon G Coffey, Trent Stellingwerff, Stuart M Phillips, Louise M Burke, Marilyn Cléroux, Jean-Philippe Godin, John A Hawley
Affiliations

Daytime pattern of post-exercise protein intake affects whole-body protein turnover in resistance-trained males

Daniel R Moore et al. Nutr Metab (Lond). .

Abstract

Background: The pattern of protein intake following exercise may impact whole-body protein turnover and net protein retention. We determined the effects of different protein feeding strategies on protein metabolism in resistance-trained young men.

Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to ingest either 80g of whey protein as 8x10g every 1.5h (PULSE; n=8), 4x20g every 3h (intermediate, INT; n=7), or 2x40g every 6h (BOLUS; n=8) after an acute bout of bilateral knee extension exercise (4x10 repetitions at 80% maximal strength). Whole-body protein turnover (Q), synthesis (S), breakdown (B), and net balance (NB) were measured throughout 12h of recovery by a bolus ingestion of [15N]glycine with urinary [15N]ammonia enrichment as the collected end-product.

Results: PULSE Q rates were greater than BOLUS (~19%, P<0.05) with a trend towards being greater than INT (~9%, P=0.08). Rates of S were 32% and 19% greater and rates of B were 51% and 57% greater for PULSE as compared to INT and BOLUS, respectively (P<0.05), with no difference between INT and BOLUS. There were no statistical differences in NB between groups (P=0.23); however, magnitude-based inferential statistics revealed likely small (mean effect±90%CI; 0.59±0.87) and moderate (0.80±0.91) increases in NB for PULSE and INT compared to BOLUS and possible small increase (0.42±1.00) for INT vs. PULSE.

Conclusion: We conclude that the pattern of ingested protein, and not only the total daily amount, can impact whole-body protein metabolism. Individuals aiming to maximize NB would likely benefit from repeated ingestion of moderate amounts of protein (~20g) at regular intervals (~3h) throughout the day.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Whole body protein synthesis (top), protein breakdown (middle) and protein balance (bottom) expressed per kg body mass over a 12 h postprandial period. Values are mean ±SD. Means with different letters are significantly different (P<0.05) according to one-way ANOVA with Student-Newman Keuls post-hoc.
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