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Review
. 2020 Jun 25;12(6):1890.
doi: 10.3390/nu12061890.

Effects of Dietary Protein on Body Composition in Exercising Individuals

Jose Antonio  1 , Darren G Candow  2 , Scott C Forbes  3 , Michael J Ormsbee  4   5 , Patrick G Saracino  4 , Justin Roberts  6
Affiliations
Review

Effects of Dietary Protein on Body Composition in Exercising Individuals

Jose Antonio et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Protein is an important component of a healthy diet and appears to be integral to enhancing training adaptations in exercising individuals. The purpose of this narrative review is to provide an evidence-based assessment of the current literature examining increases in dietary protein intake above the recommended dietary allowance (RDA: 0.8 g/kg/d) in conjunction with chronic exercise on body composition (i.e., muscle, fat and bone). We also highlight acute and chronic pre-sleep protein studies as well as the influence of exercise timing on body composition. Overall, a high-protein diet appears to increase muscle accretion and fat loss and may have beneficial effects on bone when combined with exercise. Pre-sleep protein is a viable strategy to help achieve total daily protein goals. Importantly, there appears to be no deleterious effects from a high-protein diet on muscle, fat or bone in exercising individuals.

Keywords: amino acids; diet; exercise; training.

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Conflict of interest statement

M.J.O. serves on the Dymatize Scientific Advisory Board, a company that sells creatine in its supplement portfolio but was not used in this study. J.A. is the CEO and co-founder of the ISSN. The ISSN is supported in part by grants from raw good suppliers and branded companies that sell dietary protein supplements. All other authors declare no conflict of interest.

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