Research on protein/exercise interaction among a middle-aged population

durhammfp

https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/958576751

More protein doesn't mean more strength in resistance-trained middle-aged adults

"CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A 10-week muscle-building and dietary program involving 50 middle-aged adults found no evidence that eating a high-protein diet increased strength or muscle mass more than consuming a moderate amount of protein while training. The intervention involved a standard strength-training protocol with sessions three times per week. None of the participants had previous weightlifting experience.

Published in the American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism, the study is one of the most comprehensive investigations of the health effects of diet and resistance training in middle-aged adults, the researchers say. Participants were 40-64 years of age."

GummiMundi

Call me skeptic, but a study that involves only 50 subjects, and that takes place for only 10 weeks (when we know that it takes months and sometimes years to properly develop strength and muscle mass) doesn't sound to me like "one of the most comprehensive investigations", but perhaps I'm wrong.

middlehaitch

Agree with you @GummiMundi.
Too short a study to get anything worth acting on. (I only skimmed it)

The higher protein goal was lower than mine as an older woman who lifts.(0.8-1g/lbs) And there was nothing said about protein timing for better uptake as one ages.

Cheers, h.

AnnPT77

From the article:

The moderate-protein group consumed about 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, and the high-protein group consumed roughly 1.6 grams per kilogram per day, . . ..

So, around 0.54g per pound vs. 0.72g per pound?

Also from the article:

The team tried to limit protein consumption in the moderate-protein group to the Recommended Daily Allowance, but their food diaries revealed those participants were consuming, on average, 1.1 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. Those in the high-protein group ate about 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram per day – twice the recommended amount.

So, *everyone's* eating more than the RDA of protein, but the "high protein" group isn't eating what I'd consider a bodybuilder level of protein (which would be 2.2g/kg or 1g/pound, or near).

Article says they did a:

. . . standard strength-training protocol with sessions three times per week.

Maybe the actual journal article (research report) has enough info to assess the program, but the article linked doesn't.

Also, what the others said about 10 weeks, number of participants, and protein timing questions in aging people.

I'm underwhelmed, frankly. Can folks make strength/mass progress on less than bodybuilder levels of protein? Likely. Does genetic potential matter? Might. Does program matter? Almost certainly. Other aspects of nutrition? Maybe. Is aging doom to strength/muscle gain? Certainly not, based on n=1 experience alone.

The notes on microbiome were interesting, though the definitiveness of science right now about what's important/not is still pretty squishy. I should probably read the study.

Thanks for the link; short article, some interesting aspects.

wilson10102018

The takeaway from the study, obviously superficial, is that if you are getting enough protein you are getting enough protein.