A new study raised three questions about the synthesis of muscle proteins in response to a nine -day diet and weight training shape: First, the source of protein – plants or animals – makes any difference in muscle profit? Second, does it matter if the total daily intake of proteins is evenly distributed throughout the day? And third, a moderate but sufficient daily protein intake affect any of these variables? The answer to all three questions is “no”, the researchers found.
Their findings are mentioned in the magazine Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise.
“The long-term belief or today’s doctrine was that animal-based sources were better, especially for the reaction of muscle building,” said Nicholas Burd, a Professor of Health and Kinesiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who led the new study. This belief was rooted in science: previous studies that received muscle biopsies after a single feeding found that a meal based on animals provided more stimulus for the synthesis of muscle proteins from a vegan meal, Burd said. “And so, our general case based on these previous studies was that the animal -based nutrition model would be more effective in supporting muscle building reaction.”
But the measurements taken after a single meal may not reflect the effects of consuming a balanced Vegan diet over time, Burd said.
A previous clinical trial had examined muscle answers to vegans and omnivores that ate a laboratory diet and dealt with weight training for 10 weeks. This study did not find significant differences in the synthesis of muscle proteins over time. However, volunteers in this study consumed 1.6-1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, which is much higher than what is needed to maximize the synthesis of muscle proteins and build larger muscles with weight lifting, Burd said. It also gave them to the vegan diet most of their vegetable protein in supplements, which is not a realistic recreation of the way they eat normally vegans, he said.
Burd and his colleagues wanted to know if the usual consumption of a variety of Vegan or meat of Whole Foods – instead of swallowing a single meal or protein of a person from limited sources – would affect the rate of muscle protein synthesis. They also wanted to try the assumption that a moderate protein intake – in the area 1.1-1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day – should be evenly distributed throughout the day to maximize muscle growth.
A previous study by Burd’s laboratory found that protein consumes higher than 1.1 g/kg daily does not make a difference in the rate of muscle protein synthesis when weight training. This amount of protein is also more consistent with a typical American diet and trying out what people usually eat is important, he said.
For the new study, the team recruited 40 healthy, naturally active adults 20-40 years. Participants underwent a seven -day “equipment diet” to standardize their nutritional status before the clinical trial. They were then accidentally assigned to either a vegan diet or in omnivorous. The research team provided all meals, some of which were consumed in the laboratory, while most were consumed at home. About 70% of the protein for omnivorous meals were obtained from animal springs: beef, pork, chicken, dairy, eggs. The Vegan diet balanced the amino acid content of meals, ensuring that participants consumed complete proteins.
The Vegan and Pamphagga groups were again divided into those who ate about the same amount of protein in each of the three meals and those whose protein intake diffused in five meals all day, with a higher percentage of protein consumed towards the end of the day.
All participants participated in a series of muscle enhancement activities in the laboratory every three days. They also wore accelerometers to monitor their levels of activity when they are not in the laboratory.
Every day, participants drank “heavy” water, which was highlighted with the deuterium, a fixed hydrogen isotope. The people of the second “are exchanged with hydrogen in amino acids to make them heavy and served as traces” who allowed the group to locate their integration into the muscle tissue, Burd said. Foot muscle tissue biopsies were taken at the beginning and end of the test.
Burd initially surprised that there were no differences in the percentage of muscle protein synthesis between those eating vegan or omnivorous diet. It was also surprised to see that the distribution of proteins during the day had no effect on the rate of muscle construction that received results from previous studies of acute response to dietary interventions and weight training.
“It was considered that it was better to get a steady tradition of nutrients throughout the day,” he said. “I also thought that if you get lower quality protein – in terms of its digestion and amino acid content – that perhaps the distribution would make the difference and amazing, we showed that it doesn’t matter.”
Now, says Burd, if someone asks him what is the best kind of food they need to eat for muscle building, he will say to them: “It’s the species you put in your mouth after exercise.
The Boheat Checkoff program, supervised by Board Beef Beef of the National Assistant, supported this research.
Source:
Magazine report:
Askow, at, et al. (2025). Vegan diet impact on resistance to the mediation of protein protein synthesis in healthy young males and females: a randomized controlled test. Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise. Doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000003725.
