Protein Supplementation in Heavy Resistance Training: "A case for whey protein"

"Protein builds muscle!" < this is a sentence you will read pretty often in the advertisements - sorry, I meant "scientific explanations" supplement producers print onto their product labels to make you buy their newest "invention". In the end, however, it mostly comes down to a blend of different forms of whey protein with added vitamins minerals and digestive enzymes. But do you really need all that? Do you even need whey?

Table 1: Approximate Essential Amino Acid Profile of Various Protein Sources

A group of scientists from Finland (Hulmi. 2010) would probably say "YES!". In a very recent review they come to conclusions which sound pretty similar to what you can read all over the web:

Most, but not all studies have shown that supplementation of whey alone or with carbohydrates immediately after and possibly before and during resistance exercise can enhance the muscle hypertrophy response to resistance training in healthy adults. Such a response seems to at least be the case when comparing the effects of whey versus a non-energetic, or carbohydrate or soy protein alternative. Some studies also suggest that whey may enhance recovery from heavy exercise and possibly decrease muscle damage and soreness. This could, over time, enhance training adaptations by way of increasing training volume or reducing the potential for over-reaching/over-training.

There is another point, where Hulmi et al. reasoning is pretty much in line with main-stream "bro-science" and this is the extraordinary role of leucine in terms of muscle protein synthesis and hypertrophy:

[Leucine] is probable that the most important component in whey, for increasing protein synthesis and skeletal muscle size, is its high concentration of the BCAA, leucine (see
Table 1). Leucine, acting as a signaling molecule in the mTOR cascade, has been shown to be a critical amino acid for increasing skeletal muscle protein synthesis, both in vitro and in vivo in humans and rats. Leucine may also be involved in suppressing muscle protein degradation.

Their perspective is yet a little more differentiated:

However, if recent data involving rodents can be duplicated in humans, leucine concentrations from whey may only affect peak activation of skeletal MPS but not the duration of MPS or duration of mTOR signaling. Similarly, despite the positive effects of leucine per se, it likely is not the sole factor responsible for whey-induced adaptations to resistance training. For example, adding leucine to intact protein has been shown to offer little, if any, effect on protein synthesis and protein balance when consumed after resistance exercise.

Bottom line: If you go for muscle, go for whey and get drag yourself to the gym ;-)

1.86 g EPA + 1.5g DHA Augment the Hyperaminoacidemia-Hyperinsulinemia–induced Increase in the Rate of Muscle Protein Synthesis

MPS, the acronym for "muscle protein synthesis", certainly is an eye-catchers for everyone interested in building sleeve bursting arms. Obviously, the at which (dietary) proteins are incorporated into muscle tissue is an important factor in how much and how fast your muscles will grow.

Scientists from the Washington University, School of Medicine (Smith. 2010) have now conducted a randomized placebo controlled trial on the effect of omega-3 (4g/day Lavazza(TM) = 1.86 g EPA + 1.5g DHA) supplementation on muscle protein synthesis in older adults. And despite the fact that omega-3s on their own had no effect on  MPS, the consumption of supplemental omega-3s significantly augmented the MPS-response to Hyperaminoacidemia and Hyperinsulinemia.

Figure 1: Mean (6SEM) concentrations (arbitrary units) of mTORSer2448 and p70s6kThr389 during basal, postabsorptive conditions and during the hyperaminoacidemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp before and after 8 wk of supplementation with either corn oil (n = 7) or omega-3 fatty acids (n = 8). (Smith. 2010)

The results of this study may also shed some light on a 2003 study by Fearon, et.al. (Fearon. 2009), who found that adding fish oil to a protein supplement increased lean mass gains in patients with cancer cachexia.

While, in view of these results, adding some fish oil caps to your post-workout protein + carb drink  seems to be a beneficial, yes, almost obligatory idea, I personally feel that the verdict on the effects of fish oil (especially in particularly high doses) in healthy, or even athletic parts of the population is still out there. Anyway, I will keep you posted.

On a side note: Notice that this study uses a much more "favorable" (my point of view), low EPA:DHA ratio compared to the study I reported on a few days ago, which found no influence of fish oil supplementation on weight and fat loss in obese individuals.

25g Whey Protein or 10g of EAAs Maximize Post Workout Protein Synthesis Without Additional Carbs

While this probably won't end the debate on whether post-workout carbohydrate intake is a good or a bad thing, a recent review of the literature presented by Steward M. Phillips at the The Summer Meeting of the Nutrition Society (Phillips. 2010) suggests that the addition of carbs to your post-workout shake is at least unnecessary, as long as you have a sufficient amount of leucine and EAAs in it:

The increment in [muscle protein synthesis] MPS is maximally stimulated at a dose of protein of approximately 25 g or 10 g EAA. This rise is based solely on protein consumption and is not augmented by carbohydrate, at least when protein is adequate.

Also, the type of protein is of utmost importance. Phillips recommends whey protein or (please note that it is not whey and EAAs) a blend of EAAs at dosages of 25g and 10g, respectively.

Figure 1: Whole blood leucine concentration (μM) following resistance exercise from subjects who consumed 500 ml fluid skim (low fat) milk and an isonitrogenous and isoenergetic quantity of a soya drink (drawn with data from Wilkinson et al.).

As can be seen from figure 1, even skimmed milk, which is only partially whey, produces a larger increase in whole blood leucine than soy protein (soy is for girls only, anyway ;-) Consequently, you should prefer dairy proteins or whey concentrates, isolates or hydrosolates as your post workout protein sources.

15-30% Increase in Protein Synthesis if Protein is Ingested After Exercise

What common sense already told us has now been proven again in a scientific study published by the American Society for Nutrition (Pennings. 2010). Protein synthesis is greater if protein is consumed after exercise. And these results hold true for both, young and old.

As a marker of protein synthethis, the scientists investigated the response of exogenous phenylalanine on a 20-g bolus of intrinsically l-[1-¹³C]phenylalanine-labeled protein which was administered either at rest or after exercise:

[...] Muscle protein synthesis rates calculated from the oral tracer were 0.0620 ± 0.0065%/h and 0.0560 ± 0.0039%/h for the rest condition and 0.0719 ± 0.0057%/h and 0.0727 ± 0.0040%/h for the exercise condition in young and elderly men, respectively (age effect: P = 0.62; exercise effect: P < 0.05; interaction of age and exercise: P = 0.52).

So overall, this is a non-negligible increase in the calculated protein synthesis rate by 15% and 28% in the young and old subjects, respectively. It does however not answer the question, whether administration of the same 20g of marked protein right before exercise would not have increased protein synthesis to an even greater extent. Personally, I feel that for people on an everyday exercise regimen keeping protein intake high 24/7 will certainly be the best solution, even if it is just via an occasional protein shake at work (and thus probably "before workout).