Aug. 19, 2011 — Eating or drinking protein after exercise can help muscle recovery and growth, experts agree. What’s still debated is which proteins work best.

Whey protein appears to be better than casein protein, according to new research that looked at exercisers doing resistance training. “A whey protein shake would probably be better than a casein protein shake,” says researcher Daniel W.D. West, a PhD student at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

And a separate study shows that protein that includes a higher concentration of the amino acid leucine works better than protein with lower concentrations. It looked exercisers who did aerobic workouts. “It appears more leucine is beneficial in the context of muscle recovery,” says researcher Stefan M. Pasiakos, PhD, a research physiologist with the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine. Both studies are published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Why Protein After Exercise?

As you exercise, muscles undergo a cycle of breakdown during the workout followed by remodeling and growth afterward. Recently, high-protein drinks have become more popular. They are used during and after exercise to get the best muscle growth and recovery. Researchers have been studying which combination of proteins is most helpful.

Protein After Resistance Exercise

West and his colleagues wanted to see if one large dose of whey protein taken right after a workout would be better than several smaller doses, spaced out over time.The smaller doses of whey taken over a longer time period made the protein behave more like another protein, casein, he says. Both whey are casein are found in milk.”Casein is digested slowly,” West tells WebMD, “whereas whey is digested very rapidly.”They used the smaller doses of whey to mimic the casein. So the one-time dose of whey was compared to several doses of whey.

The researchers gave both the one-time dose and the repeated doses to eight men, average age 22, during two different workouts. The men took the protein after doing eight sets of eight to 10 repetitions on a leg extension machine.

”What we did in this study is compare whey — 25 grams — like [what is in] a typical protein shake — and compare it to 25 grams of whey, but ingested in little 2.5 gram shots.”Taking the large dose right after the workout worked better. The amino acid concentrations in the blood were higher after one big dose.

West speculates as to why. “Whey is high in leucine and the fact that it is rapidly digested means there is a rapid appearance of essential amino acids, including leucine,” he says. Those amino acids, he says, act as a signal to elevate muscle protein synthesis — crucial for ongoing growth, repair, and maintenance of muscles.

In the second study, Pasiakos and his team also looked at seven men and one woman. All were active duty military. The average age was 24 On two occasions, they rode an exercise bike for an hour at moderate intensity. During both workouts, they drank a high-protein beverage with 10 grams of protein. The concentration of the amino acid leucine in the drink was different for the two sessions. “One drink had about 19% leucine, the other 35%.” The muscle response to the higher concentration was 33% better, he says.

Protein After Exercise: Advice for Exercisers

The findings should be repeated in other research, says Felicia Stoler, RD, a nutritionist and exercise physiologist. She reviewed the study findings for WebMD but was not involved in either study.

The findings, she says, are not a reason to overdo protein after exercise. “Some protein for repair is good but not excess. I always have to caution about protein. People think they need way more than they do.”

According to a position paper issued in 2009 by the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Dietetic Association, daily protein for endurance and strength-trained athletes ranges from 0.5 to 0.8 grams per pound of body weight. A 120-pound person would need about 60 grams or more. A 150-pound person would need 75 grams or more. A serving of whey protein powder has about 23 grams of protein.

by Bob Calvin, MS, RD, CSSD, LD/N, CSCS and Denise Barry, RD
Performance Nutritionists – Athletes Performance

Mild traumatic brain injuries, or as they are more commonly known concussions, have been a hot topic lately within the sporting world. According to the Brain Injury Research Institute, headed by one of the leading researchers in the field, Dr. Julian Bailes, “approximately 1.6-3.8 million sports and recreation related concussions are estimated to occur annually in the United States” (1). As we are coming to learn this is a very serious matter that cannot be taken lightly.

When the brain undergoes a concussive impact or force, neurons, the main functional cells of the brain, are damaged. The neuron’s axon, or tail, undergoes swelling and detachment from soma, or cell body. Leakage of calcium and other chemical messengers into the synaptic space can then occur through damage in the axon’s membrane. This leakage can lead to disruptions in cellular metabolism, glucose utilization, neuron communication and ultimately apoptosis, or cell death (2).

This all sounds very grave, so you might be asking yourself, is there anything that can be done to protect against / minimize damage, or accelerate the healing process? According to the research, the answer may be yes, and may very well lie within that fish oil capsule you have sitting in your medicine cabinet.

Supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids post traumatic brain injury, particularly DHA (the most abundant omega-3 found in the neuronal membrane) has been shown to produce neuroprotective effects in rats. These essential omega-3 fats appear to enhance phospholipid production (the primary constituent of the cellular membrane), nerve growth and circulation, while at the same time combating chronic inflammation (2).

Do not let this information limit your omega-3 supplementation to post injury, as there is also compelling preliminary research in the rat model for supplementing prior to a potential injury. In a recent paper, Mills and colleagues showed that DHA supplementation prior to a traumatic brain injury in rats significantly reduced axonal injury and apoptosis while improving memory function when compared to controls (3).

This preliminary research in the animal model is quite convincing, nevertheless, more studies need to done on the human population to really determine the need and dosing for omega-3s. Currently, the most frequently recommended dose of supplemental omega-3 for overall health is 1-3 total grams of EPA/DHA per day (2). Now go take your fish oil!

References:
Gail Hayes. CDC Announces Updated Information to help Physicians Recognize and Manage Concussions Early. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2007/r070607.htm?s_cid=mediarel_r070607. Accessed October 26, 2009.

Bailes, JE, Mills, JD. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) Reduces Traumatic Axonal Injury in a Rodent Head Injury Model. Journal of Neurotrauma.

Mills JD, Hadley K, Bailes JE. Dietary supplementation with the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid in traumatic brain injury. Neurosurgery. 2011 Feb;68(2):474-81; discussion 481.

Stay full for longer: Include protein and complex carbs in every meal and snack. Think peanut butter on toast or turkey-Swiss roll-ups.

When it comes to successful dieting, what you eat is just as important as how much you eat. That’s because the two often go hand in hand. Choosing foods with protein and fiber can help keep you fuller for longer, so you’ll be less likely to snack. Anything that takes a longer time to digest will move more slowly through your system, giving you sustained energy and satiety. As we all know, being overly hungry can make us grumpy, irritable, anxious — and prone to gargantuan snack attacks. Try to include some protein and complex carbohydrates in each meal and snack.