SuppVersity - Nutrition and Exercise Science for Everyone

Is the literally "raw" raw material that's used to manufacture "native whey" worth the extra bucks the final products cost? Native whey fails the real world test. In February this year, I already predicted that the "benefits" of "native whey" will probably turn out to be practically irrelevant. In the corresponding article "Native Whey, a Superior Muscle Builder? Recently Observed Impressive Absorption Rates Tell You Nothing About 'Gains'" ( re-read it ). Back in the day, I made a point that the improved amino acid kinetics, i.e. the more rapid appearance of amino acids Hamarsland et al. observed in their first study this year (Hamarsland 2017) for native compared to 'regular' whey protein was unlikely to trigger significant differences in actual protein synthesis - let alone long-term gains. Now, a recent study by Hamarsland et al. (2017b) confirms just that - as early as in the title, by the way: "Nati...

MyoPS - muscle damage = gainz - It's as easy as that, but this simple equation gets complicated by decreases in both... You will remember from previous SuppVersity  articles that the assumption that an acute increase in myofibrillar protein synthesis (MyoPS) you measure after a workout would necessarily translate into "muscle gains" is oversymplistic. In fact, a correlation between muscle hypertrophy and acute MPS has been shown not  to exist ( learn more ). In the introduction to their latest paper, Felipe Damas et al. (2016) highlight our lack of understanding of the different mechanisms that eventually determine t he hypertrophy response to resistance training. If you want to build muscle you have to make sure to optimize your protein intake   Protein Timing DOES Matter! 5x More Than the FDA Allows! Protein requ. of athletes High EAA protein for fat loss Fast vs. slow protein Whey vs. Pea Protein To investigate how muscle hyp...

Maximal protein synthesis requires protein, but how much exactly you need will depend on your age - the older you are the more PWO protein you'll need. Scientists from the University of Auckland were fed up with the lack of information about the differential response in protein synthesis in response to the ingestion of various amounts of protein. Accordingly, Randall F. D’Souza et al. conducted a study to characterize the changes in intramuscular levels of EAAs and BCAAs and the expression of the "protein pump" p70S6K at Thr389, a marker of protein synthesis, in response to resistance exercise and graded ingestion of whey protein in older men. As a regular SuppVersity reader you will probably already think: "Where is the actual measurement of the fractional protein synthesis?" The unfortunate answer: It's not there. You can learn more about protein intake at the SuppVersity Are You Protein Wheysting? 5x More Than the FDA Allows! ...

Scientific evidence suggests: There is not one optimal protein to build muscle - it's the mix of fast to slow proteins that's key. For someone like yourself, who's making sure to get his daily dose of SuppVersity Science News, the results Reidy et al. present in their latest paper in the Journal of Applied Physiology can hardly be surprising. I have, after all, written about the superiority of whey + casein blends as potential muscle builders only recently ("When Whey & Casein Unite in the Spirit of True Physique Improvements, BCAAs & Glutamine Better Shut the F*** Up"  | (re-)read the article ). It was thus only to be expected that a study in which the scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch compared the effects of the prolonged hyperaminoacidemia that's associated with the ingestion of a blend of plant (25% soy) and dairy (50% casein, 25% whey) proteins (with varying digestion rates) to that of a pure rapidly digested whey woul...

It takes pains to maintain your gains! You will certainly remember the shocking revelation that simply eating more protein is not going to prevent the diet induced muscle loss that occurs whenever you consume less energy than you expend (read up on "Protein Intake & Muscle Catabolism: Fasting Gnaws on Your Muscle Tissue and Abundance Causes Wastefulness" | go for it !)... Don't rejoice, the study at hand does not refute this - protein is still unable to counter the increase in atrogin-1 and other muscle cannibalizing proteins, but there is a "tweak" by the means of which you can at least avoid that its pro-anabolic affects are also impaired. You can learn more about protein intake at the SuppVersity Are You Protein Wheysting? Cod protein for recovery Protein requ. of athletes High EAA protein for fat loss Fast vs. slow protein Too much ado about protein? What this "tweak" is? Well, that's easy: Heavy lifting. I...