Research

Hormonal

Ingesting a 1:1 blend of native whey protein and micellar casein (25g) produces peak plasma leucine and essential amino acid (EAA) concentrations equivalent to whey alone, while sustaining higher EAA levels in the late postprandial period (2-6 hours) compared to whey or casein alone.

If you are consuming protein to support muscle growth, a 1:1 mix of whey and casein (25g) is an effective strategy. It gives you the fast leucine spike of whey to kickstart muscle synthesis, but keeps amino acids in your blood longer than whey alone, potentially supporting muscle building for hours after the meal. You do not need to take both separately; a pre-mixed blend achieves this.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Our data indicate that ingestion of Blend resulted in a greater net EAA exposure than MCas as indicated by the AUC. In addition, plasma EAA concentrations were higher following the ingestion of Blend when compared with Whey in the late (2-6 h) postprandial period (Figure 1).
Daniel A. Traylor et al. · Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism · 2018

Why this rating

Randomized, double-blind crossover design with rigorous blood sampling, though limited to healthy young men and short duration (6h).

Source

Aminoacidemia following ingestion of native whey protein, micellar casein, and a whey-casein blend in young men

Daniel A. Traylor et al. · Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism · 2018

DOI 10.1139/apnm-2018-0240

crossover · n=10Cited 13×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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