Macro partitioning
Improving dietary protein quality via whey protein supplementation preserves leg lean mass and accelerates muscle strength recovery during short-term physical inactivity in older adults, without increasing total energy or protein intake.
If you are immobilized or inactive, focus on the quality of your protein rather than just the quantity. Adding whey protein to your diet (making up about 70% of your protein intake) can help protect your leg muscle mass and speed up strength recovery after bed rest, even if you don't increase your total calories or total grams of protein. This is particularly relevant for older adults.
Improving dietary protein quality without increasing total energy intake has the potential to partially counter some of the negative effects of bed rest in older adults.
Why this rating
Randomized controlled trial with a small sample size (N=20) and short duration (7 days bed rest).
Source
Improving Dietary Protein Quality Reduces the Negative Effects of Physical Inactivity on Body Composition and Muscle Function
Emily Arentson‐Lantz et al. · The Journals of Gerontology Series A · 2019
DOI 10.1093/gerona/glz003
Related findings · Macro partitioning
- Total daily protein intake of 1.6 g/kg/day is sufficient for maximizing resistance training-induced muscle gains, with an upper confidence interval of 2.2 g/kg/day.Strong
- Resistance exercise training combined with sufficient dietary protein intake acts synergistically to maximize skeletal muscle hypertrophy, with protein intake saturating around 1.6 g/kg/day for general populations and potentially requiring 2.0-2.2 g/kg/day for resistance-trained individuals.Strong
- Trans fats should be completely eliminated from the diet, as they increase LDL cholesterol, decrease HDL cholesterol, and are directly associated with increased coronary risk.Strong
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