Research

Energy balance

Whey protein supplementation without resistance training significantly reduces daily protein intake in postmenopausal women, suggesting a compensatory eating mechanism.

If you take whey protein but do not exercise, you might actually end up eating less protein from your regular meals. This means your total protein intake may drop, which is why you won't see muscle benefits. To increase protein, focus on whole foods or ensure the supplement doesn't replace other protein sources.

ModerateRefutesMEDIUM confidence
In the subgroup without RT, a significant negative effect on PI (SMD: −0.4225, 95% CI: −0.774, −0.071, I2: 47%) was observed.
Yao-Yi Kuo et al. · Nutrients · 2022

Why this rating

Meta-analysis of RCTs, but heterogeneity (I2: 47%) and lower GRADE quality for this specific outcome.

Source

Effect of Whey Protein Supplementation in Postmenopausal Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Yao-Yi Kuo et al. · Nutrients · 2022

DOI 10.3390/nu14194210

Meta-analysis · 10 studiesCited 19×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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