Research
Hormonal
In older adults, the muscle protein synthesis response to protein ingestion is blunted (anabolic resistance), and simply increasing protein intake does not overcome this resistance.
As you age, your muscles become less responsive to protein. Simply eating more protein won't build muscle. You must combine adequate protein intake with resistance exercise to overcome this 'anabolic resistance' and stimulate muscle growth.
GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
This diminished response to protein feeding was termed “anabolic resistance”... surplus protein is not an effective strategy in extending the muscle full point.
Why this rating
Supported by multiple human studies (Cuthbertson et al., 2005; Witard et al., 2014; Mitchell et al., 2017).
Source
Contemporary stable isotope tracer approaches: Insights into skeletal muscle metabolism in health and disease
Matthew S. Brook et al. · Experimental Physiology · 2020
DOI 10.1113/ep087492
narrative_reviewCited 10×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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- Resistance exercise extends the duration of the muscle protein synthesis response to protein ingestion, thereby allowing for greater cumulative muscle growth compared to protein ingestion alone.Good
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