Research

Hormonal

The MPS advantage of animal proteins over plant proteins is significantly more pronounced in older adults (65+) than in younger adults, likely due to the 'leucine threshold'.

If you are over 65, ensure your plant proteins are high-leucine (e.g., soy, pea) or consider animal proteins to overcome age-related anabolic resistance. Younger adults can likely use either source effectively.

ModerateQualifiesLOW confidence
Subanalysis of data indicated that animal-based proteins showed a more pronounced effect on MPS in older adults, whereas younger individuals exhibited similar MPS responses irrespective of protein source.
Bricia Mendes et al. · 2025

Why this rating

Subgroup analysis of a meta-analysis with low overall certainty.

Source

Effects of plant- versus animal-based proteins on muscle protein synthesis

Bricia Mendes et al. · 2025

DOI 10.51224/srxiv.526

Meta-analysis · 12 studies
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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