Do we need high protein diets?

[Ricardo R.]

Hi, Dr. Santana. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the study published March 27, 2021, American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism, by Coleen McKenna et. al., entitled Higher protein intake during resistance training does not potentiate strength, but modulates gut microbiota, in middle-aged adults: a randomized control trial. Thanks.

[stef]

Here is a better question: Do we need retarded studies, set up by imbeciles, run out of subsidized diploma-mills, paid for by printing that inflates away real earnings, and promoted by sub-literate moron propagandists? Would time and money be much better spent watching a dog take a shit?

For those without a dog handy, that enjoy looking at the corpse of Western Civilization:

• the thing itself as pdf
• interpretation by a gatekeeper

[NFK]

Wait... What?

A total of 50 healthy overweight middle-aged men and women were enrolled to participate[...] [Those with] BMI ≥ 18.5 and < 35 kg･m-2, or not currently (≥ 1 y) participating in a resistance
exercise training were eligible...

So above 18.5 BMI is now considered overweight? And I don't get the "or" in that sentence either.

Without having read the interpretation link:

This study is not about training for strength, it is about exercising to sustain lean body mass for middle aged people, so nothing that should concern any of us, even if the study had been conducted correctly.

[AndrewLewis]

-10 week study
-Self-reported diet data
-0.8-1.0g protein/kg body weight is moderate and 1.6-1.8g/kg body weight is high. Okay then
-50 year old novices
-Testing 1RM and 10RM to establish baseline ON NOVICES
-Leg curls, leg extensions, push/pull nonsense

And the best part so far: "After 2 weeks of training habituation, the load was linearly progressed when participants successful completed 3 × 10 working sets while maintaining proper form and cadence"

So they added weight 5 total times (maybe less if cadence was poor) in 10 weeks and didn't notice a difference in strength between the two groups. Fascinating.

[Robert Santana]

Hi, Dr. Santana. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the study published March 27, 2021, American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism, by Coleen McKenna et. al., entitled Higher protein intake during resistance training does not potentiate strength, but modulates gut microbiota, in middle-aged adults: a randomized control trial. Thanks.

Are you trolling? Did you actually read this? Explain to me why I should read a single piece of text beyond

"Those without chronic cardiometabolic diseases, BMI ≥ 18.5 and < 35 kg･m-2, or not currently (≥ 1 y) participating in a resistance exercise training were eligible. Individuals with uncontrolled hypertension, on confounding medication or dietary supplements (i.e., those known to affect strength, muscle mass, or other measured outcomes), current participation in an exercise program (resistance or other), exercise or dietary restrictions, musculoskeletal conditions or injuries sustained ≤ 1 y, excessive alcohol intake (e.g., > 10 drinks·wk−1), abnormal protein intake (< 0.66 or > 1.80 g·kg−1·d−1) or history of tobacco or marijuana use were excluded from participating in this study."

I already correctly assumed that they have no idea what these people are eating no matter how well they can articulate it in writing, but Ricardo, seriously?

[Ricardo R.]

No, I am not trolling. My own take is this. I think the study was too short-lived to make a comment on high protein diets. The subjects were all exercise naïve, and so after 10 weeks of modest weight training, they all gained in strength and in lean muscle mass. However, if the study had gone longer, and the weights had gotten larger, I think perhaps we may have seen a difference in the high protein versus moderate protein diet. Are you aware of any long term studies addressing protein intake, or is the 1 g of protein per pound of weight per day more based on anecdotal and experience? I personally find it hard to follow this approach, it's a lot of protein for me, and I need to take a fair amount of supplements to meet this amount. Thanks.

[Robert Santana]

There are no long-term lifting studies that actually measure intake. The NIH isn't going to fund an inpatient feeding and lifting study to find out how to get jacked guys more jacked. Neither is the industry given that before and after pictures and grandiose claims have made them plenty of money on a much smaller budget.