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Protein is so popular these days that it seems nobody can get enough of it. Not getting enough protein can literally be a struggle, however, partly because certain factors impede our ability to fully digest and use the protein we consume. That’s why ingredients that promise to “boost” protein’s power are attracting more and more attention these days. But what do we really know about how these ingredients unlock protein’s potential—and what evidence do we have that they actually do so?

Muscle-Building Bedrock

One thing we do know is that as a trending nutrient, protein maintains its pull. Notes Shawn Baier, MS, MBA, chief operating officer, Metabolic Technologies Inc. (Ames, IA), “We’re most definitely still talking about protein. In sports nutrition, it’s front and center as a key product feature.”To wit: Fully 90% of the 7+% CAGR that Technavio predicts for the U.S. sports-nutrition market by 2019 will likely come from sales of protein products, says Mallory Junggren, marketing director, Nutrition 21 (Purchase, NY). “This proves that protein products remain the bedrock of the sports-nutrition industry,” she declares.

But protein’s popularity extends beyond sports enthusiasts. Recent years have seen the macronutrient colonize mainstream meal replacement and healthy snack formulations, says David Keller, vice president of scientific operations, Ganeden (Cleveland). A 2017 Ganeden-sponsored Survey Sampling International (SSI) look at the buying habits of health-conscious consumers found nearly half of all respondents select protein products as “typically purchased items,” Keller notes, “showing that there’s still a large amount of interest in the category.”

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger

But for athletes and active types, protein serves a very particular purpose. As Jim Komorowski, chief science officer at Nutrition 21, explains, “During exercise, or just periods of heightened physical activity, muscle fibers are damaged, making them more susceptible to fatigue or injury.” Counterintuitively, it’s this fatigue that signals the body to begin a process called muscle protein synthesis (MPS), “which works to repair and replace damaged muscle fibers through fusing them together into new, strong muscle-protein strands,” Komorowski continues. “As these strands increase in number and thickness, they create muscle growth.”To feed that growth, the body needs muscle tissue’s basic building blocks: amino acids. And “for those athletes pushing their bodies in training and performance,” says Baier, “dietary protein provides a source of these necessary building blocks to build new and repair existing muscle.” When dietary protein is insufficient, “the body turns to its own muscle tissue to meet the requirement for amino acids,” he says—which kind of defeats the purpose of muscle-building exercise in the first place.

On the Level

Just how much protein athletes and active people need is a moving target, as no two bodies—and no two bodybuilding regimens—are alike. But this we can conclude: “Compared to the RDA, athletes and active people need more protein to ensure they’re meeting the elevated demand for muscle repair and recovery,” Baier says.A “common approach” he’s observed among athletes is to consume 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight “at a minimum,” Baier says, though he’s also seen recommendations for as much as 2 grams per kilogram for some athletes.Indeed, Ralf Jäger, FISSN, CISSN, MBA, managing member, Increnovo LLC (Milwaukee), notes that intakes of up to 2.3 to 3.1 grams protein per kilogram of body weight per day “may be needed to maximize the retention of lean body weight in resistance-trained subjects during hypocaloric periods.” While emphasizing that optimal intakes for maximizing MPS will vary, he says that 0.25 gram1 of high-quality protein—that is, protein rich in essential amino acids and especially the branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) leucine—per kilogram of body weight, or an absolute dose of 20 to 40 grams, makes for a wise general recommendation. “These protein doses should ideally be evenly distributed every three to four hours across the day,” Jäger adds.

Source: Protein Gets a Boost: Ingredients that Increase the Effects of Protein | Nutritional Outlook

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Nutrisattva is a protein innovation company focused on developing natural protein nutrition for individuals across age groups, nutritional needs, and lifestyles. Founded on the belief that the strains of urban living requires a natural, informed and convenience-based approach to good health, Nutrisattva develops products built on the knowledge of nutrition science, fitness and Ayurveda.