Carb-Protein Supplement Stimulates Muscle Protein Synthesis during Exercise
Researchers from the University of Maastricht, The Netherlands, recently investigated the effects of carbohydrate and protein consumption during a combined strength and endurance workout on muscle protein synthesis during the workout and over a nine-hour period afterward.
Twenty men completed a two-hour evening workout after having eaten normally during the day. They consumed either a carb-protein supplement or water during the workout and early recovery. Muscle protein synthesis was found to increase by 48 percent during the workout in the subjects given the carb-protein supplement. During the nine-hour recovery period, muscle protein synthesis rates were the same in both groups.
The authors of the study, which was published in the Journal of Nutrition, wrote, "We conclude that, even in a fed state, protein and carbohydrate supplementation stimulates muscle protein synthesis during exercise. Ingestion of protein with carbohydrate during and immediately after exercise improves whole-body protein synthesis but does not further augment muscle protein synthesis rates during 9 hours of subsequent overnight recovery." |