Protein powders (aka protein shakes) are commonly believed to help build muscle. A recent review published in The British Journal of Sports Medicine looked at whether protein supplementation led to improvement in muscle mass and strength.

Researchers found that protein supplementation did have a positive effect on strength, muscle size and fat-free mass (aka lean body mass). Improvement in strength was measured using 1-rep max strength. The group that received protein supplementation had an additional benefit of 9% (2.49kg) in their 1 Rep Max when compared to those who didn't consume a protein supplement. Also, the protein group had a 1.4kg gain in fat free mass compared to the control group which had a 1.1kg increase.

For professional athletes, every bit of strength counts. This study recommends an upper limit of 2.2g/kg/day of protein intake for serious athletes. But for the rest of us, protein shakes do help a bit, but not as much as getting to the gym and actually doing the work.


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Average protein intake in the general population:


Many people in high income countries easily exceed the RDA of protein intake without even trying. In the following study from the US, Figure 1C and Table 1 show that the average American adult is consuming somewhere between 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of ideal body weight, with some variation depending on age group and gender: https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/108/2/405/5042716
 
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Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:34 How our bodies build muscle

0:58 Muscle Hypertrophy
1:57 Protein powder supplementation in addition to diet
3:24 Signficance of protein supplementation

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Full Article from British Journal of Sports Medicine: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/52/6/376

Other references for this video:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/728005/global-whey-protein-market-size/
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/protein
Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology (12ed)

#protein #fitness #docunlock

Full transcript: https://www.docunlock.org/youtube/does-protein-powder-work

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Video credits:

Certain illustrations adapted from https://www.svgrepo.com/ and https://www.freepik.com/ (pikisuperstar / brgfx / iconicbestiary / Freepik)

Music:
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Overjoyed by Lakey Inspired: https://soundcloud.com/lakeyinspired
So Jazzy by Peyruis https://soundcloud.com/peyruis Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/PcLI7ECCDUA

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