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Scientific evidence suggests: There is not one optimal protein to build muscle - its the mix of fast to slow proteins thats key.

For someone like yourself, whos making sure to get his daily dose of SuppVersity Science News, the results Reidy et al. present in their latest paper in the Journal of Applied Physiology can hardly be surprising. I have, after all, written about the superiority of whey + casein blends as potential muscle builders only recently ("When Whey & Casein Unite in the Spirit of True Physique Improvements, BCAAs & Glutamine Better Shut the F*** Up"  | (re-)read the article). It was thus only to be expected that a study in which the scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch compared the effects of the prolonged hyperaminoacidemia thats associated with the ingestion of a blend of plant (25% soy) and dairy (50% casein, 25% whey) proteins (with varying digestion rates) to that of a pure rapidly digested whey would yield a definite points win for the "time-released" formula.
The reasons why its still well worth taking a closer look at the study results are (a) the fact that the f**** up supplement industry is still trying to tell you that protein blends would be inferior to overpriced isolates and (b) the educative value of the post-workout + post-supplementation serum amino acid profiles Reidy et al. observed the 16 healthy, young subjects (age range: 19 –30 yr) who participated in their double-blind, randomized clinical trial (with body fat levels of >24% those were certainly no physical culturists, though ;-)

Figure 1: Graphical overview of the study design (Reidy. 2014)

As you can see in Figure 1 the study protocol involved a standardized resistance training session in the course of which the subjects who had been kept on a diet containing 20% protein, 60% carbohydrate, and 20% fat at 12 kcal/kg for 72h, performed leg extensions on a Cybex-VR2 (Medway, MA), i.e. 8 sets of 10 repetitions at 55% (set 1), 60% (set 2), 65% (set 3), and 70% (sets 4 – 8) of the participants previously determined 1 RM with 3-min rest between sets, before they consumed the protein beverages (Whey or Blend) exactly 1 h postexercise.

Figure 2: Net phenylalanine enrichment (left) and inward and outward transport (right)

The ingestion of the beverages of which the blend and the whey protein contained of 20.1 g total protein (providing 1.9 g leucine, 1.0 g phenylalanine, 1.3 g valine, and 9.0 g EAA; 50% protein from sodium caseinate, 25% protein from whey protein isolate, and 25% protein from soy protein isolate) and 17.3 g of protein (providing 1.9 g leucine, 0.6 g phenylalanine, 1.1 g valine, and 8.7 g EAA; 100% whey protein isolate), respectively, lead to significant increases in amino acid transporter activity (2/SLC38A2, proton-assisted amino acid transporter 1/SLC36A1, cationic amino acid transporter 1/SLC7A1).

"However, the ingestion of the protein blend resulted in a prolonged and positive net phenylalanine balance during postexercise recovery compared with whey protein (P 0.05)." (Reidy)

In view of identical postexercise myofibrillar protein synthesis in both groups this difference may appear negligible. If youve been following my articles about the often oversimplified protein synthesis and increases in skeletal muscle mass, you should be aware that net retention and not fractional synthesis is the term you have to look for, when youre analyzing corresponding studies.
Reference: 

• Reidy, Paul T., et al. "Soy-dairy protein blend and whey protein ingestion after resistance exercise increases amino acid transport and transporter expression in human skeletal muscle." Journal of Applied Physiology 116.11 (2014): 1353-1364.

Dont obsess about "optimal" supplement regimen, start training, eating, sleeping and exercise the patience it takes to reverse years of sedentary pizza eating.

I thought it would be nice to take a closer look at some of the news I would otherwise "waste" in form of a three-liner in the SuppVersity Facebook News and decided that it was about time for yet another "news quickie" on exercise supplementation and exercise & supplementation ;-)

For todays installment of these "Short News", Ive selected a study that discusses the impressive effects of a "gout drug" on exercise induced muscle damage and a study that takes another look at the ever-so-popular issue of "optimal" protein supplementation - an issue some of you are investing so much energy in that it is no wonder that theyre not making the gains they would want to.

• Interesting observation: Xanthine oxidase inhibitor Allopurinol, which is usually used to treat conditions that are cause by increased uric acid levels (e.g. gout), dampens exercise induced muscle damage in trained individuals.
  
  The results of a recent study from the University of Valencia clearly demonstrate that the use of 300 mg of allopurinol 4h before a soccer match, lead to significant reductions in all measured markers of muscle damage in those six out of twelve professional soccer players who had been randomized to the active arm of the study (Sanshis Gomar. 2014).

  Figure 1: Changes in markers of muscle, heart and liver damage, as well as MDA levels, amarker of lipid oxidation due to soccer match with our without xanthine oxidase inhibitor (Sanshis Gomar. 2014)

  Now, unfortunately, a reduction in muscle damage that is facilitated by the inhibition of an enzyme that generates reactive oxygen species is - as you should by now have learnt from the dozens of posts on hormesis and the beneficial effects of exercise induced increases in reactive oxygen specie, not exactly desirable.
  
  The authors conclusion that their observation was a great thing and could be used by athletes all around the world is thus probably only valid with respect to in professional soccer players and other elite athletes who are trying to avoid overuse injuries... and even for their health blunting the ROS response to exercise permanently probably isnt going to be exactly conducive to their health.
• Further evidence for the superiority of protein blends (vs. single sources as whey) for muscle building
  
  Scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch, the Texas A&M University, the Arizona State University and the University of Utah found that a blend of soy and dairy protein slightly prolonged net amino acid balance across the leg as compared to whey protein alone, when it was ingested right after a workout.

• In the soon-to-be-published paper, to which I do unfortunately not have access, the scientists emphasize that it is not the fractional protein synthesis rate or the mRNA expression of selected amino acid transporters (LAT1/SLC7A5, CD98/SLC3A2 SNAT2/SLC38A2, PAT1/SLC36A1, CAT1/SLC7A1) which made the difference, but rather the fact hat "the ingestion of the protein blend resulted in a prolonged and positive net phenylalanine balance during post-exercise recovery as compared to whey protein" (Reidy. 2014).
  
  Now, eventually this is no news. I wrote about a similar phenomenon with whey protein only recently (learn more) and some of the researchers who were part of the study at hand have actually presented very similar results (albeit from a rodent study) in the August edition of Clinical Nutrition last year.
  

  Figure 2: Fractional protein synthesis 0-270min after the ingestion of pure whey or soy isolate of blends containing soy, whey and caseinate in the given ratios (Butteiger. 2013)

  In this study Butteiger et al. observed that a mixture of 1:1:2 of soy protein, whey protein and caseinate (="broken" micelar casein which has a significantly faster digestion rate than the original) produced the maximal increase in protein synthesis (dotted line in Figure 1), but with "fake casein" and soy, I am 100% sure that you can do better than that with whey hydrolysate, whey concentrate and micellar casein (1:1:1 would mean an identical ratio of the three). As far as the ratios goes, I would suggest the following combinations for specific purposes:
  
  • 5:5:1 - immediately post workout, if you have a meal within the next 1h
  • 1:1:1 - immediately post workout, if you have a meal within the next 2h
  • 1:3:5 - as a snack, of if you dont have a meal within 4h of the workout
  Please keep in mind, though that I have no scientific evidence to confirm that this would be "optimal" - its just what I would say appears logical based on the current evidence we have. Instead of whey hydrolysate you can also replace this and the whey concentrate by an isolate. So that you would end up at whey isolate : micellar casein ratios of 10:1, 2:1 and 4:5 - got that?

References:

• Butteiger, D. N., et al. "A soy, whey and caseinate blend extends postprandial skeletal muscle protein synthesis in rats." Clinical Nutrition 32.4 (2013): 585-591.
• Reidy, et al. "Soy-Dairy Protein Blend and Whey Protein Ingestion After Resistance Exercise Increases Amino Acid Transport and Transporter Expression in Human Skeletal Muscle." Journal of Applied Physiology April 3, 2014 jap.01093.2013 
• Sanchis?Gomar, F., et al. "Allopurinol prevents cardiac and skeletal muscle damage in professional soccer players." Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports (2014).