A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has shed light on the intricate relationship between high-protein animal foods and muscle-building potential in response to weight training. The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, compared the muscle-building response in adults who were fed either high-fat or lean ground pork burgers with the same amount of protein in each.
Lead researcher Nicholas Burd, along with graduate student Žan Zupančič, found that not all high-quality animal protein foods are created equal. Previous studies from Burd’s lab revealed that whole foods, such as whole eggs and salmon, were more effective at stimulating post-workout protein synthesis compared to their processed counterparts.
In the new study, the researchers used advanced methods to track and calculate muscle-protein synthesis in 16 young, physically active adults. The participants were given either a high-fat pork burger, a lean pork burger, or a carbohydrate drink after engaging in weight-training exercises. Muscle biopsies were taken before and after the exercise to measure protein synthesis rates.
Surprisingly, the study found that participants who consumed the lean pork burger had a greater rate of muscle-protein synthesis compared to those who ate the high-fat pork burger. This contradicted previous findings that higher fat content in foods enhanced post-exercise muscle-protein synthesis. The researchers suggested that the processing of the ground pork patties may have affected the digestion kinetics, leading to different outcomes.
Burd emphasized that exercise remains the primary stimulus for muscle-protein synthesis, and nutrition plays a complementary role in maximizing muscle gains. While the results of the study may be specific to ground pork, the overall takeaway is that whole, unprocessed foods seem to be a better stimulus for muscle-building potential.
The study, titled “Ingestion of a lipid-rich meat matrix blunts the post-exercise increase of myofibrillar protein synthesis rates in healthy adults: A randomized controlled trial,” provides valuable insights into optimizing muscle gains through a combination of exercise and nutrition. Further research is needed to explore the mechanisms behind the varying muscle-building responses to different high-protein animal foods.
This study highlights the importance of choosing whole, unprocessed foods for post-workout nutrition to maximize muscle-protein synthesis and enhance the benefits of weight training. Incorporating lean protein sources into your diet, such as lean meats, eggs, and fish, may help support muscle growth and recovery after exercise.
