Study Reveals Breakfast Protein Causes Better Muscle Growth

Aug, 2021 - By SMI

Researchers observed that muscle growth is directly linked to protein intake with respect to the time of consumption; protein intake for breakfast would lead to better muscle strength as compared to protein intake late in the day.

A new study demonstrated that consumption of protein early in the day stimulates better skeletal muscle health and growth. Researchers from Waseda University in Japan conducted a study that reveals about the metabolism of dietary proteins in an individual. The metabolic functions are not only influenced by a type of meal that is consumed but also the timings of consumption. Few studies indicated that the biggest meal or calorie loaded meal consumed late in the day is directly linked to obesity in the majority of people; however other studies show the optimal results of the same practice. Thus it is inferred that biological clock of food consumption in an individual differs from one another.

A new experiment was carried out on mice to determine the influences of protein metabolism, especially in skeletal muscle growth. Two groups of mice were provided with two meals with different protein content at two different times in a day. It was observed that skeletal muscle growth was induced more in mice with protein consumed in the morning as compared to protein intake at night. Moreover, the rate of muscle growth in the mice fed with 8.5 % protein as breakfast was 17 % higher than mice fed with 11.5 % protein as dinner.

Another research was performed on 60 subjects from diet survey to determine the influence of protein metabolism as per circadian clock. Those subjects consuming a high volume of protein for breakfast performed better on a grip strength test and displayed higher skeletal muscle mass as compared to those subjects consuming proteins for dinner. However, the researchers claimed that this causal connection between skeletal muscle mass and time of protein intake in humans hasn’t definitive evidences. Instead it simply based on the animal study observations. Though researchers suggest to go for high volume protein consumption in morning rather than late in the day.