By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, January 31, 2015, abstracted from “Pea protein’s oral supplementation promotes muscle thickness gains during resistance training: a double-blind, randomized, Placebo-controlled clinical trial vs. Whey protein” in the January 21, 2015 issue of the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.

Proper nutrition is particularly important for accelerated muscle development. Essential amino acids play a decisive role (1), especially the branched-chain amino acid L-leucine (2), found in particularly high quantities in whey protein (3). Whey is also digested very quickly, making it highly recommended immediately after exercise to stimulate muscle growth (4,5).

A new study (6) suggests pea protein may suitably replace whey for people sensitive to milk or seeking to limit dairy intake. It included 161 men aged 18–35 with moderate physical activity of 2–6 hours weekly, none of which was intended to increase muscle strength or mass during the previous six months. Participants followed a program described as weight-loss training three days weekly for 12 weeks. They also received 50 grams of pea protein isolate daily in two 25-gram servings (53 participants), 50 grams of whey protein concentrate in two 25-gram servings (54), or placebo (54).

Upper-arm muscle thickness was measured by ultrasound before and after. After 12 weeks, thickness increased by 20.2% with pea protein, 15.6% with whey and 8.6% with placebo.

Strength increased by 17% with pea protein (62.7 to 73.4 newton-metres), 17.6% with whey (61.8 to 72.7) and 13.75% with placebo (64.0 to 72.8).

According to the researchers, the similar muscle-size and strength results for pea and whey make pea protein a suitable alternative in sports nutrition products for different levels and sports.

Reference:

1.     Tipton KD, Gurkin BE, Matin S, Wolfe RR. Nonessential amino acids are not necessary to stimulate net muscle protein synthesis in healthy volunteers. J Nutr Biochem. 1999;10:89–95

2.     Burd NA, Tang JE, Moore DR, Phillips SM. Exercise training and protein metabolism: Influences of contraction, protein intake, and sex-based differences. J Appl Physiol 2009;106:1692–701

3.     Boirie Y, Dangin M, Gachon P, Vasson MP, Maubois JL, Beaufrere B. Slow and fast dietary proteins differently modulate postprandial protein accretion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997;94:14930–5

4.     Cermak NM, Res PT, de Groot LC, Saris WH, van Loon LJ. Protein supplementation augments the adaptive respons_e of skeletal muscle to resistance-type exercise training: a meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012;96:1454–64

5.     Babault N, Deley G, Le Ruyet P, Morgan F, Allaert FA. Effects of soluble milk protein or casein supplementation on muscle fatigue following resistance training program: a randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled study. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2014;11:36

6.     Babault N. Pea proteins oral supplementation promotes muscle thickness gains during resistance training: a double-blind, randomized, Placebo-controlled clinical trial vs. Whey protein. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2015 Jan 21;12(1):3. doi:

Leave a Reply