If you are one of those who he takes his gym workouts seriouslyyou will know that the post-workout window It is almost sacred. It’s time to give the body what it needs to repair and build muscle, and protein is the undisputed queen. This is where the big question comes in: does the type of protein we provide to the muscle matter? This is exactly what the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign wanted to answer. with a new study.
What we think. Within this world of wanting to be as ‘masked’ as possible, without a doubt one of the diets that has transcended the most into the annals of history is the chicken and rice. In this way, chicken has almost taken first place in the type of meat that best suits us after training for its amount of protein and its low fat content. But in the case that we eat pork, it is important to make several distinctions according to science.
The study. The research that has been published in the journal The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, reveals that when eating pork after a weight training session, the lean version is significantly more effective in stimulating muscle growth than its counterpart with more fat, even when both provide the same amount of protein.
The experiment. To reach this conclusion, scientists, led by Professor Nicholas Burd, designed a rigorous experiment with 16 young, physically active adults. The goal was to compare how the body responded to three different “meals” after a hard leg workout with press leg and quadriceps extension. A routine that would leave many shaking.
In this case, participants consumed one of the following diet options:
- Low-fat pork: a burger with 20 grams of protein and only 4.4 grams of fat.
- High-fat pork: A burger with the same 20 grams of protein, but only 20.6 grams of fat.
- Carbohydrate drink as a control measure without any type of protein to measure only the effect of exercise.
The measurements. Once the dietary intervention was applied, muscle construction had to be measured. To do this, they used an advanced technique based on the administration of a ‘labeled’ amino acid, specifically L-(ring-13C6)phenylalanine. By marking it, it could be very easy to follow this ‘brick’ that was going to constitute part of the muscles that were hypertrophying.
To follow up, a blood sample was taken as well as a muscle biopsy before and after exercise and food. And this allowed us to see in real time how quickly the body was generating new proteins that would end up in the muscle, in a process known as myofibrillar protein synthesis (MPS).
The results. As expected, both types of pork increased muscle protein synthesis above resting levels. However, lean pork did so much more potently, despite having the same protein levels.
The difference between the two groups was so marked that the anabolic effect of the high-fat hamburger was not statistically significant to that of the carbohydrate drink, which did not contain any protein. In other words, the high concentration of fat seemed to negate the benefit of the protein consumed.
Because. The reason for everything seems to be the speed of digestion and absorption of macronutrients. The blood analysis revealed that participants who ate the lean burger experienced a faster and more pronounced spike in essential amino acids and specifically leucine in their blood than those who ate the fatty version.
This is fundamental for the leucine “trigger” hypothesis. This theory postulates that a rapid and high increase in the amino acid leucine in the bloodstream acts as a powerful signal for the body to initiate the muscle-building process at that time.
The lean pork activated this trigger effectively, while the pork fat probably slowed down gastric emptying and, thus, the arrival of amino acids into the blood and muscles. In fact, the study found a direct correlation between the magnitude of the leucine spike and increased muscle synthesis.
The decision. In a time where protein shakes are the ‘norm’, the question may be asked whether it is better to eat food or drink protein. There is scientific literature that points Because it is always best to have a protein diet with food, since they not only provide protein, but also other components such as lipids, carbohydrates, micronutrients and bioactive compounds that can enhance muscle protein synthesis and improve the overall quality of the diet.
In this way, drinking a protein shake can be a good way to complement the diet, but without forgetting about real foods like meat.
Contradicting. This study has also come to ‘fight’ with the rest of the research teams that pointed out that naturally fattier whole foods such as whole eggs or salmon showed a superior anabolic response. The difference, according to the researchers, could be in the “food matrix.” The pork in the study was processed (minced and blended), which could alter how its nutrients interact, unlike an unprocessed whole food.
Conclusion. This study has come to show that not all sources of animal protein are equal. If the goal in this case is to maximize muscle gain and you want to eat pork, opting for the lean version will give a clear anabolic advantage. This way, it’s not just about how much protein you eat, but how it is packaged and how quickly it gets where it needs to go.
Images | Alora Griffiths Cindie Hansen
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