Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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29.12.2012 |
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Added leucine makes wheat protein as anabolic as whey
Leucine
Research on leucine has taken a fascinating turn in this study, which was published recently by researcher and bodybuilding coach Layne Norton of the University of Illinois. [biolayne.com]
Strength athletes have noticed that their dairy-based proteins have become more expensive in recent years, and the prices look set to rise even further in the short term. Sports nutrition manufacturers notice that a shortage of whey and casein has arisen in the market. Demand is outstripping supply. It doesn't take a genius to work out what that means for the price of high-quality protein powders in 2013.
The long-term prospects are even more sombre. Demand for meat and dairy products is growing frighteningly fast in the economic giants in Asia and South America. It's not clear how long strength athletes with an average income will still be able to afford protein supplements.
Plant-based proteins may offer an alternative. These include proteins derived form wheat, soya, potatoes, algae or rapeseed. These are much cheaper than whey, but their muscle building effect is also less, as research by Norton and his colleagues has shown.
Study
Results
When the researchers measured the concentration of amino acids in the rats' blood 90 minutes after a meal they arrived at the table shown below. The more powerful the anabolic response of the protein, the higher the concentration of leucine in the blood of the animals.
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If leucine is indeed 'the' factor that makes whey such a good muscle builder, then a diet containing gluten protein might provide just as good a growth stimulus as a diet containing whey – if you enrich the gluten diet with leucine, was the researchers' reasoning. So they carried out another experiment in which they gave a group of rats a meal containing gluten protein [WGG], a meal containing gluten and leucine [WGL] or a meal containing whey. The rats in the WGL group got as much leucine as the rats in the whey group, and all groups consumed the same amount of amino acids.
And [drum roll]: The muscle protein production 90 minutes after a meal was the same in the WGL group as in the whey group.
Conclusion
Time will tell, but in a hundred years we may all well be vegan.
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