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27.02.2024

Workout after 40 grams of protein burns just as much fat as workout in fasted state

Endurance athletes build up more stamina if they train on an empty stomach. Moreover, there are indications that you lose fat mass faster if you exercise in a fasted state. That's great, but what do you do if you don't feel like exercising on an empty stomach? Consuming a generous portion of protein (and nothing else) before training is an option, a British human study suggests.

Study
Researchers from Newcastle University had 15 active subjects cycle for an hour on three separate occasions at an intensity of 60 percent of their peak power output.

On one occasion, the test subjects drank half a liter of water before cycling. Another time the researchers had dissolved 20 grams of whey hydrolyzate in this amount of water and another time 40 grams of whey hydrolyzate.

The figure below gives you an idea of ​​the experimental design. Click on it for a larger version.

Results
When the subjects cycled after consuming a protein shake, there was more insulin in their blood. But the protein shake, whether it provided 20 or 40 grams of protein, had practically no influence on the concentration of free fatty acids [NEFA] and glycerol in the blood of the test subjects.

If you use body fat to burn, you expect those concentrations to rise. When stored fat is released from fat cells, that fat is also released in split form - so as free fatty acids and glycerol.

When the body burns protein or carbohydrates, more energy is released per gram than when the body burns fat. The RER is increasing. The figure above shows that protein administration had no effect on the RER during exercise either.

Even after a shake with 40 grams of protein, the body burns as much body fat through moderate-intensity exercise as through exercise on an empty stomach.

Conclusion
"As fasted exercise, or exercise with low carbohydrate availability, might enhance metabolic adaptation in skeletal muscle but poses challenges, pre-exercise protein intake at doses up to 40 grams could be considered as a nutritional strategy to yield similar effect in exercising individuals who struggle to include fasted exercise into their training", summarize the British.

"However, longer-term training studies will need to investigate this."

Source:
J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2023 Dec;20(1):2275006.

More:
Protein shake before exercise increases fat oxidation 25.06.2019
Cardio exercise burns more fat with protein-rich diet 08.11.2010
Eighteen grams of whey before training increases your fat burning 12.01.2010

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