When is the best time to eat protein?

Protein is important when it comes to building and maintaining muscle mass. We however don’t need huge amounts of protein, but we need enough.

The following research investigated the timing of protein intake to see if it made a difference for strength and for maintaining muscle mass (Aoyama S, et al., 2021).

The researchers examined the relationship between the distribution of proteins in meals, muscle functions, and grip strength in elderly women.

Higher grip strength was observed in subjects who ingested dietary proteins mainly at breakfast instead of at dinner. The amount of protein these women ingested was 1.0-1.2 grams per kg of body weight.

The researchers stated that the data suggests that protein intake at breakfast may be better for the maintenance of skeletal muscle mass.

Reference:

Shinya Aoyama, Hyeon-Ki Kim, Rina Hirooka, Mizuho Tanaka, Takeru Shimoda, Hanako Chijiki, Shuichi Kojima, Keisuke Sasaki, Kengo Takahashi, Saneyuki Makino, Miku Takizawa, Masaki Takahashi, Yu Tahara, Shigeki Shimba, Kazuyuki Shinohara 6, Shigenobu Shibata 7, Distribution of dietary protein intake in daily meals influences skeletal muscle hypertrophy via the muscle clock, Cell Rep. 2021 Jul 6;36(1):109336.