In healthy young adults performing resistance exercise, consumption of 20 grams of protein from a complementary plant-based blend of beans and rice produces no statistically significant difference in postexercise myofibrillar protein synthesis compared to an isolated nutrient mixture with an identical amino acid profile.

After exercise, amino acids from any protein source enter the bloodstream and are taken up by muscle cells. These amino acids, especially leucine, turn on a molecular switch called mTORC1, which tells the cell to start building new muscle proteins. The rate at which muscle proteins are made depends only on how much amino acid is available, not on whether the amino acids came from beans and rice together or from a purified mix with the same amino acids.