If you drink free amino acids, your insulin spikes more after the meal than if you drink the same amount of protein from milk — 35 vs 24 units on average.

Pro

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Community contributions welcome

Ingestion of Free Amino Acids Compared with an Equivalent Amount of Intact Protein Results in More Rapid Amino Acid Absorption and Greater Postprandial Plasma Amino Acid Availability Without Affecting Muscle Protein Synthesis Rates in Young Adults in a Double-Blind Randomized Trial

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2022 Jan 11

Contradicting (0)

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Ingestion of Free Amino Acids Compared with an Equivalent Amount of Intact Protein Results in More Rapid Amino Acid Absorption and Greater Postprandial Plasma Amino Acid Availability Without Affecting Muscle Protein Synthesis Rates in Young Adults in a Double-Blind Randomized Trial

Score: 80

DOI: 10.1093/jn/nxab305

Similar Assertions

If you're a healthy young adult, drinking amino acids might help your body build more muscle in the hours after eating than drinking the same amount of protein from milk.

77%

If you drink a mix of free amino acids instead of whole milk protein, your body absorbs them faster and more of them—especially phenylalanine—show up in your blood over six hours.

76%

If you're a healthy young adult, drinking a supplement with 30 grams of broken-down amino acids won't help your muscles grow more than drinking the same amount from real milk protein—even though your body absorbs the amino acids faster.

71%