Can plant proteins build muscles as well as animal proteins?
The Anabolic Response to Plant-Based Protein Ingestion
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Plant proteins like soy or wheat don’t spike muscle growth as much right after eating compared to animal proteins like whey. But you can fix this by eating more of them, mixing different kinds, or adding missing building blocks called amino acids.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
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Evidence Score
Based on clinical experience or non-systematic literature reviews. The lowest level of evidence as they are most susceptible to bias and personal perspective.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Plant proteins like soy or wheat don’t spike muscle growth as much right after eating compared to animal proteins like whey. But you can fix this by eating more of them, mixing different kinds, or adding missing building blocks called amino acids.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 51 / 5
Evidence Score
Based on clinical experience or non-systematic literature reviews. The lowest level of evidence as they are most susceptible to bias and personal perspective.
Publication
Authors
Pinckaers PJM, Trommelen J, Snijders T, van Loon LJC
Related Content
Claims (5)
Plant proteins like soy and wheat don’t help build muscle as much right after eating compared to animal proteins like whey or milk, especially in older people when they're not exercising.
Some plant proteins don't help build muscle as well as animal proteins because they often don't have enough of certain important building-block nutrients, especially lysine and methionine, which are low in foods like wheat, corn, and oats.
Mixing different plant proteins, like peas and rice, can give you all the amino acids your muscles need, just like animal protein.
Adding missing amino acids like lysine or methionine to plant proteins might make them better for building muscle, but we don’t have solid proof from human studies yet.
Eating larger amounts of plant protein, like wheat, can build muscle just as effectively as eating animal proteins like whey.