Why protein shakes don't build muscle when you're starving
Protein synthesis signaling in skeletal muscle is refractory to whey protein ingestion during a severe energy deficit evoked by prolonged exercise and caloric restriction
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When people eat way less food and exercise a lot, their muscles stop responding to protein shakes, even though protein levels in the blood go up.
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.
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Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When people eat way less food and exercise a lot, their muscles stop responding to protein shakes, even though protein levels in the blood go up.
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 532 / 90
Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Publication
Authors
Martin-Rincon M, Perez-Suarez I, Pérez-López A, Ponce-González JG, Morales-Alamo D, de Pablos-Velasco P, Holmberg HC, Calbet JAL
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Claims (4)
When people eat way less food and exercise a lot for a few days, their body lowers the hormones that help build muscle and raises the stress hormone, which may explain why their muscles stop growing even if they eat protein.
Even when people eat whey protein during extreme dieting and lots of exercise, their muscles stop responding to it like they normally would — the protein doesn’t trigger the usual growth signals.
Even when the body is in starvation mode, one specific part of the muscle growth system (4E-BP1) becomes more active — which is confusing because other parts are shutting down.
Even though drinking whey protein makes more building-block amino acids show up in the blood during extreme dieting, those amino acids don’t get the muscle to grow like they normally would.