The Study
Human protein requirements: interrelationships between energy intake and nitrogen balance in young men consuming the 1973 FAO/WHO safe level of egg protein, with added non-essential amino acids.
This study watched four guys eat specific foods and measured how much protein their bodies kept. It doesn't prove that the food caused any change in everyone — it just shows what happened in those four people.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists gave young men egg protein and then added extra amino acids that aren't usually in eggs, and found they needed less food energy to stay balanced.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 545 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes—this suggests the official protein recommendation might be too low if you're eating a lot of calories, because your body needs more total nitrogen, not just the good amino acids.
- 2With extra amino acids, the men needed 10–15% less food energy to keep their body’s nitrogen balanced.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
The Journal of nutrition
Year
1978
Authors
C. Garza, N. Scrimshaw, V. Young
Related Content
Claims (3)
If you're a young man eating a moderate amount of egg protein, adding some extra nonessential amino acids lets your body stay balanced with less food energy—suggesting that all amino acids together, not just the essential ones, might be holding back how well your body uses protein.
The recommended amount of egg protein from 1973 might not be enough to keep young men’s bodies in balance if they’re eating a lot of calories — their bodies might need extra protein from other sources to stay healthy.
When young men eat eggs as recommended, it’s not just the good proteins that matter—it’s the total amount of nitrogen they get from all the protein that determines if their body keeps or loses muscle.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.