The Study
Comparing Even with Skewed Dietary Protein Distribution Shows No Difference in Muscle Protein Synthesis or Amino Acid Utilization in Healthy Older Individuals: A Randomized Controlled Trial
This study gave two groups of older people different ways to spread out their protein during the day and checked if their muscles grew better. It found no difference, so we can say the way they ate protein didn’t make a big difference in this case—but only because they were already eating enough protein overall.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists gave older adults the same total amount of protein every day — some spread it evenly across meals, others gave them most at dinner — and checked if their muscles built more protein.
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 568 / 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.
- 1No, it doesn't matter — eating protein evenly or mostly at dinner makes no difference if you get enough total protein each day.
- 2Both groups built muscle at the same rate: 2.2% per day, and used the same amount of protein from food to make new muscle.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Nutrients
Year
2022
Authors
T. E. H. Justesen, S. Jespersen, Thomas Tagmose Thomsen, L. Holm, G. van Hall, J. Agergaard
Related Content
Claims (10)
In older adults consuming sufficient protein daily, spreading protein evenly across meals does not lead to greater muscle protein synthesis or amino acid uptake in muscle compared to consuming most protein at dinner.
In healthy older adults who consume 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body mass daily, spreading protein intake evenly across meals has the same effect on muscle protein synthesis as consuming 60% of protein at dinner. Meal timing does not affect how well muscles use amino acids when total daily protein intake is sufficient.
Among healthy adults aged 65–80 consuming 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body mass daily, spreading protein evenly across meals produces the same level of muscle protein synthesis and amino acid use for muscle building as consuming most protein at dinner.
In healthy adults aged 65 to 80, consuming 1.0 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day maintains the highest possible rate of muscle protein synthesis, whether the protein is spread evenly across meals or concentrated in fewer meals.
In healthy older adults who consume enough protein each day, splitting protein intake into two smaller meals does not increase muscle protein synthesis more than consuming the same total amount in one larger meal.
For people who train with weights, the total amount of protein consumed in a day determines muscle adaptation more than how that protein is spread out across meals.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.