High-Protein Diet for Athletes
A high-protein diet for athletes is an eating pattern that raises daily protein above the general adult recommendation to support training adaptations. The reference document is the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) position stand on protein and exercise, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition in 2017.
What published research reports
The ISSN position stand reports that for building and maintaining muscle mass, an overall daily protein intake of 1.4–2.0 g per kg of body weight per day is sufficient for most exercising individuals, and that higher intakes (above 3.0 g/kg/day) may help resistance-trained people maintain lean mass while losing fat. It recommends spreading protein across the day in doses of roughly 20–40 g per meal, notes that around 700–3,000 mg of leucine per dose is the range associated with maximal muscle protein synthesis in the studies it cites, and states that in healthy exercising people these intakes have not been shown to harm kidney function or bone health. The ISSN’s related position stand on diets and body composition reports that total daily calories and protein are the main dietary drivers of body-composition change, across many diet styles.
References
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