The Weekly Thread: 25g vs. 100g of protein, the habits of the world’s slowest agers, and the two people you don’t negotiate with.

I’m super stoked about the findings of a recently published study titled, “The anabolic response to protein ingestion during recovery from exercise has no upper limit in magnitude and duration in vivo in humans”, especially because of how clear the findings appear to be. 

This study aimed to determine whether the age-old thinking that you can only consume so much protein in a sitting for actual muscle protein synthesis, was accurate. 

The thought process was that high amounts of protein consumed in a single sitting would result in excess protein; the excess of which would not synthesized by the body to support skeletal muscle and aid in recovery, and thus simply be excreted out of the body, and result in what many would call “expensive urine”.

Apparently though, there’s not really any science backing this claim up. 

The authors of the paper open by stating, “The belief that the anabolic response to feeding during postexercise recovery is transient and has an upper limit and that excess amino acids are being oxidized lacks scientific proof.”.

100g vs. 25g protein: Does more protein = more protein synthesis?

The short answer is yes, and to be honest, I think the findings are quite remarkable and noteworthy. 

So let’s unpack this study a bit more.

Using a comprehensive quadruple isotope tracer feeding-infusion approach (I’m not entirely sure what that is, but it sounds scientific), they were able to show that the ingestion of 100g protein did in fact, result in a greater and more prolonged (>12 hours) anabolic response (muscle recovery and protein synthesis) than the ingestion of 25g of protein, which is typically considered a moderate serving that the body can fully assimilate by way of the previous thinking on protein consumption. 

This is a pretty big finding, because the old-school traditional thinking would tell you that the majority of that 100g of protein wouldn’t be used, and would be oxidized and out of the body after only a few hours. This finding shows that the participants who ingested 100g of protein were still yielding an anabolic response from it over 12 hours later. 

Furthermore, they state, “Ingestion of a large bolus of protein further increases whole-body protein net balance, mixed-muscle, myofibrillar, muscle connective, and plasma protein synthesis rates.”.

In short, the larger the serving of protein in a single sitting, the more it yields benefits in all areas of measurement of availability of amino acids and muscle protein synthesis. 

The authors conclude by stating, “These findings demonstrate that the magnitude and duration of the anabolic response to protein ingestion is NOT restricted and has previously been UNDERESTIMATED in vivo in humans.”.

Takeaways

 

• My current post-workout shake contains about 50g of protein, 12-18g of collagen, and a serving of colostrum. I personally will be upping my post-workout shake to contain 100g of protein, along with the collagen and colostrum, if I will not be eating for over an hour post-workout. However, if I will be eating a whole food meal shortly following my workout, I will decrease my post-workout shake accordingly.  NOTE: collagen is comprised of amino acids, so it’s technically a protein, however, it doesn’t count towards protein for muscle protein synthesis (i.e. your daily total protein intake) as it’s a unique protein that isn’t synthesized by your muscle tissue, and rather goes to heal and repair hair, skin, nails, joints, your gut and intestinal lining, and to strengthen your bones. 

 

• The importance of protein and maintaining strong, healthy muscle has been well proven to be critical for a faster metabolism and overall longevity and disease prevention. Furthermore, research shows that a MINIMUM of 1g/protein per 1lb of bodyweight is ideal, and 1.2g-1.4g/lb of bodyweight has been shown to be even more ideal, and yield even more positive effects on your metabolism. This can be difficult for many, and this study provides some relief, as it shows you can load protein, especially post-workout, and synthesize it, thus counting towards your daily protein intake goals. 

 

• This is especially important to note for people trying to maximize their workout recovery (which, aren’t we all?) and overall performance, athletes and those training for an athletic event, anyone following an intermittent fasting/time restricted eating window where you are probably eating less meals, and especially noteworthy for those as they age. 

 

• Finally, let’s dig a bit more deeply on the importance of protein and maintaining healthy muscle tissue for the aging population. As you age, Sarcopenia (the natural loss of muscle tissue as you age) is an inevitability, as well as increased anabolic resistance (the need for greater amounts of protein for muscle protein synthesis). If this sounds like a double whammy, well, unfortunately, it is. Think about it like this, picture a 50, 60, 70 year old individual, male or female, who can knock out 20 bodyweight squats and a similar amount of push ups. Now picture someone who can barely do a bodyweight squat, and can’t do any pushups. Who do you think will age more quickly? As you age, due to the aforementioned factors: sarcopenia and increased anabolic resistance, the need for strength/resistance training and increased protein in your diet becomes even more of a necessity. Again, this study provides some relief, showing that you can consume higher amounts of protein in a sitting for increased muscle protein synthesis and anabolic response. 

My final note or recommendation is to provide your body with some added digestive support when consuming more protein, and to supplement with a multi-enzyme digestive enzyme blend. This should come as no surprise, as all things slow with age, but as we age, we produce less and less digestive enzymes, thus providing us with less digestive support. If you focus on consuming more protein, it can be extremely beneficial to consume 1-3 caps of a multi-enzyme before larger meals, especially containing high amounts of protein (as they should be with all meals), as well with your post-workout shake. I also recommend using a protein post-workout that has an enzyme blend in it. 

It appears we are becoming increasingly fascinated with the Rejuvenation Olympics, as it seems more and more people are actively participating, and I’m finding more and more coverage of the top “slow agers”. 

I find myself personally fascinated, especially as the coverage of the world’s “slowest agers” on paper grows, because it’s nice to get a more anthropological view of aging. 

I’m always looking for new, insightful, and interesting clinical research to share with you, as it sheds light on how we can all live a happier, healthier life, however, I find it’s also great to get information directly from the sources, the world’s slowest agers, and to try to glean consistencies from their lifestyle, especially low hanging fruit that we can all apply with no expense, or relatively inexpensively. 

In a recently published article titled, “Biohacker spending $2m a year to reverse his age beaten by a man paying just $30,000 a year” highlights Bryan Johnson, the creator and founder of the Rejuvenation Olympics and a man who just passed him up named David Pascoe, who is now 3rd on the list of the slowest rate of aging based on their most recent test. 

First on that list is a 15 year old, so honestly, they don’t count if you ask me, making Pascoe second, and the woman we highlighted last week, Julie Gibson Clark, first.

Bryan Johnson is seventh on that list. (I’ll share more on his insane routine in a future edition and discuss some of my thoughts on why I think he’s not first, despite spending $2mm/year on his pursuit to reverse aging). 

Meet David Pascoe, a 61 year old man with an epigenetic age of 39.6 years according to his most recent PACE test.

 

Again, what fascinates me about the Rejuvenation Olympics and the increased coverage of the world’s “slowest agers” is studying their individual habits, and gleaning what I can from them, especially spotting consistencies. 

First, Pascoe takes around 120 supplements a day, as does Bryan Johnson (who rigorously tests the efficacy of everything he puts into his body to see if it’s beneficial, and thus, part of why his biohacking budget is so extreme).

Now, I’m sure the vast majority of you reading this don’t have a budget for 120 supplements, however, it does go to show the benefit of nutritional supplementation, especially as we learn more and more about specific molecules and how they can positively affect our health and help to reverse aging on the body. 

Maybe you can’t, or don’t want to budget for 120 supplements, but can you budget for 3, 5, or 10? I haven’t counted exactly how many supplements I take, but if I had to guess, there are probably 30-40 I take with regularity. 

Secondly, Pascoe highlights his emphasis on both sauna and cold therapy. 

This does appear to be a consistency across the board that I’ve seen with all the slowest agers. 

I love to jump in the lake in the fall, winter, and early spring for a natural cold plunge, but you can always invest in a cold plunge, and even a consistent cold shower practice can yield therapeutic, anti-aging benefits. In fact, a few weeks ago I highlighted a research study showing the positive impact of cold water immersion, and truth be told, the water temp in the study wasn’t even that cold!

It seems pretty clear that the more you chip away with cold showers and other forms of cold water immersion, and sauna, the more you are sure to reverse the aging process on your body, so slow it down considerably. 

What I found most noteworthy about Pascoe’s routine, and something I’m going to personally look into more in consideration for myself, is that he donates plasma 4 times per year. 

That’s right, remember when you were a broke college student, or broke looking for a job, and you’d donate plasma for some extra cash?

That was definitely me in college. 

He does this 4 times per year (I assume quarterly) as he says, "In less than five donations, my entire blood volume is filtered, eliminating all of the older damaged proteins. It's a trade off in time, rather than money, but I'm retired now so that's fine by me."

Finally, I really appreciate his approach to longevity as he doesn’t over analyze and take it too seriously (something I think Bryan Johnson does), but also has a great appreciation for the physical body he’s been blessed with stating, "My body is like a prized racehorse, or a cherished high-end performance vehicle,"

He also knows it does require effort and dedication at the same time, this is how he describes people when they find out how old he is:

“They immediately assume it's just good luck or genes. I'll explain that it didn't happen by chance, that it's from very intentional lifestyle choices. Then maybe only 1 out of 10 people will even ask what those choices involve”.

 

The two people you don’t negotiate with…

Terrorists & Yourself 

For this week’s “Meditations”, we’ll focus on Yourself (as Terrorists seem a bit more obvious). 

It’s estimated that we are faced with, and make 1000s of decisions every single day. 

That alone requires an incredible amount of mental bandwidth. 

Often, we are guilty of giving many of these decisions far too much bandwidth, thus sucking even more of your precious mental bandwidth for the day. 

Ultimately, your gut knows best. 

If you find yourself negotiating with yourself about a specific decision, I bet your gut is telling you one thing, but you are trying to talk yourself out of it for fear, uncertainty, or a plethora of other unproductive reasons. 

Negotiate less with yourself. 

Be more decisive. 

Go with your gut. 

Use the newfound mental bandwidth and energy for more self-care, and to dedicate to the loved ones in your life.