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Researchers took 44 men and gave either plant-protein or animal-protein supplements for 12 weeks while strength training. There was no statistical difference in muscle strength or mass between groups (www.tandfonline.com)
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by to c/science@lemmy.world
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[–] 26 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Right, for the average person, protein supplements are unnecessary as long as they are healthy and eat well.

Athletes (and people with body dysmorphia 😬) might struggle to get enough protein in their diet. But, far too many people think they’re in a position that would warrant supplements when just a little attention to diet is sufficient.

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  • [–] 0 points 10 months ago

    There are many other reasons to take protein supplements. High protein foods can be expensive (protein can be too but there are many options). It's also a quick add to a meal vs prepping an entire meal.

    You don't need to be an athlete to workout 5 days a week and if you want to visually see some of the results protein supplements help. It can also help with recovery whether you're strength, training or training your body in any other way. You don't have to be an athlete to want to be physically fit. Protein can help.

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  • [–] 0 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Were these subjects athletes or were they just people who were weight training?

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Doesn’t matter. The point of the research was to determine if there was a difference between animal and plant based protein supplements for adding muscle. The results would apply to anyone.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago* (1 child)

    And if neither has much effect, the study is pointless.

    I hope there was a control group who had a placebo supplement.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago* (1 child)

    That’s not how science works. You do experiments even to find out if it is pointless.

    But, yes, they should have a control group.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (1 child)

    So the research was pointless because we can't tell the difference without a control group. Further research needed.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago* (1 child)

    That doesn’t make it pointless.

    There is something to be learned from this. Using a control would answer a different question.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (1 child)

    Using a control group would tell us if there's any gain from the supplements whatsoever, was basically my point. For the average person using supplements doesn't do much for weight gain as far as I hear, so that's why I was asking what kind of people these subjects were, if they were athletes or regular people doing weight training. So, it does matter.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    And, my point is that calling this research pointless is just wrong because it answers à different question.

    I’m not disagreeing that the question that you want answered should be studied. It should. But, the fact that this research doesn’t answer your question doesn’t make it pointless.

    It’s perfectly valid research to study whether the results are different between animal-based and plant-based supplements. I didn’t go through the citations but they say:

    Recent evidence suggests that both animal and plant proteins support strength and hypertrophy gains when paired with resistance training and adequate protein intake

    which sounds like the research you’re asking for has already been done.

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