Joseph Agu

Director of Elite Nutrition Coaching | PhD Student

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

Q - Aside from supporting training performance, do carbs help with muscle protein synthesis?

A - Providing that protein is sufficient to maximise MPS alone (~20-25g of high quality protein), adding carbs does not augment this response.

PMID:
21131864
17609259

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

Caffeine-containing beverages are commonly thought to be dehydrating due to caffeine’s mild diuretic effects. However, it has been demonstrated that moderate intakes of such beverages don’t affect total body water or hydration markers compared to water.

PMID:
19774754
24416202

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

When aiming for fat loss, once calorie and protein intakes are set, the distribution of carbs and fat is largely down to preference.

Caveats:
1. Fat intake covers essential requirements.
2. Carb intake doesn’t negatively affect training intensity.

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

Leucine supplementation enhances integrative myofibrillar protein synthesis in older men consuming lower versus higher daily protein intakes.

PMID: 27935521

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

Despite the fact that no research directly points to a muscle sparing effect of daily protein intakes exceeding 1.6 g/kg of body mass, should it make a difference, it’s often prudent to target intakes slightly above this (1.8-2.2 g/kg), than risk consuming too little protein.

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

When considering the amount of dietary protein required to maximise rates of muscle hypertrophy (i.e., ~1.6-2.0 g/kg body mass per day), there’s currently no evidence that intakes need to be further increased under hypocaloric conditions to preserve muscle mass in young adults.

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

While ketogenic diets can be a useful tool for fat loss, they almost always impair sports performance, especially those requiring bouts of high-intensity activity.

PMID: 38934469

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

More evidence that there's no need to stress about consuming protein in close proximity to training.

Total daily protein will always be king.

PMID: 38846541

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

Just because the outcome of a study is statistically significant, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s practically or clinically meaningful. Similarly, a study outcome can be practically meaningful yet non-significant.

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

There is no evidence to support delaying caffeine consumption after waking by 60-120 minutes to improve cognitive performance or any other outcome measure. Nor is there any plausible mechanism.

PMID: 38466174

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

Compared to intermittent fasting with longer eating windows (~8-12h), shorter time-restricted feeding windows (~4h) can lead to considerably reduced energy intake due to the reduced opportunity for eating.

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

Contrary to the purported insulin-mediated metabolic advantage of fasting dieting approaches for fat loss, this study shows that when diet and training are well-controlled, intermittent fasting makes absolutely no difference to body composition under hypo-caloric conditions.

[Brad Schoenfeld, PhD @BradSchoenfeld]

Such an important finding: Exercise is comparable to psychotherapy and pharmacology in treatment for depression 💪

https://t.co/ZEnRIIie9G

[Stuart Phillips (he/him) @mackinprof]

Resistance‐only and concurrent exercise induce similar myofibrillar protein synthesis rates and associated molecular responses in moderately active men before and after training https://t.co/GgfwfMpGwQ

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

100 g of protein exceeds what most consume in a meal. In a practical sense, the results therefore demonstrate that there is no apparent limit to the anabolic response to a protein-containing meal consumed after exercise (in the 12 h measurement window, at least).

[Jorn Trommelen, PhD @JornTrommelen]

Our new work:
No upper limit to the anabolic response to protein ingestion?

Challenges current views on:
1⃣Dose-response relationship
2⃣"Excessive" protein getting oxidized
3⃣Protein distribution
4⃣MUCH more!

Paper:
https://t.co/xZJE6eUCp8

1/10 🧵

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

Most studies solely look at muscle protein synthesis measures when trying to determine the optimal per meal protein dose to maximise muscle gain. Is there more to it?

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

The protein dose required to maximally stimulate MPS in women doesn’t appear to be any different than what is observed in men. That is, 25-30 g of high quality protein (e.g., whey) taken following resistance training will maximise MPS in the majority of people.

[Joseph Agu @JosephAgu]

More evidence that an omnivorous diet is probably better than a plant-based diet when it comes to healthy muscle ageing.