Protein Requirements in Endurance-trained Athlete (EP)

Evaluation of Protein Requirements in Male Endurance Athletes

Protein requirements in individuals who participate in endurance-based exercise training have been suggested to be greater than the current recommended dietary allowance (RDA).

Nutritional requirements for dietary amino acids in adults have traditionally been determined utilizing the nitrogen balance technique, which is prone to underestimating protein requirements. As a result, there is a need to re-evaluate recommendations in order to characterize how dietary amino acid needs may be modulated by physical activity.

Recent studies using the minimally invasive indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO) technique have suggested that protein requirements in young men are at least 50% higher than RDA based on nitrogen balance data.

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to measure the protein requirement in endurance trained adults using the IAAO technique.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy; Increased Metabolic Requirement
• Intervention / Treatment: Dietary supplement: amino acids intake

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 9
• Phase: Early Phase 1

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 35 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy, male, endurance-trained participants who regularly more than 40 km/week
• Ability to perform the exercise stimulus (20 km run) on metabolic trial.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Inability to meet health and physical activity guidelines according to the physical activity readiness questionnaire (PAR-Q+)
• Inability to adhere to any of the protocol guidelines (i.e. alcohol, caffeine consumption)
• Regular tobacco use
• Illicit drug use

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Endurance trained; subjects will receive different levels of amino acids intakes varying from 0.2 to 2.8 g/kg/day.	Dietary supplement: amino acids intake; amino acids intakes will be varied at 0.2-2.8 g/kg/day

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
13CO2 (carbon dioxide) excretion (μmol/kg/h)	4 hours / study day

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
[13C]phenylalanine oxidation (μmol/kg/h)	4 hours/study day

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Toronto
• Collaborators: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Kato H, Suzuki K, Bannai M, Moore DR. Protein Requirements Are Elevated in Endurance Athletes after Exercise as Determined by the Indicator Amino Acid Oxidation Method. PLoS One. 2016 Jun 20;11(6):e0157406. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157406. eCollection 2016.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 1, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 18, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 18, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): June 23, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): June 16, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 15, 2016
• Last Verified: June 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: IAAO-E