Yeast Protein for Muscle Mass

May 6, 2026 updated by: University of Alberta

Yeast Protein for Muscle Anabolism: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Protein supplementation is said to be one of the cost-efficient and practical strategies to meet protein needs for growth and exercise, and can help maximize muscle gain from resistance exercise. It facilitates faster recovery from stress-induced tissue damage and enhances performance output. Protein sources derived from animal products are generally recognized as the highest quality protein. However, altering the protein composition of a protein source can improve the protein quality. The yeast protein supplement the investigators will use in this study has a similar amino acid composition to whey protein, which is derived from an animal product, but it is produced more sustainably. The study aims to compare the effects of yeast and whey protein on muscle mass over 16 weeks.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This is a double-blinded randomized clinical trial of a 16-week nutrition intervention with yeast and whey protein in 72 people (36 per group; 18 male and 18 female) between the ages of 18 and 35, recruited from the University of Alberta campus, Edmonton, Canada. Consenting participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: whey protein or yeast protein by the study coordinator, who will not collect study outcome measurements or analyze the data.

The goal of the trial is to determine if consumption of 40 g per day of yeast protein produces similar effects to 40 g supplementation with whey protein. It is anticipated that daily yeast protein consumption will show similar gains in muscle mass and improvement in immune function, increased diversity in gut microbiota, and amino acid-derived metabolites compared to whey protein.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

72

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Alberta
      • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2R3
        • The University of Alberta North Campus
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Jianping Wu, PhD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Vera Mazurak, PhD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Normand Bouleé, PhD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Participants must have the ability to read, understand, and sign an informed consent and must be willing to comply with study treatment and follow-up.
  • Prior resistance training experience (defined as performing resistance exercises >1/week for the past 3 months or longer) to enable them to reach a large training stimulus relatively quickly and to avoid the longer phase of neuromuscular adaptations
  • ≥18 years and <35 years of age

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diabetes, musculoskeletal disease, cancer, Crohn's disease, or any other acute or chronic condition that interferes (or the medication prescribed for those conditions) with muscle anabolism.
  • Diagnosed with or being treated for heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure 130/80 mmHg or higher
  • Pain/discomfort/pressure in the chest during activities of daily living or physical activity
  • Pregnant or not on adequate contraception.
  • A known hypersensitivity/allergy to ingredients in the supplements.
  • Inflammatory bowel diseases
  • Enrolment in any other clinical protocol or investigational study that may interfere with study procedures
  • Taking antibiotics

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Whey Protein
Other: Resistance Training Exercises
Lower and upper body resistance training exercises 3 times a week for 16 weeks
Dietary supplement: Whey Protein
60g of protein supplement (40g of protein). Oral administration, 30g during exercise and anytime after exercise, or 30g in the morning and evening if no exercise is performed for a period of 16 weeks.
Experimental: Yeast Protein
Other: Resistance Training Exercises
Lower and upper body resistance training exercises 3 times a week for 16 weeks
Dietary supplement: Yeast Protein
60g of protein supplement (40g of protein). Oral administration, 30g during exercise and anytime after exercise, or 30g in the morning and evening if no exercise is performed for a period of 16 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in muscle mass
Time Frame: 16 weeks
The primary outcome of the study is the change in muscle mass. It is hypothesized that participants consuming yeast protein will show an increase in appendicular lean mass similar to that observed with whey protein.
16 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in muscle function, inflammatory biomarkers, oxidative stress markers, gut microbiota and metabolites
Time Frame: 16 weeks
The secondary outcomes of the study include changes in muscle function, which will be assessed through one repetition maximum (1RM) testing for both the bench press and leg press. Additionally, the investigators will evaluate inflammatory biomarkers, specifically plasma cytokines, as well as oxidative stress markers such as glutathione, total antioxidant capacity, and protein carbonyl levels. The study will also investigate gut microbiota and metabolites. The investigators hypothesize that the secondary outcomes will show similar effects in participants taking yeast protein compared to those taking whey protein.
16 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Alberta

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

July 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

July 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

July 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 24, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 24, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 1, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 11, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 6, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro00156043

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Only researchers who have the training and experience to do the research (also known as "qualified researchers") will be allowed to use the data. IPD collected throughout the trail will be shared on request and with ethics approval after the study results have been accepted and published

IPD Sharing Time Frame

IPD will be available for 15 yrs

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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