The importance of protein for maintaining muscle is known but according to a new study, there’s a surprising source of protein that may be beneficial for women to maintain muscle.
Researchers from McMaster University discovered the findings, which were reported in the peer-reviewed journal Nutrients. The research calls attention to possible benefits of what is considered a nontraditional protein source amid growing demand for plant-based protein instead of animal-derived sources.
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“While the amount of protein found in a potato is small, we grow lots of potatoes and the protein, when isolated, it can provide some measurable benefits,” said lead author Sara Oikawa, former graduate student in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster in a press release.
The study involved women in their early 20s who ate diets with the recommended daily allowance of 0.03 ounces of protein/per pound of weight/day, which would be approximately 2.12 oz of protein for the average woman or 2.47 oz for the average man. While one group got a placebo, another group ate additional potato protein isolate by consuming a pudding. Doing so doubled their consumption of the RDA to 0.06 oz per pound of body weight per day.
The results showed that women who ate additional protein boosted the rate at which their muscles developed new protein. That was not the case for the placebo group.
“This was an interesting finding that we did not expect,” Oikawa said. “But it is one that shows the recommended daily allowance is inadequate to support maintenance of muscle in these young women.”
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Researchers also studied the impact of weight lifting by directing the groups of women to exercise only one of their legs.
“This method is a little unconventional but allows us to see the effect within the same person and not have to add more people who were exercising,” said principal study investigator Stuart Phillips, who is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster and a leading researcher on protein and exercise.
However, scientists did not find any added benefits from potato protein in the leg women exercised.
“That finding, which some may find disappointing, is in line with the rather small effect that protein has compared to exercise itself,” Phillips said. “In other words, exercise is just such a more potent stimulus for making new muscle proteins compared to protein.”
It’s thought that plant-based protein can help meet the growing demand for protein stemming from global population increases.
“This study provides evidence that the quality of proteins from plants can support muscle,” Oikawa said. “I think you’ll see more work on plant-based protein sources being done.”
