Dr. Luc (Luke) van Loon

Now, there are transporters for small peptides in the gut,

And so they have been recognized and shown.

The question is, do they then on the other side, do they stay in the intestinal cells?

Are they released on the other side towards the portal vein?

We don't really know that.

And then what happens in the liver with them?

So there are some evaluations of oligopeptides in the circulation.

Are they directly coming from the ingested protein or the hydrolyzed protein?

Is there a difference in their amount whether you have a further hydrolyzed collagen protein with smaller compounds?

We don't know.

I mean, in vivo, I wouldn't have the guts to say it.

So sometimes people don't realize how little we know, because we know that if you provide protein and you see an increase in circulating amino acids, you see muscle protein synthesis increase.

And I still think that's magical.

I mean, I'm a complete nerd, of course, that I'm saying that, but do realize that

you constantly have amino acids being released from the turnover.

I told you that all those other tissues have a huge turnover, much higher than muscle.

So there's constantly free amino acids being thrown in your circulation very rapidly.

And then you only give like 20 grams of protein, of which 10 grams is released in the circulation over the next four hours.

And that is only a spark, like maybe 15% on the total turnover, the release of amino acid in circulation.

And that sets off a process that makes the muscle start synthesizing muscle protein.