Dr. Rhonda Patrick

But we've been talking about protein, like this general thing, like protein.

And so there's food sources of protein.

There's supplemental sources of protein.

There's plant sources of protein, meat sources of protein.

So I was kind of wanting to start maybe with just let's talk about animal sources because most people are eating meat and fish and poultry.

And dairy, yes.

In terms of skeletal muscle protein synthesis, in terms of gaining muscle mass, if you're having the same amount of protein on a gram basis from food versus a protein shake, and it probably will depend on the type of protein shake, but is there going to be differences in gains in muscle mass?

Okay.

So, of course, there's differences because if you're eating food, you're getting vitamins and minerals and fatty acids and all the other important micronutrients and macronutrients that are required for eating.

But when you say sluggish, I mean, do you just mean delayed?

It's essentially those amino acids will get to the muscle, but it'll take longer?

Correct.

Okay.

Well, in that sense, I mean, we're talking in the absolute sense gains in muscle mass, then it doesn't really make a difference if you're doing the animal source.

We're talking about animal source right now.

Okay.

But, of course, people are also interested in not getting, if they're doing caloric restriction and basically trying to change their body composition, protein shakes can help with that if they're lower in calories, lower in fat, and then you're getting your protein without the other fat sources.

Is there a difference with respect to the source of protein supplements?

So, for example, if it's sourced from casein versus whey versus egg white protein with respect to, we're talking about skeletal muscle protein synthesis and presumably increases the muscle mass.

Oh, egg white as well?