Episode 129 of the Institute of Performance Nutrition‘s We Do Science podcast! In this episode, Laurent Bannock discusses protein quality and the food matrix” with Dr Nick Burd PhD (Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA).

Discussion topics include:

• Defining protein & diet quality
• Defining optimal vs recommended intakes for protein
• Reductionism & protein research
• The Food matrix: A wholistic view of protein and exercise interactions and why whole protein is more than just the sum of its parts!
• Why a “food-first” approach to post-exercise protein intake will be beneficial for both the skeletal muscle adaptive response and diet quality for most people

Key paper(s) discussed / referred to:

• Dietary Protein Quantity, Quality, and Exercise Are Key to Healthy Living: A Muscle-Centric Perspective Across the Lifespan (Burd et al., 2019)
• Food-First Approach to Enhance the Regulation of Post-exercise Skeletal Muscle Protein Synthesis and Remodeling (Burd et al., 2019)