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What Are the Benefits of a Protein Shake Before Bed?

What Are the Benefits of a Protein Shake Before Bed?

Protein shakes are undoubtedly one of the most popular health foods on the market; in fact, they are a daily staple in the diets of many adults. Many people use protein shakes as part of their every day nutrition to help boost their protein intake for  their individual health and wellness goals. Typically the recommendation is to ensure a consistent intake of protein throughout the day, but depending on your goals there may be times where you may want to dial in on this a bit more specifically. 

So, what about consuming a recovery specific protein shake before bed? 

There is in fact research to show many benefits to consuming protein before sleep, and highlight how using pre-sleep protein as a nutritional strategy may be useful. 

Many people avoid eating too close to bedtime with the belief that it can affect sleep. However, research has shown that pre-sleep protein can in fact be sufficiently digested and absorbed because your gut is still able to function normally throughout the night as you sleep (5).

Here, we delve into the evidence surrounding the effects of getting this protein in via shakes like our All in One Recovery before bed and provide some practical guidelines and tips for success:

Muscle Growth and Athletic Performance

If muscle growth is your goal, night time nutrition could be your go-to for gains while you sleep! Several studies have shown a positive benefit to consuming protein before bed, particularly for increased Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS) and to help prevent muscle breakdown. Muscle protein synthesis (MPS) is the biochemical process our muscles use to grow, recover from exercise and get stronger. MPS is essential for recovery post-exercise and gaining muscle mass, read more in our MPS article which explains the process of MPS and how it is affected by protein intake. 

Many people choose to train in the evening, often followed by a post-workout protein shake. While it’s important to refuel your muscles after exercise to stimulate MPS and growth, training requires even more protein in your diet to compensate for the energy burned, so having a quality protein source before bed can offer significant benefits. Particularly as when you sleep, muscle growth stimulation can be low and may increase the risk of muscle protein breakdown (MPB) throughout the night (1, 15).

In order to gain muscle and avoid muscle breakdown, it is important to maintain a positive muscle balance. Amino acids, commonly referred to as ‘the building blocks of protein’, are essential to maintain this positive balance, as when your body is lacking amino acids (either from lack of nutritious food or from oxidative stress as a result of exercise) it creates a negative muscle balance. 

However, bringing your body back to a positive muscle balance is easily restored by consuming a protein shake. This balance is necessary for optimal muscle growth and to reduce muscle breakdown. Our bodies are in a constant cycle of amino acid depletion so it is important to ensure you are sufficiently nourished with protein throughout the day (and night!) to maintain the optimal environment for building muscle tissue. 

For example, if someone doesn’t meet their daily calorie/protein requirements, or burns more energy than they have consumed that day, muscle repair and growth will not occur and the body has to break down muscle tissue as fuel. This is known as a ‘catabolic state’, and studies have shown that this can be avoided by consuming additional protein or carbohydrates (4). This is where pre-sleep protein shakes can be incredibly useful to provide a convenient, easily digestible source of quality fuel to hit your energy requirements, while optimising your muscle building potential as you sleep.

Athletic Performance

Consuming pre-sleep shake may also improve your athletic performance. Several studies have shown that protein before bed not only promotes muscle growth, but also further enhances strength and power. Research has highlighted an improved skeletal muscle adaptive response to training after pre-sleep protein.

Here are some of the current clinical findings which have been reported: 

  • Ability to exercise for longer periods 
  • Increased lean muscle mass
  • Improved strength during exercise
  • Increased lean muscle mass
  • Enhanced overnight muscle repair and reconditioning

(13, 16, 17).

Improved sleep quality

Sleep, exercise and nutrition all play an important role in achieving muscle gain and weight loss/maintenance. When training, the importance of sleep is widely recognised as it can be a valuable tool for muscle recovery and growth. Suffering from a consistent lack of may affect performance and protein absorption, leaving you fatigued and missing out on potential gains (6).

While current research in this area is limited, there are studies to show that consuming a high-protein diet may improve overall sleep quality.(8). In addition, protein intake pre-sleep may increase the availability of the amino acid L-tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid which interacts with brain chemicals that affect your body clock’s sleep-wake cycle. Tryptophan also increases serotonin (often referred to as the ‘happy hormone’) and melatonin (commonly referred to as a ‘sleep-hormone’) in the body, both of which are known for positively affecting mood and sleep (3).

However, to reap the sleep enhancing benefits of tryptophan, it’s recommended to consume a shake with a source of carbohydrates (which is exactly what we have in our All in One Recovery shake!) as this increases the availability of tryptophan in the brain which can help you fall asleep quicker and improve overall sleep quality. This is because when you eat carbohydrates, it causes your body to release insulin, which removes all amino acids – except tryptophan – from your blood (18). This enables tryptophan to sail straight through into the brain to boost serotonin levels, without facing competition from other amino acids.

Did you know your body also creates its own muscle-building hormones while you sleep? During NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep, our brains release human growth hormone (HGH) into the bloodstream, which increases blood flow to muscles, leading to tissue growth and repair. This is most effective during good-quality deep sleep (14). Another reason why pre-sleep protein could prove to be the optimal time to enhance your body’s muscle-building processes that occur while you sleep. 

How Much Protein Should I Have Before Bed?

Your overall daily protein requirements will vary based on several factors, such as height, weight and activity levels. It is recommended to establish your own individual protein requirements using a Macro Calculator (you can find many of these available by searching online) to be able to track your intake throughout the day. 

When it comes to pre-sleep protein intake, the majority of available studies have shown that 40-50g protein stimulates MPS by around 20% (12).

While further research is needed to establish clearer guidelines, it may be that the amount of protein consumed is more significant than the type.

The Take Home:

Consuming quality protein pre-sleep can provide a perfect opportunity to boost your daily energy metabolism (which can contribute towards weight loss), stimulate muscle tissue growth (MPS), while improving your overall quality of sleep. In addition, consistently consuming protein before bed can elevate both muscle and strength gains. 

 

Reference List:

  1. Beelen M., M. Tieland, A.P. Gijsen, H. Vandereyt, A.K. Kies, H. Kuipers, W.H. Saris, R. Koopman, and L.J. van Loon (2008b). Coingestion of carbohydrate and protein hydrolysate stimulates muscle protein synthesis during exercise in young men, with no further increase during subsequent overnight recovery. J. Nutr. 138: 2198-2204.
  2. Boirie, Yves & Dangin, Martial & Gachon, Pierre & Vasson, Marie-Paule & Maubois, J.-L & Beaufrère, Bernard. (1997). Slow and fast proteins differently modulate postprandial protein accretion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 94. 14930-14935. 10.1073/pnas.94.26.14930. 
  3. Claustrat, B. & Leston, J.. (2015). Melatonin: Physiological effects in humans. Neurochirurgie. 61. 10.1016/j.neuchi.2015.03.002. 
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  5. Groen BBL, Res PT, Pennings B, Hertle E, Senden JMG, Saris WHM, Loon LJC Van. Intragastric protein administration stimulates overnight muscle protein synthesis in elderly men. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 302: 52–60, 2019.
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  13. Robinson, Matthew & Dasari, Surendra & Konopka, Adam & Johnson, Matthew & Manjunatha, S. & Esponda, Raul & Carter, Rickey & Lanza, Ian & Nair, K.. (2017). Enhanced Protein Translation Underlies Improved Metabolic and Physical Adaptations to Different Exercise Training Modes in Young and Old Humans. Cell Metabolism. 25. 581-592. 10.1016/j.cmet.2017.02.009. 
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  16. Sahni, Shivani & Mangano, Kelsey & Hannan, Marian & Kiel, Douglas & Mclean, Robert. (2015). Higher Protein Intake Is Associated with Higher Lean Mass and Quadriceps Muscle Strength in Adult Men and Women. The Journal of nutrition. 145. 10.3945/jn.114.204925. 
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