ReviewNutrients2020
Protein Distribution and Muscle-Related Outcomes: Does the Evidence Support the Concept?
Review in Nutrients, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Changes of body composition through an athlete-specific dietary guidance professional track and field athletes: a randomized controlled study.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2026Trial
- Muscle-Related Effect of Whey Protein and Vitamin DNutrients · 2022Trial
- Trial
- High Frequency Protein-Rich Meal Service to Promote Protein Distribution to Stimulate Muscle Function in Preoperative Patients.Nutrients · 2021Trial
- Malnutrition and Sarcopenia in Gastrointestinal Motility Disorders: Mechanisms, Assessment, and Management.Current gastroenterology reports · 2026Review
- Adipose-muscle crosstalk during the menopausal transition: mechanistic links to sarcopenic obesity in midlife women.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Dietary protein intake, inflammatory biomarkers, genetic susceptibility, and the incidence of sarcopenia: a prospective population-based study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Maximal fat oxidation training improves mental health in children with obesity: a 2-month randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- Nutritional Supplements for Muscle Hypertrophy: Mechanisms and Morphology-Focused Evidence.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Protein and Aging: Practicalities and Practice.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Achieving High Protein Quality Is a Challenge in Vegan Diets: A Narrative Review.Nutrition reviews · 2025Review
- Timing matters? The effects of two different timing of high protein diets on body composition, muscular performance, and biochemical markers in resistance-trained males.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Article
- Nutritional Interventions: Dietary Protein Needs and Influences on Skeletal Muscle of Older Adults.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2023Review
- Important Concepts in Protein Nutrition, Aging, and Skeletal Muscle: Honoring Dr Douglas Paddon-Jones (1969-2021) by Highlighting His Research Contributions.The Journal of nutrition · 2023Review
- Protein Intake in NCAA Division 1 Soccer Players: Assessment of Daily Amounts, Distribution Patterns, and Leucine Levels as a Quality Indicator.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Public Health Need, Molecular Targets, and Opportunities for the Accelerated Development of Function-Promoting Therapies: Proceedings of a National Institute on Aging Workshop.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2022Article
- Association of Dietary Protein Intake and Grip Strength Among Adults Aged 19+ Years: NHANES 2011-2014 Analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- Strategies to Prevent Sarcopenia in the Aging Process: Role of Protein Intake and Exercise.Nutrients · 2021Review
- Protein Requirements for Master Athletes: Just Older Versions of Their Younger Selves.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
There is a shift in thinking about dietary protein requirements from daily requirements to individual meal requirements. Per meal, stimulation of muscle protein synthesis has a saturable dose relationship with the quantity of dietary protein consumed. Protein intake above the saturable dose does not further contribute to the synthetic response; the "excess" amino acids are predominantly oxidized. Given that daily dietary protein intake is finite, finding protein distribution patterns that both reduce amino acid oxidation and maximize their contribution towards protein synthesis (in theory improving net balance) could be "optimal" and is of practical scientific interest to promote beneficial changes in skeletal muscle-related outcomes. This article reviews both observational and randomized controlled trial research on the protein distribution concept. The current evidence on the efficacy of consuming an "optimal" protein distribution to favorably influence skeletal muscle-related changes is limited and inconsistent. The effect of protein distribution cannot be sufficiently disentangled from the effect of protein quantity. Consuming a more balanced protein distribution may be a practical way for adults with marginal or inadequate protein intakes (<0.80 g·kg
Indexed as
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.