Active Females: How Much Dietary Protein is Needed for Post-Exercise Recovery?

Protein in an athlete’s diet is important to help repair and strengthen muscles after exercise. Current protein recommendations for athletes are overly broad and based on research involving either resistance or endurance exercise. More importantly, research is almost exclusively performed with males. Thus, the scope of available research has limited the ability to provide proper nutritional advice to females who engage in team sport exercises, such as soccer. In this study, the investigators determined protein requirements in active females after they performed a stop-and-go exercise test that was designed to represent demands of soccer. The safe protein intake was found to be about twice as much as what non-exercising male adults need – yet, still within current sports nutrition recommendations. Like males, active females have increased protein needs to help them recover after exercise.

Read the abstract or contact the investigators.