The impact of dietary protein or amino acid supplementation on muscle mass and strength in elderly people: Individual participant data and meta-analysis of RCT's

M. Tieland, R. Franssen, C. Dullemeijer, C. Van Dronkelaar, H. Kyung Kim, T. Ispoglou, K. Zhu, R. L. Prince, L. J. C. Van Loon, L. C. P. G. M. de Groot*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Increasing protein or amino acid intake has been promoted as a promising strategy to increase muscle mass and strength in elderly people, however, long-term intervention studies show inconsistent findings. Therefore, we aim to determine the impact of protein or amino acid supplementation compared to placebo on muscle mass and strength in older adults by combining the results from published trials in a metaanalysis and pooled individual participant data analysis.

We searched Medline and Cochrane databases and performed a meta-analysis on eight available trials on the effect of protein or amino acid supplementation on muscle mass and strength in older adults. Furthermore, we pooled individual data of six of these randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trials. The main outcomes were change in lean body mass and change in muscle strength for both the meta-analysis and the pooled analysis.

The meta-analysis of eight studies (n=557) showed no significant positive effects of protein or amino acid supplementation on lean body mass (mean difference: 0.014 kg: 95% CI -0.152; 0.18), leg press strength (mean difference: 2.26 kg: 95% CI -0.56; 5.08), leg extension strength (mean difference: 0.75 kg: 95% CI: -1.96, 3.47) or handgrip strength (mean difference: -0.002 kg: 95% CI -0.182; 0.179). Likewise, the pooled analysis showed no significant difference between protein and placebo treatment on lean body mass (n=412: p=0.78), leg press strength (n=121: p=0.50), leg extension strength (n=121: p=0.16) and handgrip strength (n=318: p=0.37).

There is currently no evidence to suggest that protein or amino acid supplementation without concomitant nutritional or exercise interventions increases muscle mass or strength in predominantly healthy elderly people.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)994-1001
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Nutrition Health & Aging
Volume21
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2017

Keywords

  • Sarcopenia
  • dietary protein intake
  • lean body mass
  • performance
  • aging
  • PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL
  • RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED-TRIAL
  • BODY-COMPOSITION
  • OLDER-ADULTS
  • PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE
  • DOUBLE-BLIND
  • SKELETAL-MUSCLE
  • WHEY-PROTEIN
  • LEUCINE SUPPLEMENTATION
  • LEAN MASS

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