The Effects of Whey Versus Collagen Protein Intake on Acute and Longer-term Skeletal Muscle Protein Synthesis in Older Adults

With aging there is a natural loss of muscle mass and strength called sarcopenia, which increases the risk of falls and metabolic disease (i.e. Type II diabetes) and decreases the ability to perform activities of daily living. Eating protein and doing resistance exercise both increase the body's ability to make muscle protein, which is important to offset losses in muscle mass; however, older adults have a lower appetite and do not consume enough calories or protein to crease muscle and as such investigations in this population are needed. The amino acid (the building blocks of proteins) leucine is known to increase the ability of protein to make muscle. In this study we will investigate the ability of beverages with different types of protein and leucine to create muscle in older men and women whoa re particularly vulnerable to muscle losses and do not eat enough protein and are understudied in this area.