How much pre-sleep protein is needed for overnight recovery?
Protein ingestion stimulates muscle protein synthesis, the process driving muscle adaptation and growth. It has been shown that 40 g protein ingestion before sleep stimulates muscle protein synthesis during the night. However, is this relatively large amount necessary?
This study investigated the effect of two different protein drinks before sleep on overnight muscle protein synthesis rates. All subjects performed a bout of resistance exercise (19:45 h) and consumed 20 g protein immediately after. Just prior to sleep (23:30 h), they received either: 1) 30 g casein protein, 2) 30 g casein protein with 2 g additional leucine, or 3) a noncaloric placebo drink.
Although the casein protein was effectively digested and absorbed during the night, it did not result in higher muscle protein synthesis during the night when compared to the placebo. Even when adding 2 g of leucine to casein, it did not result in higher overnight muscle protein synthesis.
This may seem odd, as 20-30 g protein is considered the optimal dose per meal moment to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. However, the overnight period in which muscle protein synthesis was measured is much longer (i.e. 7.5 h) than the average period between meals.
Therefore, it is possible that larger amounts of protein are required to stimulate muscle protein synthesis over longer periods. In support, we have previously demonstrated that 40 g of casein is effective at stimulating muscle protein synthesis during 7.5 h of overnight sleep.
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Hello, do you count 40grams of casein powder or protein in it? I mean 40grams of casein powder have ~32grams of protein? Thanks!
40 grams of protein (so more than 40 g powder)
Hi Jorn, thanks for your usual informative post. My question is, if I replaced the 40g casein with 40g whey before bed, would I be wasting my time and money?
There is no data on that comparison. But I don’t expect much difference between them. Both are high-quality protein sources.
Hi Jorn,
Always nice to read new posts on your site, so very interesting!
I hope the following train of thought makes sense. And if not, where am i misunderstanding your studies please?
So the 30g does not seem to be enough to stimulate MPS through the entire night, but 40g (according to the previous study) does seem to make a difference.
However both 30 or 40g before bed (or even on the lower end, 20g) should spike the MPS one last time for the day, even though its effects wont ride out the entire night (if the protein is of high enough quality for a decent leucine spike ofc).
So in the end, a minimum of 20g before bed is still a good idea as it will at the very least give an extra MPS spike we would otherwise miss out on, and though 30 or 40g does not seem to have very much added benefit, it could make a small difference.
Thank you for your time, great work man. Much appreciated!
Kind regard,
Sven Debruyne
OR, would you expect something in the range of 50g would make a significant difference, and should ingest a little less protein during the day and save it for before bed?
Hey Sven,
Thank you for the kind words!
You are correct that MPS is not an on/off mechanism. It’s not that a certain amount is necessary to stimulate MPS. MPS increases with increasing amounts of protein.
In this specific study, we found no effect of 30 g protein. If you look at the graphs, you see the 30 g group is pretty much the same as the 0 g protein group. However, I do believe that 30 g protein would give a MPS response in the early part of the night, that kinda gets lost when MPS is measured over a longer period. I think if we would do this study multiple times, we would see the 30 g being a bit higher than the 0 g most of the time (although probably nog significantly higher).
So yes, 20 g of protein prior to bed is still better than nothing before bed. It just does not seem enough that stimulate a big enough MPS response that can be detected over a long measurement period.
Hey Jorn,
Thanks for ellaborating.
I will keep making sure i get at least 20g of protein before bedtime to spike the MPS 1 last time and any additional growth after the initial spike that may or may not occur due to anything over 20g is a nice bonus but not worth worrying about.
Always nice to get your feedback so im sure i understand the articles.
My gainz and me thank you!