Food consumption at night can be a controversial topic… But I’m not going to start the “carbs at night” debate… instead of “what not to eat”… why not focus on beneficial nutrients that will support muscle recovery and growth during sleep- like Casein: a slow release protein that uses sleep as a window of opportunity to maximise protein synthesis.
Protein synthesis – Protein breakdown = net protein synthesis (#gains only when positive)
Many fitness individuals are familiar with diets based around hitting “macros”. Essentially hitting target amounts of protein, carbs and fats in either surplus (to gain weight/muscle) or deficit (to loose weight). This diet simplification demonstrates the underlying golden rule of BALANCE! This also applies to muscle growth: to grow muscle, protein synthesis must outweigh protein breakdown. Exercise, aging and fasting all result in an increased protein breakdown which must be counteracted to maintain or increase muscle mass. There are only so many hours in the day to down protein shakes whilst cooking chicken breast. Luckily, there is also a way to increase protein synthesis whilst sleeping! The overnight period provides a window of opportunity to increase protein synthesis and maximise muscle recovery and growth.
What changes at night? (Apart from reduced motivation to stick to a diet)
Heard of the circadian rhythm? It is basically the body’s own “clock” that controls many physiological processes that occur at certain times during a 24-hour cycle i.e sleep, rise, eat. You may have noticed that your mental mood and physical performance all vary depending on the time of day… usually following a cyclic 24 hour pattern-some hormones are only released in the morning (a nice morning dopamine boost results in the diet dedication of an egg white breakfast…the hormone levels may stay high enough resulting in a chicken salad lunch… but by night time… the dwindling happy hormones result in a packet of Tim tams for dinner). BUT the circadian rhythm changes more than just obvious behavioural changes. Recent studies are showing that gut digestion is also altered and changes depending on the time of day or night! Exciting new research suggests that at night the pH of the stomach is altered which may in fact enhance the digestion and absorption of protein (hello night muscle growth)!
What is the best protein to take pre-sleep?
Casein is often referred to as the “slow” protein (no, its not because it is lacking hormones to remain alert and awake…although I like your application of the circadian rhythm). The “slow-ness” is describing the rate of absorption. In comparison, whey and other forms are absorbed much quicker, making them the superior choice post workout. BUT we are talking about nutrition for an extended window: the overnight period can span hours- I will save the benefits of sleep for another day…but individuals with any health goal should be targeting at-least 8 hours sleep! Due to the extended fasting period, a slow release protein, like casein can provide the desired protein synthesis result for a longer time.
As far as brands go… you can’t go past the quality and taste of R1 Casein:
- ZERO Non-Casein Proteins
- ZERO creamers
- ZERO spiking and fillers
- 25g of premium micellar casein per serve.
So, who needs to take Casein pre-sleep?
Anyone susceptible to increased rates of protein breakdown from professional athletes to elderly individuals would benefit from consuming pre-sleep casein. If the protein BALANCE cannot be restored with an increase in protein synthesis, protein breakdown will prevail and result in visual and functional impairments (surprisingly muscle mass is not just for #aesthetics but crucial for daily living and quality of life). The natural muscle loss associated with ageing is not completely understood but thought to be due to a lack of absorption and stimulation of protein synthesis via protein supplementation (even Arnie himself is not immune to muscle loss with age). In this day and age, people may be living “longer” but not necessarily better. If you loose muscle mass… you loose independence (sorry for being a Debbie downer- BUT there is good news!). A recent study showed that Casein ingested before sleep is properly digested and absorbed throughout the night (probably due to differences driven by the circadian rhythm), resulting in an increase in amino acid availability and protein synthesis AKA muscle growth1. SO… long story short… everyone would benefit from pre-sleep casein… R1 100% Casein will satisfy your night carb sweet tooth while helping to counteract exercise induced or natural age-related increases of protein breakdown.
1.) Kouw IW, Holwerda AM, Trommelen J, Kramer IF, Bastiaanse J, Halson SL, Wodzig WK, Verdijk LB, van Loon LJ. Protein Ingestion before Sleep Increases Overnight Muscle Protein Synthesis Rates in Healthy Older Men: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Nutr. 2017 Dec;147(12):2252-2261. doi: 10.3945/jn.117.254532.