According to research data revealed by Japanese dairy giant Meiji, the majority of consumers today are not consuming enough protein despite looking to improve their muscle mass.
“Previous research has shown that a combination of protein consumption and resistance training will lead to the building of muscle mass, but we wanted to determine whether this resistance training is truly necessary in building muscle,” Meiji Nutrition Development Research Unit Manager Atsushi Kanda said at the Food and Beverage Innovation Forum (FBIF) in Shanghai.
“Based on analysis conducted by Meiji, we found that muscle resistance training is not always necessary – the consumption of protein alone without any exercise can lead to significant muscle mass increase when protein intake reaches 1.3g per kg of body weight.”
Many consumer groups view muscle mass gain as an important health indicator, such as elderly people and athletes – so protein intake guidelines really need to be revised upwards in order to optimise results, according to Kanda.
“Taking the Japanese recommended dietary intake guidelines as an example, the current recommended daily intake of protein stands at 1g per kg of body weight to avoid protein deficiency, but this is not enough for muscle gains,” he said.
“Based on this number, the average Japanese consumer is eating enough protein at an average of 1.1g – but in reality, consumers should be increasing their intake to at least 1.3g in order to optimise their diets and increase lean muscle mass, especially if resistance training is not in the picture.”
That is not to say that muscle resistance training is not useful, of course: Meiji’s research found that this form of exercise does help to increase and maintain muscle mass too, but at far lower and less effective levels compared to protein consumption.
“Resistance training will help consumers to improve muscle gains, but the impacts will be small and play a far less important role than actual protein intake into the body,” he said.
Meiji’s findings do not only apply to Japan, but to Asia in general. This is particularly important for markets that face the challenge of a largely ageing population in the near future, such as China.
How to get enough protein intake?
To this end, Meiji believes that adequate protein intake via one’s regular diet is not always possible, and has pushed for protein beverage consumption to become a regular dietary item to supplement consumer needs.
“We believe that milk is the most optimal source of protein for humans because our analysis of 16 animal and plant-based protein sources has shown that milk contains the highest amount of essential amino acids overall, particularly leucine which is particularly suited for muscle protein synthesis,” Kanda added.
“In particular, acidified milk has strong potential as a protein source – its acidity allows leucine to be more rapidly absorbed into the body compared to most other sources.”
There is a major challenge when it comes to developing acidified milk drinks though – casein proteins tend to aggregate and cause clumps if left untreated, so Meiji has developed new triple-stabilisation technology in order to create its products.
“We have used uses pectin, soy polysaccharides and fermented cellulose to stabilise the product and disperse the proteins such that the milk can remain stable even in acidified conditions,” he explained.
“Further studies on elderly participants have shown that acidified milk is able to improve their body composition, by increasing lean body mass and reducing fat mass.”
Meiji’s acidified milk range is called SAVAS, and it has risen through the ranks to become the top-ranking protein drink range and milk powder range in Japan.
“Annual sales of SAVAS exceed JPY3bn (US$20.5m), and this brand makes up some 80% of the protein drinks market share,” he said.
“With the rising upward trend seen in global protein drinks consumption, we believe there is immense potential for SAVAS to grow further.”
Every 250ml pack of SAVAS contains 15g protein and zero fat content.