Research has documented that within the first 6 to 8 hours post exercise, competition, or training – the window of recovery – the combined intake of protein (PRO) and carbohydrate (CHO) per hour – based on body weight (kilograms), is the appropriate mode to accelerate glycogen repletion in the liver, muscles, and circulatory system.

The reasoning is the sum of the parts – carbohydrate and protein ingestion – may be greater than either component in isolation. However, research is somewhat inconsistent.

The physiological effect is caused by the insulinogenic effects, when a fast -digesting whey protein isolate – high in the essential, branch chain, anabolic amino acid leucine – is selected, as the post-recovery protein of choice.

It’s also reported that the optimum refeeding of carbohydrate over the 6 to 8-hour recovery window is 1.2 grams per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of body mass, while the optimum protein refeeding is roughly 0.3 grams per kilogram.

Yet, some research says that after a carbohydrate refeeding of greater than 0.8 g/kg/hour a saturation effect takes hold – with more being less, potentially negating the effects, if protein is added to the mix.

In a study – Co-Ingestion of Carbohydrate and Protein on Muscle Glycogen Synthesis After Exercise: A Meta-Analysis – which was reported in the February 2021issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers from the Military Nutrition Division, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Massachusetts, and the Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education, in Tennessee, the primary objective was, “to aggregate results from multiple studies to characterize the effects of CHO-PRO on glycogen synthesis, during recovery from exercise compared with CHO alone.”

The meta-analysis (numerous similar studies), which included research from PubMed and the Cochrane Library database, took place in July of 2019 – with a second search in March of 2020. “The population, intervention, control, and outcome for this meta-analysis were healthy, trained or untrained men or women, CHO-PRO, CHO only, and glycogen synthesis, respectively,” commented the investigators.

Read the rest on maxwellnutrition.com