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Analysis of the Impact of Exercise and/or Whey Protein Supplementation on the Gut Microbiome

Murph

:)
Messages
1,799
http://msystems.asm.org/content/3/3/e00044-18

A Prospective Metagenomic and Metabolomic Analysis of the Impact of Exercise and/or Whey Protein Supplementation on the Gut Microbiome of Sedentary Adults
Owen Cronin, Wiley Barton, Peter Skuse, Nicholas C. Penney, Isabel Garcia-Perez, Eileen F. Murphy, Trevor Woods, Helena Nugent, Aine Fanning, Silvia Melgar, Eanna C. Falvey, Elaine Holmes, Paul D. Cotter, Orla O’Sullivan, Michael G. Molloy, Fergus Shanahan


ABSTRACT
Many components of modern living exert influence on the resident intestinal microbiota of humans with resultant impact on host health. For example, exercise-associated changes in the diversity, composition, and functional profiles of microbial populations in the gut have been described in cross-sectional studies of habitual athletes. However, this relationship is also affected by changes in diet, such as changes in dietary and supplementary protein consumption, that coincide with exercise.

To determine whether increasing physical activity and/or increased protein intake modulates gut microbial composition and function, we prospectively challenged healthy but sedentary adults with a short-term exercise regime, with and without concurrent daily whey protein consumption. Metagenomics- and metabolomics-based assessments demonstrated modest changes in gut microbial composition and function following increases in physical activity.

Significant changes in the diversity of the gut virome were evident in participants receiving daily whey protein supplementation. Results indicate that improved body composition with exercise is not dependent on major changes in the diversity of microbial populations in the gut. The diverse microbial characteristics previously observed in long-term habitual athletes may be a later response to exercise and fitness improvement.

IMPORTANCE The gut microbiota of humans is a critical component of functional development and subsequent health. It is important to understand the lifestyle and dietary factors that affect the gut microbiome and what impact these factors may have. Animal studies suggest that exercise can directly affect the gut microbiota, and elite athletes demonstrate unique beneficial and diverse gut microbiome characteristics. These characteristics are associated with levels of protein consumption and levels of physical activity. The results of this study show that increasing the fitness levels of physically inactive humans leads to modest but detectable changes in gut microbiota characteristics. For the first time, we show that regular whey protein intake leads to significant alterations to the composition of the gut virome.
 

Murph

:)
Messages
1,799
As regular haunters of this forum may know I take whey daily in massive amounts and have found it to be astonishingly beneficial.

1, 2.

Here's an excerpt from the discussion section of this paper that suggests a very unexpected possible effect:

"Somewhat unexpectedly, individuals in the whey protein supplementation-only group (P) experienced a significant alteration in the β-diversity of the gut virome (Fig. 4C). Furthermore, this change was mirrored in the combined exercise and protein supplementation (EP) group (Fig. 4B), suggesting a robust effect of whey protein on the taxonomic richness of the gut virome."

It's broadly believed that gut bacterial diversity is good for you, but gut viral diversity? (viruses supposedly outnumber bacteria in there by an order of magnitude, and may play a role in shaping the eco-system. Could lack of virome diversity cause dysbiosis?) A very interesting question.
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
As regular haunters of this forum may know I take whey daily in massive amounts and have found it to be astonishingly beneficial.
As someone who doesn't tolerate whey protein, I've been trying pea protein though I haven't been very regular using it. I wonder if it would have some of the same effects?
 

jaybee00

Senior Member
Messages
593
Interesting...the whey altered the virome, but not the bacteria composition? I'll try to read later.

@Murph how much whey protein do you take/day (massive??) Two scoops? Thanks.
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,094
As someone who doesn't tolerate whey protein, I've been trying pea protein though I haven't been very regular using it. I wonder if it would have some of the same effects?
Whey is high in Lysine (I think it contains some calcium too). I used it for several months back in 2005 and was completely pain-free on it. Unfortunately it was extremely constipating.

Lysine inhibits viral replication.

I never tried Pea protein. It is high in Arginine (I think it should be wise to have some lLysine at hand to balance that and prevent viral reactivation) and probably contains a lot of Molybdenum too. While I find Moly helpful for bile acid production, I suspect it activates vit D and causes havoc in the immune system.
 

lafarfelue

Senior Member
Messages
433
Location
Australia
As regular haunters of this forum may know I take whey daily in massive amounts and have found it to be astonishingly beneficial.

1, 2.

I had understood that you found the benefits that you experience possibly more related to the aminos in Dymatize 100 than the protein..? Please correct me if I've misunderstood.

The concept of a virome surely can't be too off the mark if we're already taking about microbiome. I wonder if there's another form of gut 'dybiosis' related to viruses that we have yet to even find/recognise. (How do we close this can of worms?? :eek::rofl:)
 

outdamnspot

Senior Member
Messages
924
I tried Dymatize 100 (I still have a huge tub) and found I got profoundly hungry a few hours after taking a dose, which is weird, though some people on a Keto forum said it could possible spike insulin (like certain protein bars) and cause a crash later?
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,094
Hmmm. That is not ideal. I have searched for a protein powder I could tolerate--maybe pea isn't the answer either. :(
One can easily look into the arginine amount per dose and top that with lysine.

ETA -- I am precisely looking into a protein powder made of pea + potato:

Arginine per dose: 1.69 g
Lysine per dose: 1.64 g

So I will only need to add about 200 mg of Lys per dose to be on the safe side
 
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bertiedog

Senior Member
Messages
1,738
Location
South East England, UK
I remember taking whey protein back in the early 2000 but if I remember rightly when I tried it again around 2007 it seemed to mess up my neurotransmitters making me feel off in my head and moods. It was like my neurotransmitters were balanced but the whey just imbalanced them with negative effects.

Wonder whether anybody else has experienced this with whey?

Pam