Abstract
This review provides an update on recent research assessing the effect of pre-sleep protein ingestion on muscle protein synthesis rates during overnight sleep and the skeletal muscle adaptive response to exercise training. Protein ingested prior to sleep is effectively digested and absorbed during overnight sleep, thereby increasing overnight muscle protein synthesis rates. Protein consumption prior to sleep does not appear to reduce appetite during breakfast the following day and does not change resting energy expenditure. When applied over a prolonged period of resistance-type exercise training, pre-sleep protein supplementation has a beneficial effect on the increase in muscle mass and strength. Protein ingestion before sleep is hypothesized to represent an effective nutritional strategy to preserve muscle mass in the elderly, especially when combined with physical activity or muscle contraction by means of neuromuscular electrical stimulation. In conclusion, protein ingestion prior to sleep is an effective interventional strategy to increase muscle protein synthesis rates during overnight sleep and can be applied to support the skeletal muscle adaptive response to resistance-type exercise training.
Introduction
Resistance-type exercise training represents a potent stimulus to increase skeletal muscle mass and strength [see () for an extensive review]. Muscle protein synthesis as well as breakdown rates, are effectively stimulated following a single session of resistance type exercise, albeit breakdown rates are stimulated to a lesser extent (, ). However, in the absence of protein intake, the net muscle protein balance will remain negative (, ). Dietary protein intake shortly after exercise inhibits exercise-induced muscle protein breakdown and further augments the exercise-induced increase in muscle protein synthesis rate, resulting in a (more) positive post-exercise muscle protein balance. This synergistic effect between nutrition and exercise on the post-exercise muscle protein synthetic response has been well-established and forms an essential principle to enable the skeletal muscle adaptive response to more prolonged exercise training (, ). The muscle protein synthetic response following exercise has been observed to be modifiable to the type, amount, distribution, and timing of protein ingestion [see (–) for extensive reviews]. Recently, the concept of protein ingestion prior to sleep has been introduced as an additional meal moment to increase daily protein intake and increase overnight protein balance, which could further maximize the skeletal muscle adaptive response. In this review we will provide an update on the recent research investigating the impact of pre-sleep protein ingestion with and without exercise (training) on the muscle protein synthetic response in both young and older individuals.
Pre-Sleep Protein Digestion and Absorption
In recent years, food ingestion prior to sleep has received considerable media attention. It has previously been assumed that food intake should be limited or avoided in the hours close to night-time sleep as it would have a negative impact on body composition and overall health, increasing the risk for cardiovascular diseases, such as obesity and diabetes [see also () for an extensive review]. Although this may be true when food is ingested in large quantities at night, more recent studies investigating the impact of smaller and single macronutrient (i.e., protein) foods have demonstrated positive physiological outcomes in humans. In addition, the benefits of night-time supply of nutrients for overnight recovery have been suggested to support muscle reconditioning and improve physical performance in athletes. Over the past decade, we have performed a considerable number of in vivo human studies to provide insight on the impact of pre-sleep protein ingestion on (post-exercise) overnight muscle protein synthesis in both young and older adults (–). Figure 1 provides a comprehensive overview of the studies performed in our laboratory, which will be discussed in more detail throughout this review.
Figure 1
In the study by Groen et al. (
Pre-Sleep Protein and Overnight Recovery
The concept of pre-sleep protein ingestion has been introduced as a way to increase overnight muscle protein synthesis rates when exercise is performed prior to bed-time. This is of particular relevance as previous research has shown that overnight muscle protein synthesis rates tend to be lower than those typically observed in the morning following an overnight fast (
Pre-sleep protein ingestion has been hypothesized to be a viable option to increase dietary protein intake to attenuate the loss of muscle mass with aging in older adults (
As already discussed, physical activity/exercise is known to further augment the postprandial rise in muscle protein synthesis in both young and older adults (
In all our work in which we assessed the impact of pre-sleep protein ingestion on overnight muscle protein synthesis, participants received a pre-specified absolute amount of protein to ingest prior to sleep. However, total daily protein intake recommendations such as the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) are often expressed relative to bodyweight, i.e., in g/kg. More recently, per-meal protein recommendations have also been expressed relative to bodyweight and lean body mass (
Figure 2

Scatter plot of the correlation between overnight (mixed muscle or myofibrillar) protein fractional synthetic rate (FSR) as calculated based intravenous infusion of L-[ring-2H5]−phenylalanine and (A) protein ingested per kilogram bodyweight (BW) or (B) protein ingested per kilogram lean body mass (LBM) in humans. Collapsed data set from previously published studies (
Pre-Sleep Protein Ingestion and Appetite
A number of studies have recently assessed whether ingestion of a relative low-energy beverage prior to sleep could alter appetite, and/or cardio-metabolic risk factors the following morning in various populations. In a randomized, double-blind, cross-over study, Madzima et al. (
Protein Intake Distribution
Distribution of protein intake over the day has been showed to be an important factor to maximize daily muscle protein synthesis rates and, as such, to optimize muscle reconditioning. A balanced distribution of daily protein intake over three main meals has been shown to result in higher 24 h muscle protein synthesis rates when compared with an unbalanced distribution, in which most protein is consumed at dinner (
Long Term Effect of pre-Sleep Protein Ingestion
The more long-term effects of pre-sleep protein ingestion on skeletal muscle conditioning has also been assessed in healthy young men during a 12-week resistance type exercise training program. In this study we showed a greater increase in skeletal muscle mass and strength when participants ingested 27.5 g protein (50% casein + 50% casein hydrolysate) compared with a non-protein placebo prior to sleep (on both training as well as non-training days) during 12 weeks resistance type exercise training in healthy young men (
Although pre-sleep protein ingestion has been demonstrated to enhance the gains in skeletal muscle mass and strength during resistance-type exercise training in young men (
Conclusions
Protein ingested prior to sleep is effectively digested and absorbed during sleep, thereby increasing plasma amino acid availability and stimulating muscle protein synthesis during overnight sleep in both young and old. When pre-sleep protein intake is combined with exercise performed the same evening, overnight muscle protein synthesis rates will be further increased. Protein ingestion prior to sleep can be applied in combination with resistance type exercise training to further augment the gains in muscle mass and strength when compared to no protein supplementation. However, whether this beneficial effect on pre-sleep protein ingestion on muscle mass and strength gain during resistance-type exercise training are due to an increased total protein intake rather than by its specific timing remains elusive, and warrants further research. Protein ingestion before sleep has been hypothesized to represent an effective nutritional strategy to increase daily protein intake and, as such, to attenuate muscle mass loss in hospitalized older adults. In more clinically compromised older populations the combination with exercise or exercise mimetics (such as NMES) may further increase the efficacy of pre-sleep protein ingestion to improve overnight muscle protein balance.
Statements
Author contributions
TS, JT, and LvL drafted the manuscript. TS and JT prepared all the figures. IK, AH, and LV critically reviewed and revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors contributed to manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.
Conflict of interest
Previous research work in our laboratory on pre-sleep protein ingestion has been supported by grants from GlaxoSmithKline and Top Institute Food and Nutrition. LvL, JT, IK, and LV have received research grants, consulting fees, speaking honoraria, or a combination of these, from Friesland Campina, Nutricia, and PepsiCo. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Supplementary material
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2019.00017/full#supplementary-material
Supplemental Figure 1Pearson correlation between (mixed muscle or myofibrillar) overnight protein fractional synthetic rate (FSR) as calculated based upon intravenous infusion of L-[ring-2H5]−phenylalanine and protein consumption prior to sleep per kilogram bodyweight (BW) for (A) young and older adults in rest (B) young adults both in rest and following a single resistance exercise session (C) in young and older adults following a single resistance exercise session (D) older adults both in rest and following a single resistance exercise session. Collapsed data set from previously published studies (
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Summary
Keywords
protein, exercise, satiety, amino acids, aging
Citation
Snijders T, Trommelen J, Kouw IWK, Holwerda AM, Verdijk LB and van Loon LJC (2019) The Impact of Pre-sleep Protein Ingestion on the Skeletal Muscle Adaptive Response to Exercise in Humans: An Update. Front. Nutr. 6:17. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2019.00017
Received
13 November 2018
Accepted
07 February 2019
Published
06 March 2019
Volume
6 - 2019
Edited by
Daniel Moore, University of Toronto, Canada
Reviewed by
Daniel W. D. West, University of Toronto, Canada; Neil Schwarz, University of South Alabama, United States
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Copyright
© 2019 Snijders, Trommelen, Kouw, Holwerda, Verdijk and van Loon.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Tim Snijders tim.snijders@maastrichtuniversity.nl
This article was submitted to Sport and Exercise Nutrition, a section of the journal Frontiers in Nutrition
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