Effect of protein intake beyond habitual intakes following resistance training on cardiometabolic risk disease parameters in pre-conditioned older women.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of higher protein (HP) intake associated with resistance training (RT) on parameters of cardiometabolic risk disease (CMR).

METHODS: A randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled design was conducted. Thirty-two pre-conditioned older women were randomized in two groups to receive 35 g of protein (high protein group - HP) or 35 g of placebo (low protein group - LP) after training sessions. The RT program was carried out over 12 weeks, 3 days per week and 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions. Body composition (whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), blood samples, anthropometric measurements and dietary intake were performed at pre- and post-intervention.

RESULTS: There was a significant group-by-time interaction (P < 0.05) for lean soft tissue (LST), total cholesterol/high density lipoprotein ratio (TC/HDL) and volume of load (VL), in which HP group presented greater improvements when compared to LP group (LST: +3.8% vs +2.0%; TC/HDL: -11.8% vs -2.9%; VL: 45.4% vs 35.4%). A time effect was found for HDL, LDL, Triglycerides (TGC), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein/HDL ratio (LDL/HDL) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (HDL: +6.7% vs +6.3%; LDL: -6.8% vs +0.9%; TGC: -2.0% vs -1.2%; TC: -2.8% vs +0.5%; LDL/HDL: -11.5 vs -6.9%; CRP: -8.6% vs -11.5%) in which both groups improved their scores without statistical differences between them. No effect was found for waist circumference.

CONCLUSION: Increased dietary protein intake, achieved by whey protein supplementation, when associated with RT promotes greater gains on LST and VL, and a reduction on TC/HDL ratio in pre-conditioned older women.