Randomised trial · Amino acids · 2024Conflicts declared

Corn protein and muscle building in young men

Pinckaers PJM, Weijzen MEG, Houben LHP, et al · Free full text

In 36 healthy young men, 30 g of corn protein increased muscle protein building just as much as 30 g of milk protein.

The same was true for a blend of 15 g corn plus 15 g milk protein.

What they found

Studies in people

Muscle building

Muscle protein building increased above fasting levels in all three groups. The increase was about the same after corn protein as after milk protein, and about the same after the blend as after milk protein.

Blood amino acids

Milk protein raised blood levels of essential amino acids higher and faster than corn protein. But corn protein led to a more sustained rise in leucine, so overall leucine availability over 5 hours was 45% greater after corn than after milk.

Lysine in blood

Blood lysine rose after milk protein and after the blend, but not after corn protein alone. Corn protein has much less lysine than milk protein.

Insulin response

Insulin rose after all drinks, but milk protein caused a bigger and faster insulin peak than corn protein or the blend.

Blood sugar

Blood sugar stayed steady after all three protein drinks, with no clear differences between them.

What the authors conclude

“Ingestion of a meal-like (30 g) dose of plant-derived protein can be as effective as ingesting the same amount of animal-derived protein to increase muscle protein synthesis rates in vivo in healthy, young males.”

Pinckaers PJM, Weijzen MEG, Houben LHP, et al, 2024

Also in their conclusions

They conclude that 30 g of corn protein or a blend of 15 g corn plus 15 g milk protein increases muscle protein synthesis rates in young, healthy males, and that the response does not differ from 30 g milk protein.
They state that ingesting a meal-like dose of plant-derived protein can be as effective as the same amount of animal-derived protein for increasing muscle protein synthesis in healthy, young males.
They advise that more research is needed to see if these findings hold in older people and in long-term settings.

How it was done

Plant proteins are often thought to build muscle less well than animal proteins, partly because they contain less leucine. Corn protein is unusual because its leucine content is high, even higher than whey protein, so the authors wanted to test how well it supports muscle building in people.

They gave 36 healthy young men a drink with either 30 g corn protein, 30 g milk protein, or a blend of 15 g corn plus 15 g milk protein. They measured muscle protein building rates over 5 hours using blood samples and muscle biopsies.

What it can’t tell you

This was a short study in healthy young men. It cannot show what happens in older people, in women, or over the long term.
The study used protein isolates, not whole foods or mixed meals, so it cannot show how corn or milk in a normal diet would affect muscle building.

Who paid

Conflicts: The project is organized by and executed under the auspices of TiFN (Wageningen, The Netherlands), a public–private partnership on precompetitive research in food and nutrition. Funding for this research was obtained from Tereos (Marckolsheim, France), Cargill (Minneapolis, MN, USA), Kellogg (Battle Creek, MI, USA), and the Top-sector Agri&Food. PJMP, IWKK, LCPGMdG, LBV, TS and LJCvL have the following interests: This study was funded by TiFN, Wageningen, The Netherlands. The sponsors Tereos Syral (Marckolsheim, France), Cargill (Minneapolis, MN, USA), and Kellogg (Battle Creek, MI, USA) partly financed the project. The researchers are responsible for the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, and preparation of the manuscript. The industrial partners have contributed to the project through regular discussion, and were involved in the study design. More specifically: the choice of interventional products which were produced by these sponsors. The funders had no role in data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. In addition: LJCvL and LBV have received research grants, consulting fees, speaking honoraria, or a combination of these from Friesland Campina, Tereos Syral, and Pepsico. A full overview on research funding is provided at: https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/l.vanloon. The other authors report no conflicts of interest.
Authors work at: Maastricht University Medical Centre+, The Netherlands; Wageningen University, The Netherlands

The paper

Title: The muscle protein synthetic response following corn protein ingestion does not differ from milk protein in healthy, young adults
Type: Randomised controlled trial
Evidence: Studies in people
Summarised from: Full text
Cite: Pinckaers PJM, Weijzen MEG, Houben LHP, et al (2024). The muscle protein synthetic response following corn protein ingestion does not differ from milk protein in healthy, young adults. Amino acids. doi:10.1007/s00726-023-03377-zFree full text PubMed 38315260 DOI

Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error