Increased Protein Requirements in Female Athletes after Variable-Intensity Exercise
Abstract
PURPOSE: Protein requirements are primarily studied in the context of resistance or endurance exercise with little research devoted to variable-intensity intermittent exercise characteristic of many team sports. Further, female populations are underrepresented in dietary sports science studies. We aimed to determine a dietary protein requirement in active females performing variable-intensity intermittent exercise using the indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO) method. We hypothesized that these requirements would be greater than current IAAO-derived estimates in nonactive adult males. METHODS: Six females (21.2 ± 0.8 yr, 68.8 ± 4.1 kg, 47.1 ± 1.2 mL O2·kg·min; mean ± SE) completed five to seven metabolic trials during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Participants performed a modified Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test before consuming eight hourly mixed meals providing the test protein intake (0.2-2.66 g·kg·d), 6 g·kg·d CHO and sufficient energy for resting and exercise-induced energy expenditure. Protein was provided as crystalline amino acid modeling egg protein with [C]phenylalanine as the indicator amino acid. Phenylalanine turnover (Q) was determined from urinary [C]phenylalanine enrichment. Breath CO2 excretion (FCO2) was analyzed using mixed effects biphase linear regression with the breakpoint and upper 95% confidence interval approximating the estimated average requirement and recommended dietary allowance, respectively. RESULTS: Protein intake had no effect on Q (68.7 ± 7.3 μmol·kg·h; mean ± SE). FCO2 displayed a robust biphase response (R = 0.66) with an estimated average requirement of 1.41 g·kg·d and recommended dietary allowance of 1.71 g·kg·d. CONCLUSIONS: The protein requirement estimate of 1.41 and 1.71 g·kg·d for females performing variable-intensity intermittent exercise is greater than the IAAO-derived estimates of adult males (0.93 and 1.2 g·kg·d) and at the upper range of the American College of Sports Medicine athlete recommendations (1.2-2.0 g·kg·d).
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Endurance athletes are recommended to consume ~1.2-1.8 g·kg-1 of high-quality protein.
“Endurance athletes are recommended to consume ~ 1.2–1.8 g·kg–1 of high-quality protein [69–72]”
From Nutritional Strategies to Improve Post-exercise Recovery and Subsequent Exercise Performance: A Narrative Review (2025) · cites this paper as [72]
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- Authors
- WOODING, D. J., PACKER, J. E., KATO, H., WEST, D. W. D., COURTNEY-MARTIN, G., PENCHARZ, P. B., & MOORE, D. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Venue
- Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
- Published
- 2017-11
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 2297-2304
- ISSN
- 0195-9131 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2725856806
- Cited by
- 42
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 3.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- American College of Sports Medicine
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Keywords
- protein requirements, female athletes, team sports, indicator amino acid oxidation, carbon dioxide excretion, RDA
- MeSH terms
- Breath Tests, Dietary Proteins, Energy Metabolism, Female, Humans, Luteal Phase, Nutritional Requirements, Oxidation-Reduction, Phenylalanine, Pregnanediol, Sex Factors, Sports, Exercise, Young Adult, Accelerometry
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