Supplement Doctor's Blog

Whey Protein Puts Muscle on ALS Patients

Posted by Jose Antonio on Wed, May 26, 2010 @ 04:15 PM

Check out this study showing the supplementing with whey protein helps ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) patients gain muscle weight. And you thought it was just for athletes...wrong!

Study summary:
OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the efficacy of oral supplementation with milk whey proteins and modified starch (70%WPI:30%MS), on nutritional and functional parameters of patients with ALS. METHOD: A prospective randomized double-blind study was performed with 16 ALS patients, divided in two groups, the treatment group received (70%WPI:30%MS) and the control group received (maltodextrin). They underwent prospective nutritional and functional assessment for 4 months. RESULTS: Patients in the treatment group presented weight gain, increased body mass index (BMI), increased arm muscle area and circumference, higher albumin, white blood cell and total lymphocyte counts, and reduced creatine-kinase, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase. In the control group, biochemical parameters did not change, but weight and BMI declined. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the agglomerate 70%WPI:30%MS may be useful in the nutritional therapy of patients with ALS.

Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2010 Apr;68(2):263-8.
Effect of nutritional supplementation with milk whey proteins in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.
Silva LB, Mourão LF, Silva AA, Lima NM, Almeida SR, Franca MC Jr, Nucci A, Amaya-Farfán J.
Federal University of Alfenas, MG, Campinas SP, Brazil.