Milk Versus a Pea-based Beverage for Bone and Muscle Health in Young Athletes

Not Applicable

Completed

Interventions: Dietary Supplement: Nutritional supplementation during a 6 month resistance training program

Brief Summary: Canada's Food Guide places an increased emphasis on plant-based proteins; however, Canadians who consume a plant-based diet may be compromised because of intake of lower-quality protein. Consumption of high-quality protein is important during growth and development, especially in highly active individuals. The study will compare milk (i.e. high quality protein) to a pea-based beverage (i.e. lower quality plant-based protein) in adolescent boys and girls who are engaged in resistance-training programs as part of their athletic training. One-hundred and fourteen adolescent boys and girls (12-17y of age) will be divided into groups that consume milk, a pea-beverage, or a carbohydrate (sugar) beverage after resistance training sessions performed three times per week for six months. It is predicted that the group consuming milk will have greater increases in muscle mass, strength, and bone density, and greater reductions in fat mass compared to the groups consuming a pea-based or carbohydrate beverages.

Detailed Description: Milk protein is important especially for very active people and in the context of plant-based diets, which are lower in protein quality. The purpose of the study is to compare the effectiveness of milk supplementation to pea-beverage supplementation during resistance training programs for increasing lean tissue mass in adolescent boys and girls. Secondary and tertiary outcomes include fat mass, bone mineral density, and muscular strength. It is hypothesized that milk supplementation during resistance training will be more effective than plant-based proteins (i.e. pea-beverage) for increasing muscle mass, reducing fat mass, and improving bone mineral outcomes in adolescent boys and girls. One-hundred and fourteen boys and girls (aged 12-17y) who are currently enrolled in resistance training programs (3 times per week for 6 months) as part of their competitive athletic programs will be stratified by sex and maturity status before being randomized to three groups: 1) 1% chocolate milk supplementation; 2) pea-based beverage; 3) carbohydrate beverage (placebo control). Beverages will be consumed during recovery from each resistance training session (i.e. 250 ml immediately after training and 250 ml one hour later to optimize post-exercise protein synthesis) over the six-month intervention. It is anticipated that milk supplementation will be more effective than plant-based protein supplementation.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Exclusion Criteria

Have taken any nutritional supplement (e.g., protein, creatine, amino acids) within the past month
Currently taking anabolic steroids or oral corticosteroids
Allergies to dairy, almonds, cashews, or peas

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
1% chocolate milk	Nutritional supplementation during a 6 month resistance training program	250 ml of 1% chocolate milk consumed immediately after resistance training sessions + 250 ml of chocolate milk consumed 1 hour after resistance training sessions
Placebo: Low protein plant-based beverage	Nutritional supplementation during a 6 month resistance training program	250 ml of placebo beverage consumed immediately after resistance training sessions + 250 ml of placebo beverage consumed 1 hour after resistance training sessions
Pea-based beverage	Nutritional supplementation during a 6 month resistance training program	250 ml of pea beverage consumed immediately after resistance training sessions + 250 ml of pea beverage consumed 1 hour after resistance training sessions

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in lean tissue mass (kg)	6 months	Lean tissue mass measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in cortical thickness at the hip (cm)	6 months	Cortical thickness measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry
Change in fat mass (kg)	6 months	Fat mass measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry
Change in bench press strength (kg)	6 months	Bench press strength predicted from resistance lifted for 6-10 repetitions
Change in squat strength (kg)	6 months	Squat strength predicted from resistance lifted for 6-10 repetitions
Change in lumbar spine bone mineral density (g/cm-squared)	6 months	Lumbar spine bone mineral density measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry
Change in hip bone mineral density (g/cm-squared)	6 months	Hip bone mineral density measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry
Change in cross-sectional area at the hip (cm-squared)	6 months	Cross-sectional area measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry
Change in cross-sectional moment of inertia at the hip (cm to the power of 4)	6 months	Cross-sectional moment of inertia measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry
Change in buckling ratio at the hip (no units)	6 months	Buckling ratio measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry
Change in section modulus at the hip (cm to the power of 3)	6 months	Section modulus measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry

Locations (1): University of Saskatchewan
🇨🇦
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada