What is the Effect of Protein Intake on Performance?
It often comes as a surprise to athletes, but protein doesn’t fuel your performance during exercise. Instead, that’s the job of the carbohydrates you eat, along with your stores of fat. That being said, the protein you eat does play an important role: It helps in the repair and building of muscle tissue in response to training and competitions. Your muscles are made up of proteins. Proteins are composed of biological building blocks called amino acids. When you eat food, whether it’s a piece of meat or a slice of bread, whatever protein is present is gradually digested and broken down into its amino acid building blocks. These individual amino acids are then absorbed and repackaged together in different configurations to make the specific types of proteins you need, including muscle protein.
