Dr. Donald Layman is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Layman served on the faculty at the University of Illinois from 1977 – 2012. Dr. Layman is recognized for research about protein and amino acid metabolism, nutrition for athletic performance, obesity, diabetes and cardiometabolic health. Dr. Layman has over 100 peer-reviewed publications. He has received numerous awards for his research and nutrition teaching. Dr. Layman served as Associate Editor of The Journal of Nutrition from 1989 through 1993; and he currently serves Associate Editor of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior and on the editorial boards of Nutrition & Metabolism, and Nutrition Research and Practice and is a consultant to numerous food companies and commodity organizations. Dr. Layman earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemistry at Illinois State University and his doctorate in human nutrition and biochemistry at the University of Minnesota.

Twitter: @donlayman

In this podcast Professor Layman and discuss protein metabolism. Some of the things we discuss are:

(02:25): How do we define a high protein diet?

(06:45): Is there a difference in protein requirements between genders?

(08:45): As we age, should we adjust our protein requirements?

(15:25): Could you explain what the leucine threshold is and its activation of the mTOR pathway?

(35:50): What is AMPK and how does it affect muscle protein synthesis?

(41:08): What role does BCAA have on MPS and are there any benefits of supplementing the diet with BCAA?

(46:35): Could you explain what a refractory period is?

(53:29): What is the take home message?