A new study in the Journal of Nutrition found that fungi-derived mycoprotein is just as effective at supporting muscle building during resistance training as animal protein. 

by NICOLE AXWORTHY

APRIL 7, 2023

https://vegnews.com/vegan-news/health/mushroom-meat-animal-muscle-study

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Fungi-derived mycoprotein—sometimes known as mushroom meat—is just as effective at supporting muscle building during resistance training as animal protein, according to the findings of a new study published in the Journal of Nutrition.

The study, from researchers at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, claims that it is the first to explore if a vegan diet rich in mycoprotein can support muscle growth during resistance training to the same extent as an omnivorous diet. It comes as a growing number of adults are eating less meat, with the latest figures showing that there are more than seven million adults who now follow a meat-free diet.

The randomized trial was split into two phases. In the first phase, 16 healthy young adults completed a three-day diet where their protein was derived from either omnivorous or exclusively vegan (predominantly mycoprotein developed by vegetarian brand Quorn) sources. During this phase, detailed measures of metabolism were taken.

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In phase two, 22 healthy young adults completed a 10-week, high-volume progressive resistance training program while consuming a high-protein omnivorous diet or a vegan diet rich in mycoprotein.

The results demonstrated comparable increases in muscle mass and strength in response to both diets, with no significant differences between the two. The group on the high-protein omnivorous diet gained 2.6 kg (5.7 lbs) of whole-body lean mass, while the group on the vegan diet gained 3.1 kg (6.8 lbs). Both groups also increased the size of their thigh muscles by the same amount (8.3 percent) over the course of the trial.

Based on these results, the research team concluded that a vegan diet that’s high in mycoprotein can be just as effective as a high-protein omnivorous diet in building muscle during resistance training.

Can you build muscle on a vegan diet?

This study is the latest to demonstrate the potency of mycoprotein in muscle building. Research published by the University of Exeter in 2020 that found that mycoprotein builds muscle to a greater extent than milk protein, and a 2021 study concluding that a mycoprotein-rich vegan diet supports the maintenance of muscle tissue in older adults.

GabinVallet/Unsplash

However, this latest study is the first to directly compare mycoprotein with an omnivorous diet, including meat, and to do this over an extended “free living” period of 10 weeks of the participants’ daily lives.

“It is well established that muscle building can be augmented by adhering to a high-protein diet. Alistair Monteyne, the researcher who conducted the trial at the University of Exeter, said in a statement.

“However, it was previously unclear as to whether non-animal derived diets and non-animal derived protein sources, such as Quorn’s mycoprotein, could support muscle building during resistance training to the same extent as omnivorous diets and animal-derived protein sources.”

“We now have a strong body of evidence, perhaps more than is available for any other alternative protein source, to show that mycoprotein is an effective protein food to support muscle maintenance and growth,” Monteyne added.

What is mushroom meat?

Mushroom meat is the naturally high-fiber, single-cell protein derived from fungi. The most popular brand using this type of protein is Quorn, whose first products—made using a fungi microorganism called “Fusarium Venenatum”—came out in 1985. Using the process of microbial fermentation, the company has released a wide range of mycoprotein-based meatless grounds, sausage, chicken, and more.

The fungus is sourced from the soil and fermented with nutrients made from maize, wheat, and essential minerals to create a food that is high in protein and fiber, low in saturated fat, and free from trans fat and cholesterol.

Quorn

Research suggests that, as well as its excellent nutrition profile, the structural complexity of mycoprotein’s cell wall, which is retained through the production process, may explain why it is so good for metabolic health. It is also a complete protein, meaning it contains all of the nine essential amino acids needed by our bodies.

Other studies have also found that mycoprotein is linked to gut health benefits and a reduction in genotoxins known to cause colon cancer. 

Meatless proteins are more sustainable

The study comes after a report involving University of Exeter researchers found that regular widespread consumption of meat-free proteins could be one of three “super leverage points” that could give hope for a breakthrough on climate change through reducing emissions from livestock farming.

Quorn

“At a time when a growing number of people are following official dietary advice to consume less meat for the sake of their health and the planet, it is positive that a high-quality meat-free protein that is scientifically proven to build muscle mass at a rate comparable to any animal-derived protein is available,” Tim Finnigan, Scientific Advisor for Quorn Foods, said in a statement.

“This study builds on a growing body of independently conducted research, thought to be the largest to exist for any alternative protein, that clearly demonstrates mycoprotein’s nutritional excellence as a complete protein with a proven ability to protect against a range of diseases and health conditions.”

For the latest vegan news, read:

• Just Egg Breakfast Sandwich Lands at 500 Barnes & Noble Stores
• 12 New Vegan Staples Are Pushing Farms Into the Future
• Doctors Should Recommend More Plants, Less Meat For Chronic Disease 

Nicole Axworthy is the News Editor at VegNews and author of the cookbook DIY Vegan. 

Liz Hardaway

https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/ridgefield-dogs-killed-michael-konschak-hunting-17891653.php

April 12, 2023Updated: April 12, 2023 1:36 p.m.

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DANBURY — A New York man who is accused of killing two pet German shepherds in Ridgefield last year had his case continued on Wednesday.

The last time Michael Konschak, 61, was in court, a judge denied his request for accelerated rehabilitation, a pretrial diversionary program that would have dismissed the charges if successfully completed.

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In state Superior Court in Danbury Wednesday, Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Deborah Mabbet read into the record that the case was continued to May 23. Judge Charles M. Stango said in court that attorneys in the case are trying to get more information on the case before proceeding. 

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The Caviola family, who had owned German shepherds Cimo and Lieben since they were puppies, and representatives from Desmond’s Army Animal Law Advocates, an animal welfare organization, were in attendance Wednesday. 

Erin Caviola said she is grateful for the outpouring of support. As the trial continues, her family is trying to remember their happy memories with their pets while fighting to get them justice. 

• By Nina Wu 
• April 11, 2023

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• COURTESY USFW/AMANDA BOYDThe three rehabilitated Hawaiian monk seals make their way from the beach pen towards the water.
• COURTESY NOAA FISHERIES/BRENDA BECKERRehabilitated juvenile monk seals Alena, Lelehua, and Ikaika acclimate to their new surroundings at Midway Atoll inside a temporary enclosure.

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A second chance at life.

That’s what three endangered Hawaiian monk seals now have as they return to life in the wild at Midway Atoll.

Wildlife officials rescued the three last year, when they were malnourished juvenile seals in the remote atoll, also known as Kuaihelani, at Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

Monk seal PP32, or Alena, along with monk seal DQ10, or Lelehua, were rescued from Midway aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research ship, Oscar Elton Sette.

Alena and Lelehua joined monk seal WQO8, or Ikaika, who was rescued on a previous trip, at Ke Kai Ola, The Marine Mammal Center’s dedicated hospital for monk seals in Kailua-Kona.

During their time at Ke Kai Ola, which has treated dozens of malnourished seals, they were plumped up.

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Oftentimes, the malnourished seals are given oral multivitamins and electrolytes in daily tube feedings, along with fish-mash smoothies — and eventually, sustainably caught fish.

Once they gain enough weight and are able to feed independently, plus given a clean bill of health, they are returned to the wild.

With help from the U.S. Coast Guard, the seals got an airlift back to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in March.

After spending three days acclimating in a pen on the shoreline, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel released the seals and watched as they calmly made their way into the ocean.

Officials will continue to monitor the three via their unique flipper and satellite tags.

Hawaiian monk seals, with only about 1,500 left in the wild, are one of the most endangered seal species in the world.

Dr. Sophie Whoriskey, Hawaiian monk seal conservation veterinarian at The Marine Mammal Center, said the survival of each seal is critical to the recovery of the population.

“This success story highlights the critical importance of our ongoing partnerships to help give these animals a second chance at life,” she said.

Experts think the victim contracted the lethal virus after a visit to a wet market where live birds were sold

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/bird-flu-h3n8-death-china/

BySarah Newey, GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, IN BANGKOK11 April 2023 • 4:27pm

A 56-year-old woman in China has died after contracting H3N8 bird flu, the first known fatality in a human from this strain of avian influenza. 

While H3N8 is “one of the most frequently found” subtypes of flu found in birds, the woman is only the third person known to have caught the virus and the first to have died.

Two young boys were infected with the same virus in unrelated cases in China last year, but both survived. 

According to a World Health Organization report, the woman developed symptoms in late February and died on March 16. She had “multiple underlying conditions” and is thought to have caught the virus at a wet market, where scientists tracing her exposure collected samples positive for H3N8. 

The infection is unrelated to the H5N1 bird flu pandemic that has devastated poultry and wild bird populations around the world in the last 18 months and has spread to mammals including foxes, sea lions and even domestic cats.

There is also no evidence the H3N8 can be spread person to person. “No close contacts of the case developed an infection or symptoms of illness at the time of reporting,” said the WHO.

While H3N8 is less dangerous for both wild birds and domestic poultry than H5N1, “causing minimal to no sign of disease”, it has also been detected in various mammals before – including horses and dogs. 

In 2011, there was an outbreak of H3N8 among harbour seals in New England, US that killed 162 animals. 

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There are many types of avian influenza, with the viruses described by two different proteins – hemagglutinin and neuraminidase (the H and N in the naming sequence). To date, scientists have identified 18 different subtypes of the former, and 11 of the latter, in circulation.

Just six of these (H5, H6, H7, H8, H9, and H10 viruses) have so far infected humans, with H5N1 and H7N9 responsible for the bulk of known cases. 

“H3N8 viruses were first detected in wild birds in the 1960s and have been detected in other animals,” the US CDC said in a statement on Monday. “Avian influenza H3N8 viruses have been sporadically detected in poultry in China and some have been found to be genetically closely related to the human cases reported in 2022”.

For now, the H5N1 bird flu pandemic remains the greater concern as regards the risk to humans.

The sheer number of cases in birds and increasing transmission in (and potentially between) mammals – including mink, otters and even pet cats – increases the opportunity for the virus to mutate and become able to spread between people.

“If transmission between mammals have started, the virus has changed and this could increase the risk for human health,” Dr Pablo Plaza, an expert in veterinary public health and epidemiology at the National University of Comahue in Argentina, and co-author of the first pre-print describing the sea lion outbreak in Peru, told the Telegraph earlier this year.

“Until now, this risk seems to be low – however, we must be alert since [the] virus is changing all the time. Several changes in the virus are needed to adapt to human-human transmission, so hopefully they will not occur,” he added.