Fig. 4

a: Mean ± SD (n = 10). Postabsorptive plus exercise and postprandial post-exercise recovery whole-body protein synthesis after WHEY, EAA + W, and MEAL intake during energy deficit. *indicates post hoc difference between postabsorptive and postprandial within the same treatment (P = 0.001) and different lowercase letters indicate post hoc difference between treatments within the same condition (both, P < 0.01). b: Mean ± SD (n = 10). Postabsorptive plus exercise and postprandial post-exercise recovery whole-body protein breakdown after WHEY, EAA + W, and MEAL intake during energy deficit. *indicates post hoc difference between postabsorptive and postprandial within the same treatment (P = 0.011) and different lowercase letters indicate post hoc difference between treatments within the same condition (both, P = 0.001). c: Mean ± SD (n = 10). Postabsorptive plus exercise and postprandial post-exercise recovery whole-body net balance after WHEY, EAA + W, and MEAL intake during energy deficit. *indicates post hoc difference between postabsorptive and postprandial within the same treatment (P = 0.001) and different lowercase letters indicate post hoc difference between treatments within the same condition (both, P = 0.001). d: Mean ± SD (n = 10). Change in postabsorptive plus exercise and postprandial post-exercise recovery whole-body protein turnover after WHEY, EAA + W, and MEAL intake during energy deficit. Different lowercase letters indicate difference between treatments within the protein synthesis, protein breakdown, and net balance measures (all, P < 0.05). e: Change in postabsorptive plus exercise and postprandial post-exercise recovery whole-body protein synthesis relative to EAA intake after WHEY, EAA + W, and MEAL intake during energy deficit. Different lowercase letters indicate difference between treatments (all, P < 0.05). f: Mean ± SD (n = 10). Postabsorptive plus exercise and postprandial post-exercise recovery phenylalanine hydroxylation after WHEY, EAA + W, and MEAL intake during energy deficit. *indicates post hoc difference between postabsorptive and postprandial within the same treatment (P = 0.001) and different lowercase letters indicate post hoc difference between treatments within the same condition (both, P = 0.001)