Table 1. Composition of standard and experimental diets.

	Standard diet	Control and experimental diets
		CONTROL	LEU	WHEY	HIGH PROT
Ingredients
Casein	166	166	166	-	156
Whey	-	-	-	144	144
L-cystine	1.8	1.8	1.8	-	-
Alanine1	-	59		-	-
Leucine	-	-	44.5	-	-
Valine2	-	-	5.1	-	-
Isoleucine2	-	-	9.8	-	-
Proline	-	-		5.7	-
Choline	-	-		2.5	2.5
Rapeseed oil	30	30	30	30	30
Peanut oil	27	27	27	27	27
Sunflower oil	3	3	3	3	3
Cellulose	35	35	35	35	35
Sucrose	100	100	100	100	100
Lactose	134	134	134	134	134
Wheat flour	458.2	399.2	398.8	482	334
Mineral mixture AIN93	35	35	35	35	35
Vitamin mixture AIN93	10	10	10	10	10
Given during	adaptation/immobilization	recovery	recovery	recovery	recovery

Quantities are expressed in g.kg⁻¹ dry matter for the CONTROL, LEU, WHEY and HIGH Prot groups.

LEU, leucine; WHEY, whey protein; HIGH PROT, high protein.

¹Alanine was included in the control diet to render the diets isonitrogenous. This amino acid has no effect on muscle protein metabolism.

²Valine and isoleucine were included in the leucine-supplemented diet to prevent the fall of their plasma concentrations induced by leucine supplementation.