The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Show

Eating more plants is not always helpful if it affects muscle health.
Two recent randomized controlled trials published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition investigated the effects of replacing animal protein with plant protein in older adults.
One study reported that participants adhering to a vegan diet experienced significant muscle loss over a 12-week period. The other study found that older people on a predominantly plant-based vegetarian diet and doing resistance training gained both muscle and strength over the same 12-week period.
This review looks at the design and results of the studies, considers the importance of both the amount and quality of protein for older adults and provides practical advice on how to put together a plant-based diet to support muscle. Older adults can certainly gain muscle on a predominantly plant-based diet but it's important to be very mindful of certain factors to get the best results.

Connect with Dr. Gabrielle Lyon:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drgabriellelyon/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drgabriellelyon
Facebook: https://facebook.com/doctorgabriellelyon
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@DrGabrielleLyon
X (Twitter): https://x.com/drgabriellelyon
Apply to become a patient – https://drgabriellelyon.com/new-patient-inquiry/
Join my weekly newsletter – https://institute-for-muscle-centric-medicine.ck.page


Chapters:
00:00 - Eating more plants is not automatically healthy for muscle
00:44 - Two new trials on plant protein and muscle in older adults
02:51 - Why protein matters more as we age: anabolic resistance
04:50 - Trial 1: a self-selected vegan diet in adults over 65
06:15 - What happened to muscle in the vegan group
07:18 - Resistance training reduced the losses but did not prevent them
08:36 - Trial 2: the IMPACT trial, vegetarian vs omnivorous diet with lifting
09:41 - Results: both groups gained muscle, omnivores gained more
11:47 - Essential amino acids, protein quality and DIAAS
13:40 - Why protein quality matters less when total protein is high
15:05 - The 2023 mycoprotein study
16:23 - Why a plant-based diet takes more planning
18:03 - Setting your protein requirement: 1.6 grams per kilogram
19:03 - Protein quality on a plant-based diet
20:05 - The takeaway: plant-based eating takes planning
21:50 - Why plant-based is easier to do well today
22:57 - Final thoughts

If you found this episode valuable, share it with someone who would benefit from it.

Studies mentioned in the podcast:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42680254/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42772454/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33599941/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36822394/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28698222/

The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Podcast and YouTube are for general information purposes only and do not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast, YouTube, or materials linked from this podcast or YouTube is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professional for any such conditions.

NBC News correspondent Chloe Melas joins me to share her experience living with ulcerative colitis for 15 years, a journey she kept private until releasing her new book, The Girl's Guide to Guts, co-written with Judy Batalion. We talk about the differences between IBD and IBS, what blood in the stool might mean, and why one study found that women waited more than twice as long as men to get a diagnosis. Chloe explains her flare plan, how she manages fiber with apples and psyllium, and what it was like to go over ten years without a normal bowel movement. We also discuss colon cancer in adults under 50, celiac disease, diverticulitis, colonoscopy prep, and traveling when your gut is unpredictable. I also explain how essential amino acids help feed the cells that produce the gut's protective mucus. If you’re dealing with bloating, urgency, or bleeding, this conversation can help you recognize when it’s time to call a GI doctor.

Thank you to our sponsors:
Cozy Earth: 20% off home and sleepwear at https://cozyearth.com with code DRLYON
Ladder: free 7-day trial, no credit card, plus $10 off your first month at https://ladder.fit/drlyon
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Connect with Chloe Melas:
The Girl's Guide to Guts: https://a.co/d/0byBk4In
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloemelas/

Connect with Dr. Gabrielle Lyon:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drgabriellelyon/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drgabriellelyon
Facebook: https://facebook.com/doctorgabriellelyon
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@DrGabrielleLyon
X (Twitter): https://x.com/drgabriellelyon
Apply to become a patient – https://drgabriellelyon.com/new-patient-inquiry/
Join my weekly newsletter – https://institute-for-muscle-centric-medicine.ck.page

Chapters:
00:47 - Meet Chloe Melas and The Girl's Guide to Guts
03:36 - IBD vs IBS: ulcerative colitis, Crohn's and how they differ
05:30 - Blood, tenesmus and a decade of laxatives
07:30 - What a normal stool looks like
08:31 - Colon cancer in adults under 50
10:00 - Why Chloe decided to share her story
13:04 - IBS symptoms, elimination diets and when to see a GI
16:37 - Colonoscopies, medication and finding the right doctor
19:18 - Shame, silence and women's health
20:52 - Why women wait longer for a diagnosis
22:00 - Chloe's flare plan: sleep, protein and less alcohol
23:40 - Fiber: how much you need and the apple math
28:53 - Psyllium, inulin, guar gum and other fibers
33:13 - What may trigger IBD: antibiotics, environment and genetics
35:58 - Menstrual cycles and other causes behind IBS-like symptoms
37:39 - Celiac disease and why you cannot self-diagnose
41:19 - Celiac in children and early screening
43:28 - Diverticulitis
44:22 - Gut habits to start in your 20s
45:38 - Essential amino acids, threonine and mucin
46:37 - Sleep, hydration and at-home stool tests
49:09 - Raising kids with strong guts
53:17 - Colonoscopy prep that works
55:09 - The white pants story
58:33 - Travel strategies for a sensitive gut
1:00:58 - Judy Batalion and the J pouch
1:03:00 - How ulcerative colitis was once called psychosomatic

If you found this episode valuable, share it with someone who would benefit from it.

Studies mentioned in the podcast:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36719111/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41569583/

Disclaimers: This episode includes paid sponsorships.
The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Podcast and YouTube are for general information purposes only and do not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast, YouTube, or materials linked from this podcast or YouTube is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professional for any such conditions.

Have you heard about retatrutide?
It's the weight loss drug everybody is talking about. People are buying it online as a research chemical, and patients ask me if I'm prescribing it (I'm not).
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine shared insights into the drug, which is currently not FDA-approved. At the highest dose, people lost an average of 25% of their body weight over 80 weeks, compared with about 4% body weight for those on placebo. The area I care about most—muscle—doesn’t get much attention.
In this episode, I go through the TRIUMPH-1 results, how retatrutide compares with semaglutide and tirzepatide, and what protein and resistance training do for muscle during weight loss.

Find Dr. Gabrielle Lyon at:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drgabriellelyon/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drgabriellelyon
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/doctorgabriellelyon
- YouTube: https://youtube.com/@DrGabrielleLyon
- X (Twitter): https://x.com/drgabriellelyon
- Apply to become a patient – https://drgabriellelyon.com/new-patient-inquiry/
- Join my weekly newsletter – https://institute-for-muscle-centric-medicine.ck.page

Chapters:
00:00 Cold open: weight loss we have never seen before with a drug
00:45 TRIUMPH-1 and phase three: a trial of retatrutide in people without diabetes
02:49 Approval and mechanism: phase three is not FDA approval, and retatrutide hits GLP-1, GIP and glucagon
04:53 The headline: 25% of body weight, about 62 pounds, against 15% for semaglutide and 21% for tirzepatide
06:52 Trial design: 2,339 adults, 80 weeks and no prescribed diet
08:45 Results by dose: 17 to 28% on retatrutide, about 4% on placebo and the bariatric surgery comparison
10:29 The top dose: more than half dropped below a BMI of 30, plus the 104-week extension
13:10 Beyond the scale: waist, blood pressure, triglycerides, insulin, CRP, knee pain and sleep apnea
15:37 The muscle question: TRIUMPH-1 does not report body composition
16:32 Phase 2 DEXA data: about 30 to 40% of weight lost was lean tissue
18:22 Protein and training: the 1.2 versus 2.4 g/kg deficit study
20:24 The goal: lose fat and keep muscle
21:29 Pharmacology: SURMOUNT-5 put tirzepatide at 20% against 14% for semaglutide
22:30 What glucagon adds, and why there is no head-to-head trial yet
25:23 Side effects, and why more drug is not better medicine
27:23 What TRIUMPH-1 changes, and the study still missing
28:48 Not FDA approved, and where obesity pharmacology goes next
29:51 Close: the goal was never weight loss

Study and References:
Jastreboff AM, Kaplan LM, Davies MJ et al. 2026. Retatrutide, a triple hormone receptor agonist, for treatment of obesity. N Engl J Med. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2604169
Coskun T et al. 2025. Effects of retatrutide on body composition in people with type 2 diabetes: a substudy of a phase 2, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, randomised trial. PMID: 40609566 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40609566/
Longland TM et al. 2016. Higher compared with lower dietary protein during an energy deficit combined with intense exercise promotes greater lean mass gain and fat mass loss: a randomized trial. PMID: 26817506 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26817506/
Aronne LJ et al. 2025. Tirzepatide as compared with semaglutide for the treatment of obesity. PMID: 40353578 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40353578/
Wilding JPH et al. 2021. Once-weekly semaglutide in adults with overweight or obesity. PMID: 33567185 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33567185/
Jastreboff AM et al. 2022. Tirzepatide once weekly for the treatment of obesity. PMID: 35658024 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35658024/

Disclaimer: The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Podcast and YouTube are for general information purposes only and do not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast, YouTube, or materials linked from this podcast or YouTube is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professional for any such conditions.

How do the amino acids in a soy patty and a beef patty compare once they reach your blood?
In a trial he helped design, Dr. David Church matched a 4-ounce beef patty against a soy-based burger. He had to double the soy to roughly match the single beef patty in essential amino acids. The blood amino acid levels shocked him.
David joins me at Protein Summit 3.0 to explain what happened.
He also tells me why muscle protein breakdown is so much harder to measure than synthesis, and shares insights from his 21-day testosterone study, where the men on testosterone lost all of their weight as fat while the placebo group lost about half of theirs as fat-free mass.

Thank you to our sponsors:

- Cozy Earth: 20% off home and sleepwear at cozyearth.com with code DRLYON
- Timeline: an additional 20% off at timeline.com/lyon
- Bon Charge: 30% off sitewide in their Black Friday sale with code DRLYON30

Find Dr. David Church at:

- UAMS profile: https://uams-triprofiles.uams.edu/profiles/profile/5838748
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.myohead
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-church-6b0662280
- X (Twitter): https://x.com/DrMyohead

Find Dr. Gabrielle Lyon at:

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drgabriellelyon/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drgabriellelyon
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/doctorgabriellelyon
- YouTube: https://youtube.com/@DrGabrielleLyon
- X (Twitter): https://x.com/drgabriellelyon
- Apply to become a patient – https://drgabriellelyon.com/new-patient-inquiry/
- Join my weekly newsletter – https://institute-for-muscle-centric-medicine.ck.page

Chapters:
0:00 – Dr. David Church on the Nandrolone Aging Study in Mice
3:17 – What Testosterone Changed in Men During a 21-Day Energy Deficit
6:14 – Androgens, Hormones and What We Still Do Not Know in Women
9:43 – Stable Isotope Tracers Explained With Legos
10:56 – Why Muscle Protein Breakdown Is So Hard to Measure
13:23 – How Testosterone May Recycle Amino Acids Inside the Muscle Cell
16:01 – Net Protein Balance, Burns and Whole-Body Protein
18:38 – Obesity, Anabolic Resistance and the 1.2 g/kg Protein Target
24:38 – Testosterone and Protein as Complementary Levers
26:15 – Nandrolone, Satellite Cells and Muscle Memory
32:50 – The Soy Burger vs. Beef Patty Trial
40:18 – Plant Protein, Low Appetite and Essential Amino Acid Supplements
41:16 – GLP-1 Responders and Why Dr. Lyon Uses Essential Amino Acids
47:49 – Are Essential Amino Acids Requirements Higher Than We Thought?

Disclaimers: This episode includes paid sponsorships.
The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Podcast and YouTube are for general information purposes only and do not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast, YouTube, or materials linked from this podcast or YouTube is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professional for any such conditions.

Protein has become a numbers game, and the numbers leave out the essential amino acids your muscle, brain and metabolism depend on. Protein is how you get them, and its quality may change how well you age.
In this episode, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon brings together some of her favorite moments with Dr. Don Layman, Dr. Heather Leidy and Dr. Jess Gwin to break down the essential amino acid requirement, cut through the confusion on protein quality (what a protein label leaves out, plant vs. animal sources, branched-chain amino acids, and leucine), and explain what the research says about essential amino acids in brain function, mood, sleep, energy deficit, and anabolic resistance as we age.
If you have ever wondered what your protein label isn't telling you, or why half an ounce of nuts and an ounce of lean beef count as the same serving, this conversation offers a clear, practical look at what the science says.

Thank you to our sponsors:
- BodyHealth: 20% off your first order at bodyhealth.com with code LYON20
- Tushy: 10% off your first bidet order at hellotushy.com with code DRLYON

Find Dr. Don Layman, Dr. Heather Leidy and Dr. Jess Gwin at:
- Dr. Heather Leidy: https://nutrition.utexas.edu/directory/heather-leidy/
- Dr. Don Layman: https://x.com/donlayman
- Dr. Jess Gwin: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jess-Gwin

Find Dr. Gabrielle Lyon at:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drgabriellelyon/
- TikTok: @drgabriellelyon
- Facebook: facebook.com/doctorgabriellelyon
- YouTube: youtube.com/@DrGabrielleLyon
- X (Twitter): x.com/drgabriellelyon
- Apply to become a patient – https://drgabriellelyon.com/new-patient-inquiry/
- Join my weekly newsletter – https://institute-for-muscle-centric-medicine.ck.page

Chapters:
0:00 – Why the Requirement Is Essential Amino Acids, From Muscle to Mood and Sleep
3:24 – Dr. Jess Gwin on Protein Quality and Why the Dietary Guidelines Miss It
5:36 – What a Protein Label Does and Doesn't Tell You
6:50 – Nuts vs. Lean Beef and the Cost of Going Plant-Based
9:35 – Dr. Don Layman on Branched-Chain Amino Acids, Leucine and mTOR
11:19 – How Much Protein Reaches the Leucine Threshold
14:00 – Dr. Jess Gwin on Essential Amino Acids Under Energy Deficit and Stress
16:36 – Dosing, Aging and Anabolic Resistance
19:26 – Whole Foods vs. Amino Acid Powders as Tools
21:29 – Dr. Lyon's First-Meal Routine

Disclaimers: This episode includes paid sponsorships.
The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Podcast and YouTube are for general information purposes only and do not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast, YouTube, or materials linked from this podcast or YouTube is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professional for any such conditions.