4.8. Dietary Intervention
Participants were randomly assigned to either control, high-protein (protein) or high-protein, omega-3-enriched (protein + omega-3) diet groups. While the control group continued their usual diet, both protein-enriched groups received a high-protein diet (1.2–1.5 g protein/kg body weight/day), supported with a daily 300 mL whey drink (27 g protein; including 4 g leucine). In addition, the protein + omega-3 group was supplemented daily with 3.5 mL algae oil (2195 mg omega-3 fatty acids; including 1397 mg DHA, 749 mg EPA, and 49 mg docosapentaenoic acid). To evaluate compliance, left-overs of the whey and omega-3 supplements were weighed back at the end of the study, and additionally, omega-3 index was measured in plasma.