Protein Powder
If you've ever walked into a GNC store I'm sure you've witnessed the infamous wall of protein. Protein powders are easily one of the most popular and used sport supplements in a $2.7 billion industry but are they really worth it?
Our muscles are primarily made up of water and protein which is the reason we need protein in order for our muscles to grow. When athletes are training and exercising at a high level their rates of muscle growth and breakdown are elevated. In order to ensure that synthesis > breakdown following exercise, we need to consume protein to providing our muscles with the necessary building blocks to construct new muscle.
The daily recommendation of protein for the average sedentary person is 0.8 g/kg of body weight. Anyone who is lifting weights should be more in the range of 1.2-1.8 g/kg of body weight. After you get the amount figured out, the next step is what KIND of protein. Believe it or not, proteins are actually "graded" on how beneficial they are for you. The protein digestibility corrected amino acid scale (PDCAAS), rates proteins on how "complete" and how bio-available they are. When a protein is complete it means that is has all of the essential amino acids (building blocks of proteins that your body cannot produce) needed to produce a protein. The top rated proteins are whey, casein (milk) and egg. They have all of the necessary amino acids needed to synthesize protein. A lot of these are in common foods and can be obtained through a well-balanced diet. However, a lot of times people aren't able to walk out of the gym and grab a few hard-boiled eggs and a chicken breast to go. This is where protein powders come in very handy.
In a perfect world we wouldn't need protein powders and we would be able to consume all of our recommended daily protein through whole foods alone but we all know that the convenience factor of protein powder is why it's so appealing. So now the question is which protein powder should you get? The first thing you need to consider is what are your goals: Build muscle, lose weight, maintain? It sounds kind of cheesy but what ever your goal is, there is a protein powder for you! Most of the protein powders are made up of primarily protein (no kidding, right?). If you are consuming a protein powder for the sole purpose of increasing your daily PROTEIN intake than your best option is to consume a 100% Whey protein powder with as little other ingredients (i.e. carbs, fats, etc) as possible. This is why it's so important to read the labels when you are picking out your 5 gallon jug of protein. Don't let the guy at the GNC store pressure you into buying something you don't need. Not that I'm picking on GNC, any nutrition store has that guy who thinks he knows everything and has been programmed to rattle off 10 sexy facts about each product; don't be persuaded! If your goal is to gain muscle or weight in general, than the "mass gainers" are going to be more beneficial for you. These don't have any special kind of protein that make you grow muscle faster or anything, they are basically a higher calorie protein powder; meaning they have a lot more carbs and fat in them. I have seen some powders that have up to 1,200 calories per serving size! Sometimes I will buy these powders but only consume about 1/5 a serving size. This usually equals 150-300 calories with a mix of proteins, carbs and fat which are all important for post-exercise recovery.
There are a lot of "tricks" to utilizing protein powders properly. I am a huge advocate for them not only for the convenience factor but sometimes they are necessary in order to hit your daily protein needs. Especially for larger athletes who need to be consuming ~200 grams of protein per day; which would equal about 7 chicken breasts a day! There are two important things to remember: 1) What are your goals? and 2)What KIND of protein powder fits that goal?. Again, remember to read the labels, look at each serving size and know what you are actually getting!
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