Are protein shakes worth it?

[Curanhadin]

No.

Try running. Obviously it will help.

Running does very little to build muscle, atleast distance running. Yes they do help, for one they are a good source of protien obviously but its a source that allows you to avoid extra calories say a 200 calorie shake or 500 calories of hamburger to get the same amount of protien. Most arent too pricey, also Id start eating lots of canned tuna, great protein cheap tastes pretty good. Once you start getting in shape from cardio and lifting change from distance to sprint intervals. Ever noticed how wimpy looking the distance runners look and how jacked every sprinter is at the olympics? Long distance can actually cause you to lose muscle. Nothing beats interval training for getting ripped and getting into incredible shape.

[Dtloweca]

Whey has one of the highest amino acid profiles but so does chicken and fish along with other lean meats. Other than that it's just a matter of convenience. I typically only buy one medium tub of protein powder every few months because I only use the powder when im not meeting my protein needs because as far as protein per cost, for me at least, buying whole foods is cheaper.

[Khwaj]

damn, already 9 pages of this lol
well im gonna say this again if people didnt read

can you meet your protein req eating whole foods? if you answered yes then you dont need protein powder
if no, then it can be useful to you

for a lot of ppl its easier to consume 50g of protein via powder than it is from chicken

i got some friends who been lifting for years, hes pretty big and low bf% and he doesnt use protein powder anymore, he can eat a lot though, so eating for him is easy
the only supplements he takes is creatine and fish oil

reason is that he prob needs to eat like 5kilos of meat everyday which even for him is too much since he has eat other things, the fish oils is good for his joints since he absolutely hates fish he eats the fish oils tablets instead

[Deleted]

Wow, 400 kCal for a protein shake? The whey shakes I use have 140 kCal/26g per "serving".

Also, there are a lot of protein shakes out there and some are actually delicious (while others to taste like shit, I tried one brand (Whey-80) which had a horrible taste and wouldn't dissolve in water unless you shook it for well over a minute).

Think you misunderstood me as my comment on taste was a shout out to the "Nutrition > Taste" people out there. I'm fully aware that some shakes taste nice whilst others don't and that was kind of my point :P.

As for calories your cal/g reading isn't taking milk into account.

Add 250-300ml of Milk to your Whey and you're rocking 300 calories.

Casein shakes at 45g scoop with 300ml milk can top 400 calories.

It's great when your bulking as having a 300-400 calorie high protein drink is an amazing way to hit your macros and calorie requirements. However when you're cutting or trying to clean bulk they can become difficult to fit in.

You can drink them with water (which cuts the calories drastically) but they taste like shit so what's the point? You can get a lean piece of chicken which WILL taste nice and give you more protein for less calories.

First, Unless your only eating tuna for protein the calories of a protein shake is far less then everything else you listed. Chicken equivalent of a shake is roughly 270 calories along with additional fat, steak around 280-300 calories and pork around 300-350 depending along with more fat. So your point of shakes having more calories is false.

Also I have no idea what casein protein your taking since mine only has 120 calories. Finally taste most protein shakes taste great UNLESS your cheaping out and getting something that's mostly whey concentrates, and for cost ? your kidding right ? meat per serving is vastly more then the cost of protein powder, 10lb of optimum nutrition whey protein $99 with 155 servings that translates to about 0.60 cents per serving.

Food sources differ but 100g of Chicken Breast for example generally gives 170-200 calories and around 25-26g of Protein whilst 100g Salmon is around 140-150 calories for around 20g of Protein. You'll never beat a clean diet with shakes, however you'll never beat the convenience of shakes with a diet.

My reflex casein shake is a 45g scoop of the stuff and with 300cm of milk it does get close to the 375 ballpark. My whey optimum nutriton whey is a 30g scoop (i think? may be 25) and tends to be 250 ish calories with 250cm of milk.

Lastly shakes (like food) vary dramatically depending on where you buy them. You can spend over £1 per serving for optimum nutrtion in the UK if you don't shop around and that 4.5kg bag of yours costs anywhere between £75-£164.

[Realsykes]

This directly contradicts what I've been led to understand; I'm under the impression that the half hour or so immediately after exercise is an increased absorption window for protein and that shakes should be consumed during that period. I could be quite wrong though, I'm not claiming this is a fact.

Doesn't matter when you consume your macros (protein, carbs, fats,) the whole, "half hour after a workout," is complete bro-science.

[jbhasban]

Doesn't matter when you consume your macros (protein, carbs, fats,) the whole, "half hour after a workout," is complete bro-science.

No, it isnt. I generally call things bro science but this one isnt. Here is one study that shows this: http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/292/1/E71.short There are multiple others. However, the requirement to eat after working out is overstated. It is necessary if you exercise while fasted but not if you do not exercise for more than an hour or so and you ate something beforehand. In general, you should have some protein and carbs around when you workout. It doesnt have to be after and it doesnt have to be before but it has to be one or the other.

[Spectral]

Doesn't matter when you consume your macros (protein, carbs, fats,) the whole, "half hour after a workout," is complete bro-science.

Well, there's quite a few journals that need to knock it off with their "bro-science" then. Here's a couple examples:

Essential amino acids and muscle protein recovery from resistance exercise:

Arterial EAA concentrations increased severalfold after drinks. Net muscle protein balance (NB) increased proportionally more than arterial AA concentrations in response to drinks, and it returned rapidly to basal values when AA concentrations decreased. Area under the curve for net phenylalanine uptake above basal value was similar for the first hour after each drink (67 ± 17 vs. 77 ± 20 mg/leg, respectively). Because the NB response was double the response to two doses of a mixture of 3 g of EAA + 3 g of nonessential AA (NEAA) (14), we conclude that NEAA are not necessary for stimulation of NB and that there is a dose-dependent effect of EAA ingestion on muscle protein synthesis.

An oral essential amino acid-carbohydrate supplement enhances muscle protein anabolism after resistance exercise:

We conclude that essential amino acids with carbohydrates stimulate muscle protein anabolism by increasing muscle protein synthesis when ingested 1 or 3 h after resistance exercise.

[KrvaviSale]

Human body uses ingredients to built itself from digesting food, proteins also, and proteins are basic, but not all, to made larger muscle bodystructure.
Once you are in intense training (regular more than 2-3 times a week for a 2-3 months without pause) your body will become capable of efficient use of comercial protein products partially skiping digesting part and bringing proteins needed to build muscle faster where it needed to go.

So if you not training for larger muscles for 2-3 months protein concentrate will mostly go flushing with the rest.

[Khwaj]

Protein shakes are for building muscles and also increasing your workout time. Do not lift heavy if you want to lose weight. Because when you quit working out all that muscle gets back to fat and you tend to gain more weight. Dymatize elite is good. But make sure you take it with consultation of a dietician

buhahaha
what a load of BS
are you in the same camp of "dont work out 2 muscle group at once or the protein wont know where to go to"?

[obdigore]

Same story for me, this is why I never really did much research on it. I drink my protein shake as soon as I get back from the gym, I seem to get results, so I haven't had any reason to change it up.

This is, quite frankly, the best time to do it. Assuming you aren't in the gym every day, adding protein, carbs, and fat directly after your lifting days does, generally, net you better gains and less recovery time. I use protein shakes as a supplemental to my every day diet on days I lift.

[Deleted]

If you want to lose fat -> Eat less than you consume in a day
If you want to gain muscle -> Lift heavy, eat everything, and a lot of protein. Protein is what your muscles are made of, but you need the calories to build them.

Yes, you CAN gain a bit of muscle even on a calorie deficit, given that you are in the beginning of your training career, but it's not going to be any impressive amounts.

Proteinshakes are just that, plain old regular protein made from a byproduct of when cheese is made (Whey-protein, that is). There's nothing "unnatural" about it, it doesn't contain Androgen Anabolic Steroids and it's not going to make your muscles swell and pop up all over your body. It's just a supplement, instead of eating 2kg's of chicken breasts each day you can take a shake or two and settle with 1kg of chicken.

Now, Gainers on the other hand, are just protein with a shit ton of added carbs (pretty much sugar), and these I would never recommend to anyone - in this case it's much better to just eat more, if you want to build muscle you're gonna have to learn eating a ton of food sooner or later anyway.

Also, what's up with all of the "Low-carb protein shakes"? Yeah, that's kinda the thing - they contain pretty much all protein, the flavored ones may contain a few grams of carbs, but they're all protein. Gainers are the ones with carbs.

Protein powder are an EXTREMELY cheap way to buy tons of protein, don't let anyone tell you other, given that you don't buy into some bullshit marketing scheme "THE BEST PROTEIN POWDER IN THE WORLD". But I wouldn't recommend you to get it, seeing how you don't know why.

Read up on nutrition and learn why you would want to buy and consume supplements before you do so.

---------- Post added 2013-03-13 at 10:59 PM ----------

No, it isnt. I generally call things bro science but this one isnt. Here is one study that shows this: http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/292/1/E71.short There are multiple others. However, the requirement to eat after working out is overstated. It is necessary if you exercise while fasted but not if you do not exercise for more than an hour or so and you ate something beforehand. In general, you should have some protein and carbs around when you workout. It doesnt have to be after and it doesnt have to be before but it has to be one or the other.

One thing worth noting though:
Unless you're already doing everything else perfectly (nutrition, resting and lifting) you're not gonna see worse (notable) results because you didn't consume your protein within 30min of the workout.

[Advantage]

There is a lot of correct and incorrect information in this board. I'm not going to knit pick it apart, and I'm going to give you sound advise. I would recommend speaking to a nutritionist before doing any serious calorie cutting, supplement intake, etc. If you have never done weight training, circuit training, etc. then you might not know what your body can handle and have a dangerous effect on you. IE dizziness while lifting which can result in passing out and dropping the weights on you. They will best be able to set you on the right track to achieve your goals. Sorry for grammar using iPhone

[Vvhooya]

ya you use it after lifting, 2 spoon is enough, it helps

[Wiizper]

ya you use it after lifting, 2 spoon is enough, it helps

Doesnt matter if you eat protein or drink protein.

[perfektion]

tldr...


But OP, any kind of protein supplement isnt some magic concoction that will add muscle and strip fat...Its just liquid protein, a substitute for a piece of chicken/beef/fish, etc. I use it when I dont feel like eating solid food; when im on the go; or to meet my daily protein needs; can even be used as a sole source of PROTEIN, not great idea though....its just that, protein, 1/3 of the macronutrient profile( protein, carb, fat ).

now there are different types of proteins like isolate/hydrosalate that are good for after workouts and stuff(reduce muscle breakdown, fast absorbing, antioxidation,etc..) but all of that isnt really necessary to know..



**for me, any sort of liquid protein doesnt really curb appetite; so if your trying to lose weight, and cant yet control your appetite, liquid protein may not be a good idea.

[Deleted]

Definitely

It's a lot harder to consume the same amount of protein in food. I recommend either Whey protein or Egg protein. Don't go with Soy.

Loads of different brands but I personally use MyProtein. Definitely the best I've used.

[Alton01]

Well I think they are a good source of getting protein....because if you are not using the high protein natural food then these shake can fulfill the deficiency of protein....But I always prefer natural food to get energy because these artificial nutrients have many other hidden side effects.

[Souichirou]

Well I think they are a good source of getting protein....because if you are not using the high protein natural food then these shake can fulfill the deficiency of protein....But I always prefer natural food to get energy because these artificial nutrients have many other hidden side effects.

First you have no idea what your talking about since whey protein shakes are NOT artificial nutrients, Whey is the left over parts when making cheese then isolated from that to make the protein supplement. Second you get energy from carbs as your body uses it as a primary source of energy after your glycogen is burned away from physical activity. So if your just eating protein and fiber from veggies your gonna feel like crap with no energy even if its whole foods.

[jbhasban]

First you have no idea what your talking about since whey protein shakes are NOT artificial nutrients, Whey is the left over parts when making cheese then isolated from that to make the protein supplement. Second you get energy from carbs as your body uses it as a primary source of energy after your glycogen is burned away from physical activity. So if your just eating protein and fiber from veggies your gonna feel like crap with no energy even if its whole foods.

Whey proteins certainly do have artificial additives. But there is nothing wrong with artificial additives anyways. Carbs are processed as glycogen... just what the fuck? Your body does not store carbs in itself. It stores energy as fat, glycogen, or protein. And you are wrong anyways. Your body can function just fine without any carbs. Lots of people utilize keto diets.

[Souichirou]

Whey proteins certainly do have artificial additives. But there is nothing wrong with artificial additives anyways. Carbs are processed as glycogen... just what the fuck? Your body does not store carbs in itself. It stores energy as fat, glycogen, or protein. And you are wrong anyways. Your body can function just fine without any carbs. Lots of people utilize keto diets.

If you've actually read what I've typed you would have seen I stated that your body uses carbs as a main source AFTER your glycogen is used up since its processed quicker then any other sources. Second yes people can function without carbs BUT it also causes problems if you completely cut it out of a diet. Thirdly a person who does nothing can probably cut out all carbs But an active person who plays sports or does martial arts or any kind of intense activity would not benefit from keto diets.

Finally eating healthy and meeting daily macros is the simple most effective way to do anything whether trying to lose weight or gain without trying excessive and expensive diets, a keto diet consists of high protein and fat to make up for lack of carbs in the diet the cost would be vastly higher then just to eat right and working hard for results.

P.S If you've read the post I quoted it was a means to refute their statement of whey protein being a completely artificial nutrient.