Protein Supplements

Hi guys,
I'm wondering what the best protein supplement (whey, soy, egg, brands, UGH theres so many!) for lean muscle gains. I started out taking just walmart Body Fortress Whey, but progressed to Pro JYM, which I've been taking for about 2 months now. I like it a lot but its quite pricey, and for a poor college student, I'm looking for the best protein for the best price. There are just so many to choose from though. Are they all basically the same thing? Pro Jym gives me 24g of protein per scoop, and costs about $55 for a 4lb bag. There are tons of other ones like Optimum Nutrition, Cellulor, Cytosport... the list goes on and on. So which is best? What are the differences? and what is the best one for me and my budget?

Replies

  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,002 Member
    For muscle gains, honestly, protein supplements are not really all that important. What you need is to have a well set up weight lifting program with a progressive overload. As far as diet... you need to eat at a slight caloric surplus. 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein is a good place to start.
  • There are a ton of differences in protein - how well they mix with water (solubility), how long they take to digest (whey vs casein) and where they may be sourced from (eggs, milk, soybeans etc). For most cases, going with pure whey protein will give you the best results at the lowest cost. I have personally tried a ton of different brands, main differences to look for are the number of carbs/calories per gram of protein and make sure that fits in with what you want your overall macros to be. I like Optimum Nutrition, but I've also had good success with SmartPowders protein (and it's wayyyy cheaper) - they have their own website so you'll need to google it to find it, but the only downside is shipping from SmartPowders is relatively expensive so I'd buy a big tub at a time to make it worth it.