Do sources of protien matter?

crystaleclark

Hey everyone. I have not been able to reach my daily amount of protien since I've startedrestricting calories. I have just begun introducing meat back into my diet, and try to include at least a little in ever meal. My question is does it matter where i get my protien from if im getting a whole source from meat, is it okay to add on an extra 10 grams through a protien bar? Any advice welcome

ana3067

doesn't matter.

crystaleclark

Sorry, my app wouldnt let me read it as I typed for some reason >. < basically is a protien bar, or other protien enriched substance a good source for some extra protien? Given that ive gotten whole sources of amino acids throughtout the rest of the day - if that makes sense =P

foursirius

Im not an expert on this but from what I've read solid protein (i.e. food) does digest and break down a bit differently than say a protein shake.

crystaleclark

Thanks guys! Foursirius, do you know if its worse then? Or just different?

ana3067

I've consumed protein powder and protein bars many times. It's fine and plenty of people supplement to meet their goals.

MoiAussi93

It is fine to supplement with protein bars. If you are eating meat, you are already eating a high quality source of protein. Meat and eggs are great. You are just adding a little extra, so don't worry.

It is usually vegetarians who need to be careful because they need to eat a lot of different types of foods to get the complete protein types they need. No one non-animal source of protein is complete in itself.

Metazoick

Protein is protein. I don't eat meat that often and I almost never hit my (relatively lofty) protein goals - I usually have to supplement a bit with a scoop of powder just to get into a decent range, and that's fine. At least attempting to get a decent amount from food is important, as a protein shake isn't going to give you the the non-protein things that, say, beef would, but topping up with a protein bar or something like that (especially when it's only a little bit like 10g) is perfectly fine.

Extra advice: you can get quite a bit of protein from non meat sources too, which may be useful if you're only eating a little meat right now and want to up intake a bit. Fish, cheese, quorn (tofu), nuts, dairy, beans and eggs are all relatively high in protein and adding things like this into your diet (if you're fine with them and they're not already there) can help make it easier.

foursirius

crystaleclark wrote: »

Thanks guys! Foursirius, do you know if its worse then? Or just different?

I personally use powder/bars to supplement my protein intake. At the moment im eating roughly 225g a day which is quite difficult to hit from food alone. Id recommend trying to get as much solid protein in as possible and use protein powder/bars to make up the difference when eating a solid protein source just isnt feasible.

crystaleclark

Thanks guys!! All the advice is much qppreciated I'm gonna go grab that protien bar now ;P

feisty_bucket

The amounts of different amino acids in various protein sources is different, yes. "Better"? Context, I guess; it's complex. As a rule of thumb, it's probably a good idea to cover a wide spread. So, eating different animals, and eggs, and dairy-derived things (cheese, whey protein, milk).

Anyways, eat the bar, yeah. Eat lots of stuff.

Nony_Mouse

MoiAussi93 wrote: »

It is usually vegetarians who need to be careful because they need to eat a lot of different types of foods to get the complete protein types they need. No one non-animal source of protein is complete in itself.

It's really not that hard: http://greatist.com/health/complete-vegetarian-proteins

neanderthin

Bioavailability varies greatly. Get a variety.

feralX

It's not as simple as protein equals protein. Most bars use cheap protein sources and are a poor choice. Don't be misled by the bars big bold print saying X grams of protein. Read the ingredient label. Find one where the first ingredient listed is whey protein, concentrate, or isolate.