Protein drinks

laurel12015
laurel12015 Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
How usable is the protein of 30gms in a prepared protein drink?(Premier)
What would be a good alternative for 160 calories and 30 gems of protein?

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,211 Member
    Should be pretty usable, though it depends on the type of protein. (I didn't Google Premier.)

    Alternatives: Meat? Fish?

    Or something from this thread, which is great for finding calorie-efficient protein sources among regular foods:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also

    Me, I'm vegetarian, so it'd have to be tofu, tempeh, or some calorie-efficient dairy food, like plain nonfat Greek yogurt or lowfat cottage cheese. Those still generally wouldn't be as efficient as 160 calories for 30g protein, though. I figure 10 (all-source) calories per gram of protein in a food makes that food a reasonably good vegetarian source. Of the things I mentioned, only the Greek yogurt comes close to the protein-to-calorie ratio of your protein drink.

    Personally, I don't find protein drinks or bars particularly tasty or satisfying. I don't have any trouble hitting a protein goal around 1 gram (or more) per pound of estimated lean body mass, eating regular vegetarian foods, so I do that.

    YMMV.

    P.S. If you're struggling, in a weight loss context, to get enough protein, there are two things that will make that really hard.

    One of them is trying to lose faster than sensible for one's current size. (Most people would be best served by losing no more than 0.5-1% of current weight weekly, with a bias toward the lower end of that range, especially if fewer than 50 total pounds to lose.)

    The other one is trying to get 1g of protein daily per pound of current body weight, when still substantially overweight. (Various sources, many of them bodybuilding oriented, recommend 1g per pound bodyweight. They're sort of implicitly assuming people are not lots overweight, I think. We don't need massive amounts of extra protein IMO to maintain our fat mass: We need protein to maintain our lean tissue, and can estimate needs accordingly.)

    If either of those apply to you, maybe rethink.

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