Protein Importance???

Have you ever had protein shakes before? If not, a word of warning.....They can taste nasty! Especially if you just mix them with water. I mix mine with 1% milk, a teaspoon or two of peanut butter, a banana and then add ice and blend it up to an awesome smoothie!
But protein shakes with plain water? I have never had one that I thought tasted great. lol

Have you ever had protein shakes before? If not, a word of warning.....They can taste nasty! Especially if you just mix them with water. I mix mine with 1% milk, a teaspoon or two of peanut butter, a banana and then add ice and blend it up to an awesome smoothie!
But protein shakes with plain water? I have never had one that I thought tasted great. lol

I get Body Fortress Advanced Whey Formula from Meijer and drink it with water. I thoroughly enjoy it. Chocolate and Vanilla are the best flavors so far. Cookies n Creme and Peanut Butter/Chocolate only taste good with milk (fat free, or almond milk). Try out a few brands and flavors, see what you like. Can't go wrong with a little added protein And if you don't like them with just water, then mix in milk/ice/fruit/pb... whatever you like. Nothing wrong with that. Good luck!

Protein fills you up. I don't care for the protein powders you have to mix with water. I prefer to mix it with milk. Go to a store like GNC to get help with the powders.

Protein loss increases with a calorie deficit, so you want to make sure you're keeping your intake up, so your muscle losses are minimized.

Protein is important and there's plenty in real food without drinking overpriced shakes, unless shakes happen to be a part of your normal eating habits.

1g per lb of lean body mass from memory, so about 80 - 100g protein per day ?

Yes, no reason to buy overpriced shakes; Buy regularly priced whey in bulk and it comes out cheaper than chicken breast in terms of dollars per gram of protein.

Shakes are cheap and simple way to add protein and act as a convenient way to fill the gap between protein from real food and protein target.

Protein loss increases with a calorie deficit, so you want to make sure you're keeping your intake up, so your muscle losses are minimized.

This. While in a calorie deficit your body will lose muscle along with fat. Which will drop your RMR and slow down metabolism. Strength training along with adequate protein intake has been shown time and time again to reduce the amount of lean muscle mass you lose while on a deficit.

As far as the shakes go there are a few reasons to drink them but they are by no means necessary

1) You're trying to increase your protein intake with out increasing your carb and fat intakes (most protein shakes are relatively low carb and very little fat)

2) For convenience- mixing a shake is more convenient than cooking/ food prep

3) Post workout- Specifically whey protein is digested faster than whole foods and is thought to repair muscles faster than whole foods or casien protein

Wow, thanks OP for asking this question. And thanks for all the answers - this is exactly what I needed to know.

It's essential, but shakes are not.

Here's what science has to say (highlights are at the bottom):

Protein

There has been considerable debate regarding protein needs of athletes [27-31]. Initially, it was recommended that athletes do not need to ingest more than the RDA for protein (i.e., 0.8 to 1.0 g/kg/d for children, adolescents and adults). However, research over the last decade has indicated that athletes engaged in intense training need to ingest about two times the RDA of protein in their diet (1.5 to 2.0 g/kg/d) in order to maintain protein balance [27,28,30,32,33]. If an insufficient amount of protein is obtained from the diet, an athlete will maintain a negative nitrogen balance, which can increase protein catabolism and slow recovery. Over time, this may lead to muscle wasting and training intolerance [1,8].

For people involved in a general fitness program, protein needs can generally be met by ingesting 0.8 - 1.0 grams/kg/day of protein. Older individuals may also benefit from a higher protein intake (e.g., 1.0 - 1.2 grams/kg/day of protein) in order to help prevent sarcopenia. It is recommended that athletes involved in moderate amounts of intense training consume 1 - 1.5 grams/kg/day of protein (50 - 225 grams/day for a 50 - 150 kg athlete) while athletes involved in high volume intense training consume 1.5 - 2.0 grams/kg/day of protein (75 - 300 grams/day for a 50 - 150 kg athlete) [34]. This protein need would be equivalent to ingesting 3 - 11 servings of chicken or fish per day for a 50 - 150 kg athlete [34]. Although smaller athletes typically can ingest this amount of protein in their normal diet, larger athletes often have difficulty consuming this much dietary protein. Additionally, a number of athletic populations have been reported to be susceptible to protein malnutrition (e.g., runners, cyclists, swimmers, triathletes, gymnasts, dancers, skaters, wrestlers, boxers, etc). Therefore, care should be taken to ensure that athletes consume a sufficient amount of quality protein in their diet in order to maintain nitrogen balance (e.g., 1.5 - 2 grams/kg/day).

However, it should be noted that not all protein is the same. Proteins differ based on the source that the protein was obtained, the amino acid profile of the protein, and the methods of processing or isolating the protein [35]. These differences influence availability of amino acids and peptides that have been reported to possess biological activity (e.g., α-lactalbumin, β-lactoglobulin, glycomacropeptides, immunoglobulins, lactoperoxidases, lactoferrin, etc). Additionally, the rate of digestion and/or absorption and metabolic activity of the protein also are important considerations [35]. For example, different types of proteins (e.g., casein and whey) are digested at different rates, which directly affect whole body catabolism and anabolism [35-38]. Therefore, care should be taken not only to make sure the athlete consumes enough protein in their diet but also that the protein is high quality. The best dietary sources of low fat, high quality protein are light skinless chicken, fish, egg white and skim milk (casein and whey) [35]. The best sources of high quality protein found in nutritional supplements are whey, colostrum, casein, milk proteins and egg protein [34,35]. Although some athletes may not need to supplement their diet with protein and some sports nutrition specialists may not think that protein supplements are necessary, it is common for a sports nutrition specialist to recommend that some athletes supplement their diet with protein in order to meet dietary protein needs and/or provide essential amino acids following exercise in order to optimize protein synthesis.

The ISSN has recently adopted a position stand on protein that highlights the following points [39]:

1. Exercising individuals need approximately 1.4 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day.

2. Concerns that protein intake within this range is unhealthy are unfounded in healthy, exercising individuals.

3. An attempt should be made to obtain protein requirements from whole foods, but supplemental protein is a safe and convenient method of ingesting high quality dietary protein.

4. The timing of protein intake in the time period encompassing the exercise session has several benefits including improved recovery and greater gains in fat free mass.

5. Protein residues such as branched chain amino acids have been shown to be beneficial for the exercising individual, including increasing the rates of protein synthesis, decreasing the rate of protein degradation, and possibly aiding in recovery from exercise.

6. Exercising individuals need more dietary protein than their sedentary counterparts