whey for weight loss??

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saysarai
saysarai Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
I want to start drinking a whey protein powder shake in place of a meal, but im not sure which one to buy. Ive heard muscle milk can help you lose weight is it true? Do any of you have any recommendations? Please and thank you :)

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    No food or supplement will make you lose weight.

    To lose weight, you need to create a caloric deficit.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    Whey protein does not help you lose weight. It adds protein to your diet if it's lacking elsewhere. That's it
  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
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    weight loss is done by burning more calories than you are consuming.

    Protein powder will help you reach your protein macro if you are having difficulty reaching it from food.
  • classicalbk
    classicalbk Posts: 12 Member
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    I've read recently in a number of places that an increase in protein helps with metabolism - and that seems to be true in my case, anyway. I doubled protein (by using lactose free whey powder with very low carbs and very low sugar) and the weight drop accelerated nicely. I'm eating the same calories, or even a little more than before. I put the powder in the blender with unsweetened almond milk and black coffee and a few ice cubes. 140 calories with my ingredients. (Dr. Mark Hyman, in "Blood Sugar Solution:" "Eating protein turns up your metabolic fire and ability to burn calories while reducing your appetite." Your mileage may vary but that tweak helped me a lot.
  • sgthaggard
    sgthaggard Posts: 581 Member
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    Protein can make some people feel fuller for longer. There's no indication that it does anything for your metabolism.
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
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    A good protein powder (I like Optimum Nutrition) offers a good protein to calories ratio. The ON powder I use has 24 grams of protein and a total of 120 calories. So it's a low calorie way to get some of your protein.

    It's not a meal replacement, though. It's not magic powder that will make you lose weight. It's food. It's a byproduct or derivative of milk (or soy, eggs, pea, hemp, or whatever).

    For the last few weeks I've been making myself a huge smoothie, about 80 ounces, in the morning. I drink about a third of it after my morning workout, a third for lunch, and the remaining third late in the afternoon. It IS my meal. I mean meals. I then eat solid food for dinner. I eat the smoothie because it's easier to control calories, macros and micros when I plan and eat more or less the same thing every day, because it contains just about every "good" food you could possibly want to include in your diet, and because it's really convenient.

    My smoothie had been getting bigger. A few days ago it was running well over 1200 calories. I just revised the recipe so that it's now down to 959 calories. It contains 2 scoops of chocolate protein powder, 2 cups almond milk, 2 cups non-fat greek yogurt, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1 banana, 1 cup frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup carrots, 2 cups (1/2 container) kale, 2 cups (1/2 container) of a kale, spinach and chard mixture, 1 tomato, and 1/4 teaspoon of potassium chloride (salt substitute).

    It's food, not a meal replacement.

    BTW, a couple days ago I was running short on time so I decided to skip making the smoothie. I had an egg mcmuffin and a scoop of protein powder with almond milk for breakfast and a Subway Italian BMT for lunch. I thought it'd be fun to have solid food for a change. It wasn't. I got through breakfast okay, but after eating my Subway for lunch, I was starving. And I didn't have any other food with me to get through the afternoon. I found out that my all-day smoothie was a lot more satisfying than I had been giving it credit for.
  • saysarai
    saysarai Posts: 5
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    @jim180155‌ huge thanks, you explained it really well! I think i might try ON and see how it goes from there.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    classicalbk wrote: »
    I've read recently in a number of places that an increase in protein helps with metabolism - and that seems to be true in my case, anyway. I doubled protein (by using lactose free whey powder with very low carbs and very low sugar) and the weight drop accelerated nicely. I'm eating the same calories, or even a little more than before. I put the powder in the blender with unsweetened almond milk and black coffee and a few ice cubes. 140 calories with my ingredients. (Dr. Mark Hyman, in "Blood Sugar Solution:" "Eating protein turns up your metabolic fire and ability to burn calories while reducing your appetite." Your mileage may vary but that tweak helped me a lot.

    It doesn't increase your metabolism. People tend to lose weight when increasing protein intake because it makes them feel hunger less often, and they eat less.
  • slideaway1
    slideaway1 Posts: 1,006 Member
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    If replacing a shake for a meal means that you are consuming less calories for the day then you will eventually loose weight (but that could be applied to replacing with anything with less calories). Usually, protein shakes are used as a convienience to help reach a certain protein goal to support building lean muscle (usually achieved through resistance training). Having more lean muscle will help you burn more calories resulting in greater weight loss. I'm confusing myself now! :'(
  • saysarai
    saysarai Posts: 5
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    @slideaway1‌ I understood you lol, thank you :)
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited March 2015
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    I've been experimenting using a whey isolate protein powder to supplement with, because my macros really limit the types of meat I can eat and I'm getting real sick of chicken breast. :smiley: It doesn't fill me up much, but it is useful in the context of a protein kicker for the rest of the meal plan.

    The "Optimum Nutrition" brand generally comes highly regarded, but there others as well (eg Body Fortress @ Walmart is often cited as a good value).
  • slideaway1
    slideaway1 Posts: 1,006 Member
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    saysarai wrote: »
    @slideaway1‌ I understood you lol, thank you :)

    Thank you. :) I agree with what everyone has said, and I think it shows that protein shakes can be used for various different reasons. My perspective was from a gaining muscle mass perspective. It was interesting to read how/why others use them.

  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
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    sgthaggard wrote: »
    Protein can make some people feel fuller for longer. There's no indication that it does anything for your metabolism.


    http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2015/01/14/ajcn.114.091769.abstract
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    saysarai wrote: »
    I want to start drinking a whey protein powder shake in place of a meal, but im not sure which one to buy. Ive heard muscle milk can help you lose weight is it true? Do any of you have any recommendations? Please and thank you :)

    Not true. Eat at a calorie deficit and you will lose weight.
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
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    It doesn't work like that.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    cajuntank wrote: »
    sgthaggard wrote: »
    Protein can make some people feel fuller for longer. There's no indication that it does anything for your metabolism.


    http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2015/01/14/ajcn.114.091769.abstract

    The subjects were eating at 40% surplus calories.
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    I've been experimenting using a whey isolate protein powder to supplement with, because my macros really limit the types of meat I can eat and I'm getting real sick of chicken breast. :smiley: It doesn't fill me up much, but it is useful in the context of a protein kicker for the rest of the meal plan.

    The "Optimum Nutrition" brand generally comes highly regarded, but there others as well (eg Body Fortress @ Walmart is often cited as a good value).

    "Protein spiking" has been getting some attention lately. Protein spiking is adding amino acids to a protein powder. It's a cheap way to be able to claim a higher protein count (raises the nitrogen level), but it does nothing for you. Here's a relatively long article on the subject:

    https://blog.priceplow.com/protein-scam-amino-acid-spiking

    From the article:

    Class action lawsuits have been filed against brands
    Several class action lawsuits have been filed against various brands, and several more are on the way. This section will be updated with all known suits:

    July 1, 2014: Body Fortress Lawsuit
    November 4, 2014: A GNC and 4 Dimension Nutrition joint class action
    November 11, 2014: The CVS Lawsuit was filed regarding CVS Whey Protein Powder.
    Giant Sports (Delicious Protein)
    November 13, 2014: Inner Armour Class Action Lawsuit (Mass Peak and Nitro Peak)
    November 19, 2014: New Whey Lawsuit (Multi-Pro)
    November 19, 2014: Pro Supps PS Whey Lawsuit served.
    November 19, 2014: Fit Foods (Mutant Whey)
    ALLMAX Lawsuit (Hexapro Protein Powder)
    January 23, 2015: CytoSport Muscle Milk Family Lawsuit (note that this is not for spiking! It’s allegedly just under-dosed protein and not having L-Glutamine!)
    January 28, 2015: MusclePharm Arnold Schwarzenegger Iron Mass

    Note that Body Fortress is one of the products accused of spiking. I'd stay away from them if I was you.

    I think I read that ON had been tested and no problems were found. In general, it's probably best to stick with big companies with good reputations that are worth protecting. All protein powders are not created equal.
  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    cajuntank wrote: »
    sgthaggard wrote: »
    Protein can make some people feel fuller for longer. There's no indication that it does anything for your metabolism.


    http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2015/01/14/ajcn.114.091769.abstract

    The subjects were eating at 40% surplus calories.


    True, but the statement was that "there's no indication that it does anything for your metabolism". The results from the study indicate that there is an accute difference to metabolism with protein overfeeding compared to that of fat. I was just offering a link to a study as a piece of data that shows there is indication (in the scenario the study outlines).

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