Protein powders - what am I missing?

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BerryH
BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
in Food and Nutrition
What's the big deal with protein powders? Having gone by the principle of not drinking my calories, it seems such a waste to drink 100 - 200 calories or even make it into a dessert with milk and a banana to hit over 300 as an addition to my normal diet.

Personally I need solids to feel full, preferably savoury, and leaving that much to what seems like an unnecessary addition would, I suspect, leave me hungry.

As a dedicated omnivore is it likely I need more protein? I know many MFPers recommend upping the standard percentage of protein, but given MFP's standard settings, I usually hit the target or exceed it. I do resistance training with fairly heavy weights, but nothing excessive.

Don't take the last couple of days in my diary as an example, I've had a stomach bug and hardly ate anything or worked out!

Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks!

Replies

  • TK421NotAtPost
    TK421NotAtPost Posts: 512 Member
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    They are a help for people who do set their protein levels relatively high. My protein level is set to 35%, and I eat at least one protein shake per day.

    Protein coming from real food such as eggs, chicken, lean beef, etc. is better though....and the shakes are more of a convenience item.
  • karlajohnson123
    karlajohnson123 Posts: 86 Member
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    Getting the appropriate amount of protein is essential to any Weight loss surgery patient. When your diet is restricted to 800 calories a day, it is hard to get 60g a protein in by eating your protein. If I don't get at least 60g of protein a day, my hair will start to fall out.
    All protein powders are not created equal either. I can not tolerate the protein powder I can find at GNC or Walmart. The only kind I like is Nectar by Syntrax. It is 90-100 calories and gives me 24g of protein.
  • cspence2270
    cspence2270 Posts: 229 Member
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    I have a protien shake every morning after my work out on the way to work. It keeps me full until lunch so I don't snack. I only use about 1/3 of the amount they tell you to use and I mix it with skim milk so I'm getting my calcium too. I use the GNC chocolate Wheybolic one it tastes like chocolate milk so it also gives my sweet tooth a fix. It's the best of all worlds, good for me, filling and sweet. I think the biggest thing is you have to find one that tastes good so you enjoy it. :drinker:
  • bob_t
    bob_t Posts: 12
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    I drink at least one protein shake a day (sometimes two). I weigh 170lbs and try to take in at least 120 grams of protein a day. I know this sounds like a lot, but I'm trying to lose fat and build muscle at the same time (which can be hard to do for some). In the past when I would try to lose fat, I would end up losing muscle mass as well...so I'm determined not to do that this time. Protein shakes are a low calorie way to make sure I get my daily goal of protein.

    If you're happy with the way your diet is going, and are only in maintenance mode with weight lifting, then you probably don't need to spend the money on protein supplements.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I don't get it either. I'm almost always over what MFP lists for protein and honestly I don't eat a high protein diet. I think it must just be for hard core body builders. While I like good muscle tone, I've never cared for the super pumped look on men and especially not on women so I don't pump a lot of iron. I just do moderate strength training a few days a week and mostly cardio for my heart and weight maintence. Maybe that is the difference.
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
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    I love my protein shakes. I drink them after I work out and I just feel better after I have one. I am a vegetarian so it is a nice quick convenient way for me to get in some of my protein for the day since it isn't always easy to do.

    I drink the ones that are around 100 calories so I don't feel that is a big amount of calories to "waste" on a drink especially since I love iced coffee and other stuff like that....and those can be 150-300 calories with no nutrition so 100 for me is nothing.

    When I do want a bulkier shake I will add banana, fruit juice, spinach etc but I'll drink it as a meal so again 200-300 calories for a super nutritious meal is fine for me.
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
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    I was about to start getting protein shakes when I thought, hang on, hadn't I always heard that a modern diet was too high in protein, so I went googling and could find nothing to justify the amount of protein some people on mfp advocate.

    Even as a non-meat-eater I can easily hit 1 g/ kg of my bodyweight, so I see that as a preferred minimum, as it exceeds the researched RDAs for my activity level. My understanding, from what I've read, is that the % protein, fat, carb idea just isn't how our bodies work, rather our need for protein depends on our lean body mass. Now I'm maintaining and eating nearly double the calories, I don't suddenly need double the protein.

    You're so fit and active, and your weight loss is going well, so I wouldn't jump on the shake bandwagon.
  • TK421NotAtPost
    TK421NotAtPost Posts: 512 Member
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    Let's not confuse 'needing' a lot of protein with simply going for a high-protein diet to help with your weight-loss. For a good amount of people, a high protein diet is very effective at shedding weight, especially when it comes to those last few stubborn pounds. It has also done wonders for many people here who were previously suffering from various metabolic disorders while under their former RDA-level protein diets.

    If you are doing fine with a moderate or even the RDA recommended protein level and have no plans to increase your protein consumption, then incorporating a protein shake certainly would not make much sense.

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