Protein powders: are they worth it?
grumpyoldprop
Posts: 2 Member
Having been weight training for a number of years, I've tended to use protein powders post work. But recently I've come to the conclusion that they're quite expensive so I make a shake from milk, porridge oats, a banana and a spoon of Whole Earth peanut butter. A lot cheaper but still containing a good amount of protein.
What's other folks thoughts?
What's other folks thoughts?
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Replies
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When I want a boost of protein, I find protein powder easier to mix into cold brew coffee than oats and peanut butter. Since I prefer it in coffee, it's worth it for me. I also use it in baking. But then, I'm not having it daily so a container lasts for a while when I buy it.
I don't think it's worth it to buy it if it's not a way that someone wants to get protein. If they enjoy other sources more or if spending the money on other things seems like a better value to them, I can completely understand that decision.1 -
I have a tub at home. I only dig into it if I'm not hitting my protein numbers for the week, but I kinda like the taste of it now so it's not a hardship to me. Just that I'd rather eat my protein than drink it. Fills me up more if I eat it.3
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Depends. At 1g of protein per lb of lean body mass, my wife at 130lbs can hit hit her protein macro relatively easily with me around, whereas I, at 215lbs, don't mind a scoop in my oats and a couple of hard boiled eggs for lunch to hit my mark.
But honestly it just comes down to variety, because you can easily trade a scoop for say, a can of tuna. To each his own, IIFYM.3 -
grumpyoldprop wrote: »Having been weight training for a number of years, I've tended to use protein powders post work. But recently I've come to the conclusion that they're quite expensive so I make a shake from milk, porridge oats, a banana and a spoon of Whole Earth peanut butter. A lot cheaper but still containing a good amount of protein.
What's other folks thoughts?
That shake sounds a lot higher in carbs and fats than protein (and significantly higher in calories too). The only good protein source out of all those you listed is the milk. Oats and bananas are high in carbs and peanut butter is high in fat. Nothing wrong with that if it fits your macros, but if I was looking for bang for the buck in terms of protein, I'd go with the protein shake instead.4 -
I prefer the protein powder because it makes it easier for me to hit my target. Otherwise I come up very short.1
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They are worth it to me as an economical and protein dense supplement to my food when needed that just tastes like a pleasant milkshake.
But I wouldn't include post workout as being needed as all - I just try to have enough protein in my normal diet.
When I do have them it's a zero sugar protein powder mixed in skimmed milk, low calories but high protein.
I prefer to conserve my calories for my regular food.
Your recipe seems like it's low in protein for the high amount of calories it must contain.
(Greetings from just a few miles down the A3 from you by the way!)
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To me they are. I make yummy, filling, nutrient-dense protein smoothies (not just protein powder and water/milk).
I also add protein powder to food (homemade protein bars, steel-cut oatmeal, Belgian waffles, muffins etc.)
As someone who doesn't eat meat, it's a great way to sneak in some extra protein and helps me to reach my protein goals everyday.
As far as cost I get mine only on sale and I stock up on a variety of flavours and different types (pea, hemp, whey) twice a year.
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Siggi's Icelandic yogurt probably has more protein per calorie than protein powder.4
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NorthCascades wrote: »Siggi's Icelandic yogurt probably has more protein per calorie than protein powder.
Good alternative and it's probably lower in calories compared to some sugar sweetened protein powders.
Yoghurt, protein powder and a whole heap of granola is one of my favourite breakfasts before a long ride.2 -
Siggi's plain 0% is 90 cal, 16 g of protein, and the whey protein powder I used to use had about 20 g for 100 cal, so not too different -- 5.625 cal per gram vs. 5.
When I used to make smoothies with whey protein I'd normally use Fage greek yogurt too. Fage 0% is 100 cal for 18 grams of protein, so slightly (although insignificantly) more than Siggi's, slightly less than protein powder (IME). I'd normally use 2%, though, since a bit of fat was something I wanted to add.
Vegan protein powders tend to have less protein per calories and are probably lower than a good non fat greek yogurt or skyr, but of course someone using vegan protein powder likely wouldn't see yogurt or skyr as a workable alternative.1 -
grumpyoldprop wrote: »Having been weight training for a number of years, I've tended to use protein powders post work. But recently I've come to the conclusion that they're quite expensive so I make a shake from milk, porridge oats, a banana and a spoon of Whole Earth peanut butter. A lot cheaper but still containing a good amount of protein.
What's other folks thoughts?
What results do you expect from protein powders?
It is just like eating food.
They are marketed as having magic powers to build muscles which is nonsense.1 -
I have a hard time hitting my protein goals sometimes so keep a tub on hand.1
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Protein powder are nothing special, they are just convenient and in our country, it's the cheapest source of protein. I mean, I go to the gym at 4am, I don't have time for breakfast, so a shake protein powder is perfect for the on the go protein source.1
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used to buy them alot and can't deny they are helpful especially when I didn't have time to eat, now I only use casein before I sleep
depends on. u and ur protein needs if u can get it from food or not0 -
I used to believe that you had the "Magic" 30 minute window after lifting to get protein into muscle. After learning that window is several hours I now eat a whole foods meal with at least 30gm of protein. The only time I use the powder much anymore is for travel and baking.1
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I don't enjoy them. I have no problem hitting the 1g per lb of estimated LBM with regular food, even as an ovo-lacto vegetarian. Since I enjoy the regular food more, I don't use protein powder.
It's just a personal eating preference, so I wouldn't try to persuade others either way.
Guilty admission, though: I do find it kind of amusing when someone is righteous about "avoiding highly processed foods" but touts protein powder.
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Some of them definitely don't qualify as "enjoyable".I don't enjoy them. I have no problem hitting the 1g per lb of estimated LBM with regular food, even as an ovo-lacto vegetarian. Since I enjoy the regular food more, I don't use protein powder.
I'm currently using Quest's Cinnamon Crunch flavor, and it tastes just like the milk left behind in the bowl after eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal - even has the little crunchy things in it. It's actually as much a treat as it is a supplement. It's also a whey/casein/MPI blend, so it's thicker than the usual whey shakes too - more like an actual shake than just flavored milk.
I still remember the protein powders from the '70s and '80s - tasted like somebody scraped all the chalk dust off the rail below the blackboard and put it in a tub. It didn't matter what flavoring they put in it, the best you could do was gag it down as fast as possible.0 -
I like protein shakes as a snack and they're less expensive than Halo Top so...I save money with protein powder.0
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That's my least favorite one. Like I really love Halo Top and think that one tastes straight up bad.0 -
There was a study recently concerning eggs and muscle, which radioactively tagged and tracked the proteins in eggs eaten after a workout, and found that more of them ended up in muscle when whole eggs were eaten than when just egg whites were eaten, even though the subjects ate the same amount of protein total. The researchers don't know why, although there are theories. Something about a whole egg apparently triggers muscle building in a way that egg whites don't.
In other words, there are a lot of things nutritionists still don't understand about how food works inside the body. In general, foods work better than things that aren't food. There are several vitamins which are more easily absorbed in conjunction with other vitamins, which are conveniently found together in common foods, and not found together in supplements.
There's not much research yet on how well protein powders work, but there's already some evidence that the body can only absorb a limited amount of protein at a time, and the rest is excreted. Eating protein in the form of, you guessed it, food, seems to circumvent these limits.
In the absence of evidence that protein powders work as well as protein rich foods, I'm gonna stick with food.
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rheddmobile wrote: »There was a study recently concerning eggs and muscle, which radioactively tagged and tracked the proteins in eggs eaten after a workout, and found that more of them ended up in muscle when whole eggs were eaten than when just egg whites were eaten, even though the subjects ate the same amount of protein total. The researchers don't know why, although there are theories. Something about a whole egg apparently triggers muscle building in a way that egg whites don't.
In other words, there are a lot of things nutritionists still don't understand about how food works inside the body. In general, foods work better than things that aren't food. There are several vitamins which are more easily absorbed in conjunction with other vitamins, which are conveniently found together in common foods, and not found together in supplements.
There's not much research yet on how well protein powders work, but there's already some evidence that the body can only absorb a limited amount of protein at a time, and the rest is excreted. Eating protein in the form of, you guessed it, food, seems to circumvent these limits.
In the absence of evidence that protein powders work as well as protein rich foods, I'm gonna stick with food.
Post the studies.
Otherwise:
https://atlargenutrition.com/is-there-a-limit-to-how-much-protein-the-body-can-use-in-a-single-meal/
https://bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/nutrient-intake-nutrient-storage-and-nutrient-oxidation.html/2 -
Most recent meta-analysis by Schoenfeld and Aragon (2018): https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-018-0215-1
Offers guidelines as to optimal amounts of protein intake and timing for MPS, but says further research is needed to quantify a specific upper threshold for per-meal protein intake (in terms of stimulating MPS).1 -
Yes they work and are intended for supplementation, to fill macro nutrient gaps. I personally prefer getting my protein source from real food.0
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If you actually break it down to price per grams of protein, protein powders aren't that expensive. A lb of chicken breast where I live costs anywhere from 3 to 4 dollars. So that's around 106g of protein for the whole pound. I prefer protein that taste good so I pay a little more for my preferred protein @54.99 a 5lb tub. At 4 scoops to keep things around the same im getting 100g of protein, costs me about $4. In line with chicken breast. I also bought a 11lb bag of myprotein for $50. Which is 199.5 servings and costs me roughly $.25 per serving. Now to keep things in line for around 100g of protein im paying $1.31.
Personally, I don't use protein powders that often. However the convenience of them is why I buy them. Throw some powder in a shaker cup while im on the go. Quick and easy for when I don't have time to prepare something and cheaper compared to eating out. I consider protein powders food and to me it isn't that expensive compared to other foods that I buy regularly.
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grumpyoldprop wrote: »Having been weight training for a number of years, I've tended to use protein powders post work. But recently I've come to the conclusion that they're quite expensive so I make a shake from milk, porridge oats, a banana and a spoon of Whole Earth peanut butter. A lot cheaper but still containing a good amount of protein.
What's other folks thoughts?
That doesn't really seem like a protein shake...more carbs and fat than anything.
A protein shake is just a supplement to aid in hitting more lofty protein targets...nothing more, nothing less. I supplement occasionally, but I can hit my targets with food most days.3 -
My quick and dirty take on protein powders. If you know that you are going to be short on your protein goal for the day, you may want to make you a shake to make up the deficit. But I wouldn't use them as they were regular meals.0
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It works for me, so I do it. Of course sometimes I drink chocolate milk or just eat a banana.0
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for_ever_young66 wrote: »My quick and dirty take on protein powders. If you know that you are going to be short on your protein goal for the day, you may want to make you a shake to make up the deficit. But I wouldn't use them as they were regular meals.
1) They're not intended to be regular meals. A meal replacement shake (as opposed to a protein shake) has more evenly balanced nutrition. They're intended to supplement your protein intake if you're not getting enough from the rest of your diet, with minimal calories from other macronutrients.
2) I wouldn't use any shake as a regular meal because I don't find them particularly satiating. If I'm actually hungry, a protein shake (or any drink/liquid) doesn't do much of anything as far as satisfying my hunger.0 -
for_ever_young66 wrote: »My quick and dirty take on protein powders. If you know that you are going to be short on your protein goal for the day, you may want to make you a shake to make up the deficit. But I wouldn't use them as they were regular meals.
1) They're not intended to be regular meals. A meal replacement shake (as opposed to a protein shake) has more evenly balanced nutrition. They're intended to supplement your protein intake if you're not getting enough from the rest of your diet, with minimal calories from other macronutrients.
2) I wouldn't use any shake as a regular meal because I don't find them particularly satiating. If I'm actually hungry, a protein shake (or any drink/liquid) doesn't do much of anything as far as satisfying my hunger.
I do peek in diaries on occasion and you'd be surprised at the number of those who do.0
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