protein shakes

Marking my place on this thread as I want to know this too

Why should you drink these and when

So why is it that so why should you take protein shakes? Well, protein is used for the production of muscles. Proteins are also used to manufacture hormones, enzymes, cellular messengers, nucleic acids, and immune-system components. Without adequate protein, our bodies can't put together the structures that make up every cell, tissue, and organ, nor can it generate the biochemical substances needed for cardiovascular function, muscle contraction, growth, and healing. Without an adequate amount of protein our muscles wouldn't heal up as quickly and could therefore lead to overtraining your muscle which could lead to injury.

Also, after a workout is one of the best time to get protein into the body so that the protein can be delivered to your muscles, to begin healing the micro tears (very small tears in the muscle tissue, caused by intense contraction of the muscle during workout) in the muscle.

Because solid food takes more time to digest and to break down the protein and send it to the muscles, it can be best to take a protein shake immediately following a workout, since protein shakes only take about 30 minutes to reach the muscle after ingestion. Definitely, we can see the advantage to taking a protein shake in this instance.

Hope this was helpful to you sweetie *muah*
~Rachhel

I use mine to replace breakfast sometimes and after a hard workout with cardio and weights. It's a way to promote muscle repair is my understanding. Also it's easy for me b/c after a big workout there isn't any way that I could eat a healthy amount of calories. There is lots of information out there to read. I use Optimum Nutrition whey powder and mix with a frozen banana, 2% milk, and some plain yogurt and chia seeds or flax. It's about 500 calories.