Protein Powders: Yay or Nay?

Protein is a fundamental macronutrient for growth and maintenance. After eaten, it’s broken down into amino acids, which in turn fuel the body to grow and function properly.

A daily ingest of 1.2 to 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight is recommended for active adults (1), although people trying to lose weight or increase muscle mass may benefit from having more, especially those who lift weights (2). I don't know many people who wouldn’t like to either build more muscles or lose more fat, by the way, so here’s the first tip: eat more protein!

That being said, protein can be obtained mainly from eating lean cuts of meat: chicken, beef, pork, fish, etc. Animal source protein contains all the essential amino acids, the ones our bodies can't manufacture from scratch.

It's not impossible to get the essential amino acids through vegetables, but it's definitely harder, since there’s the need to combine multiple types of veggies in order to get all of them. If you’re a vegetarian or a vegan, I highly recommend working with a good dietitian to figure that out.

So how about protein powders, why are they so common and are they really necessary?

Well, it depends. For our bodies it doesn't really matter from which source we get our protein. As long as we get the amount we need, the body composition benefits are similar whether we eat beef, chicken or drink whey protein (3)

Nevertheless, we know that many people struggle to hit the daily protein recommendations, especially because of their lifestyle. Some people skip breakfast, others don’t have time to eat lunch, others eat low protein snacks, and so on.

If that’s you, I recommend the supplementation. Using a protein powder and meeting your daily recommendations will for sure be healthier than not taking it and being short on protein at the end of the day.

Would it be even better if you got all your protein from real foods? Very likely so, as they can provide other nutrients too, not to mention that the protein powders usually have preservatives, added flavors, sweeteners, etc.

So make sure you get the appropriate amount of protein your body needs to thrive. Get as much as possible from real foods and, if necessary, complement that with a protein powder supplement.

There are so many options on the market I’d need another entire post to go over what’s important to read in the label when choosing one. Let me know if you’re interested and I can write a follow up post about it.

Will

1- ACSM’s resources for the Personal Trainer

2- PMID: 28642676

3- PMID: 28399016