Protein Powder

The reason people take protein powder is because it helps the muscle tissue to fix itself and speeds up the recovery process. This means you recover sooner and will be stronger and bigger more quickly. Athletes who do weight training will usually take a serving of protein powder straight after a training session and they will sometimes will take a protein powder serving beforehand as well.

You might be wondering why take protein powder? Why not just eat high protein whole foods? There are a lot of good reasons to supplement your diet with protein powder and I will discuss a few of them now.

Before we begin, all foods have what is called a biological value and the higher the biological value the more protein can be absorbed by the body from that food. High quality protein powder will usually have a biological value near to 100% whereas high protein foods biological value vary. For example eggs have a biological value of 93%, fish 76%, lean beef 74%. If you have just finished a weight training workout you will be in an anabolic state for a small time window and you need to get protein to the stressed muscle parts you have just worked on. Protein powder is the fastest way to do that.

Another reason is that a good quality protein powder will have a range of essential branch chain amino acids specifically profiled for muscle growth. Most high protein foods have amino acids too but it is hit and miss as to whether or not they are in the optimum portions for muscle recovery.

Thirdly, if you are trying to build muscle you will need to be consuming approximately 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. And even if you are wanting to maintain your current muscle mass you will need 1-1.5 grams per pound of body weight. To get that amount of protein from whole foods is really challenging not to mention expensive in comparison to protein powder.

What is the optimum protein powder? The answer to that question depends on your body type. The two most common types are hard-gainers and normal metabolism. Hard gainers need a high calorie protein powder that has more carbs. If you have a normal metabolism a protein powder with low carbs will suit you better.

A typical protein powder has serving sizes consisting of approximately 23-26 grams of protein. Folks with normal metabolism trying to increase weight would consume a double serving of protein powder immediately after a workout and single or double servings throughout the day to get to your optimum daily protein intake. There is one caveat though - whole food should still be your major source of protein.

A hard gainer would follow the same routine however, if you find you are putting on too much weight around the middle, it might be a good idea to mix your protein with a low carb version to reduce the calories per serve while maintaining the protein serving size required. Again, whole foods in the form of eggs, and lean meats should be your main source of protein.

Something else serious bodybuilders do is cycle their protein powder from brand to brand so your body doesn't get accustomed to one type of protein powder and potentially lower the effects you get from them. Additionally, if you are getting close to a competition of some sort you will need to minimize your fat levels and so changing to a protein powder with a different profile for different stages of your cycle is necessary.

If you are finding it hard to take the full daily protein amount some folks will add protein powder to their foods. For example, mixing a protein powder serving to slow cooked rolled oats is one way to increase protein intake without adding a lot of mass to your food volume.

To answer the original question - what is the best protein powder? You need to find the best protein powder for you and your goals. Go to a reputable sports nutrition website and tell them what you are training for. If what they say is similar to what you have read here today they probably know what they are talking about.

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