Protein Shakes & Protein Powders

admin January 4th, 2009

There’s a worthwhile post to read over at the Examiner examining what factors to use when deciding upon the right protein powder for you. It’s just a short post, but echoes many of our own thoughts. For example, the article says:

There are two different types of whey protein: whey protein isolate and whey protein concentrate. Always buy the powder that has whey protein isolate as the first ingredient. This is a better quality protein and is worth every penny. When it comes to price, quality is important.

Yep, we agree there, and say so on our Whey Protein Powders page.

Try to drink a protein shake before and after workouts and before bed to preserve hard-earned muscle.

We might quibble over just how essential it is to consume a protein shake before your workout as well as afterwards (personally, most of us only do the “post-workout” shake, which is of course mandatory), but we’re agreed with the author over the value of a protein-shake prior to bed. It definitely brings some great results.

As we say… worth the few seconds it takes to read the post.

Tags: comparing protein powders

• How to choose the right protein powder
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admin December 28th, 2008

What with our prejudice towards whey protein powders, we sometimes don’t pay enough attention to plant based protein powders around these parts; which is why we thought we would point out this article, “Review of the best Plant Protein Powders“, to you, our readers. It’s a worthwhile read, if you’re into exploring some alternative protein powders. Some choice takeaways?

Here’s what’s interesting about that: Your taste buds will tell you which protein you need more. If you’re missing an amino acid in your diet, the protein product that provides more of that amino acid will tend to taste better to you. So my advice in choosing a protein product is to try all the top contenders and see what the high-tech chemical sensors on your tongue tell you.

You may also find that your taste varies over time. For example, you may really like one protein product a lot at first, but as your amino acid intake gets balanced, your taste buds may tell you to switch to a different protein. This is completely normal. It’s one of the ways your brain communicates with you to make sure you vary your diet. It’s also why eating the same food over and over again eventually gets boring. That’s your brain telling you to eat something different!

In my opinion, plant-based protein products are superior to animal-based proteins for lots of reasons — not just nutritionally speaking, but also for avoiding the tremendous resources required to produce animal products, the environmental consequences, etc. I used to recommend egg and whey protein products (and I still think egg protein is better than whey), but I stopped recommending whey protein due to all the gas and bloating effects users were reporting. Do you realize, by the way, that it takes up to 2,000 gallons of fresh water to produce just a single gallon of milk from a cow? That means a lot of environmental resources are being consumed to produce whey protein.

While we categorically don’t agree with the author about whey protein, it’s always good to hear differing opinions when it comes to choosing your personal favourite protein powder.

Tags: plant protein, protein powders

• Protein Powder Reviews
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