With so many options out there, how will you know which is the best protein powder for you. Well, to answer that question you need to first look at protein itself.
There are two main sources of protein: Whole food protein and supplement protein:
Whole food protein is the protein which comes from natural food sources such as beef, chicken, fishes, etc. And, the best forms among them are chicken, turkey, lean red meat, fish and eggs.
But, if you’re vegetarian, eggs, low-fat cottage cheese, low-fat yogurt, tofu, almond, rice and beans are your best option. And, while we are on this subject, some people stated that you need to be careful while combining these proteins to ensure that your body is getting enough proteins. But, it was a faulty research based on myths and thoroughly debunked as a misbelief by the MIT. It’s true that some vegetable proteins are less in amino acids than non-veg forms of protein, but it’s not scientifically proven that they lack them altogether.
Few Things You Should Know About Eating Protein: The first thing is how much protein you can absorb in one sitting. While this is a complex subject in which your genetics, metabolism, digestivity and amount of lean mass are all important factors here.
In simple terms, you can eat and properly use a lot of protein in every meal. So, in case you miss a meal and need to make it up, you can load them up in later meals.
Another thing is, different protein digests at different speed. For example, beef protein is quickly digestible and 70% of it is utilized by body. Where, egg protein digests slower than beef and whey.
NPU (net protein utilization) and digestion speed are important factors here because you want to rely on high NPU proteins to meet daily needs. The slow digesting proteins are only for final meals before you go to sleep.
Important Factors About Quality Protein Powders: In my opinion, quality protein powder is more important than quantity. While shopping for protein powder, ensure that it doesn’t include more than 7-9 ingredients and have more natural ingredients. And, if you can’t pronounce names of all ingredients listed on the product, it’s time to look for another one.
Another thing is, when shopping for protein powder, don’t get pulled by advertisements that claim “added ingredients” for muscle growth faster. Supplement companies use trick where they claim to include a small amount of extra ingredient for faster muscle growth. But the amount they include hardly makes any difference. And when they do this, the prices are higher than normal and not worth buying.
Test of Time: This is another important factor to consider while shopping for protein powder, find out how long the company or the product is in the market. My suggestion is to pick only those which are around the market at least three to four years. And if lasted that long, it may be quality product which people buy continuously and worth considering.
Last Important Question to Ask Yourself: This might be an important question to consider if you’ve any special nutrient needs with your diet. If you’re vegetarian then whey protein powder can’t be your choice because it’s a form of a dairy source.
If this is your case, egg protein powder might be a better choice (if you eat eggs) or if that’s also not an option, you still have option of soy protein powder. If you’ve lactose problems, you may not be able to handle whey protein, so your best option is egg protein powder.
Last thing, you must take appropriate amount only, twice a day is fine, but, if you’re taking more than that, it’s possible that you could see some negative implications.
Happy Gaining!
