Pro-tein versus Con-tein

It’s Monday so you know what that means: smoothie-for-lunch day !  As I was sipping on one of my most random smoothie concoctions to date, a colleague asked me whether I was drinking a protein shake. Lucky for him, I was too involved in my drink and not at all in a chatty moody. If such were not the case, he might have regretted commenting. Like eating schedules , protein powders/shakes are a subject which I have a loaded opinion about. Like any good judge, I’ll consider both its merits and demerits and then present my verdict.

Pros 

• Can help the body recover from a workout as they are easily digested and quickly processed
• If you can’t stomach food after exercising, great refueling alternative
• Huge variety of flavors can prevent boredom e.g. peanut butter cup, cake batter, French vanilla 😛 
• Various modes of consumption: shakes, baking, oatmeal, pancakes
• Low in fat and can help with weight loss
• For heavy exercisers, it’s difficult to meet protein requirements through diet solely
• Addition to a meal can reduce the overall GI while increasing the satiety factor
• Light-weight & convenient

Cons 

• Expensive: the same amount of money can be used to purchase a lot more powdered milk: an inexpensive form of protein
• Very protein-intense diets may increase the risk of bone loss and kidney damage
• Eating more protein than your body uses results in the excess being stored as fat
• No scientific evidence that protein from protein powders is better than protein derived from actual food
• Many powders come with a disturbing ingredient list
• Restricts your intake of other vital nutrients
• Unlike carbs, drinking a large amount of protein at once is not beneficial as it cannot be stored in the muscles

My take: Personally I’m not a fan of protein powders! Firstly, I rather eat my calories than drink them. Given my current activity levels, the recommended 0.8-1.8g protein/kg of body weight is a guideline which I stick to. As I do try and include some form of protein in every meal, I easily meet my protein requirements through my diet. Carnivore or not, the availability of protein is seriously underrated. Some forms of protein which I regularly eat include

• Oats 6g protein per 30g
• Soy milk 6.2 g protein per 200 ml
• Egg-whites 4g protein per egg-white
• Chicken breast 23g protein per 100g
• Tofu 8g protein per 100g
• Chickpeas 6g per half cup
• Shellfish 16g protein per 100g
• Smoked salmon 22g protein per 100g
• Yogurt 4g protein per 100g

For curiosity sake, I did sample the chocolate flavor of Gold Standard Whey Protein and it tasted terribly artificial. If I was traveling or on -the-go a lot, I may consider using protein powders in addition to a healthy diet. And while some might say that protein shakes will aid muscle development, two words: weight training!

Your take on protein shakes: yay or nay?