Protein Shakes - Good or Bad?

Altair

Altair

Skilled
Hey Guys. I am really confused regarding whether or not to choose protein shakes for body workout or not?

Thing is in 2012 i was quite obese and weighed 96-97 kg then i started exercising and running, was on a strict diet and it was on my own (read stuff on the internet) and lost a tremendous amount of weight and when the year 2013 hit summer i had lost around 40 kg of weight and was down to 54 kg.

I lost my muscles also in that process, excessive running i guess.
So now I've started working out again. Past 2 months. Lifting weights and everything. I'm doing it at home only. Bought the equipment's.
Till now i was getting my proteins from egg whites but i guess it didn't suit me well so i was planning to turn to protein shake etc.

Guys I have zero idea regarding protein shakes so it would really help me a lot if you could shed some knowledge on me. Whether or not i should go on to protein shake or not and if yes which one and why?
Will it affect my health?
And I wrote my weight loss thing above to ask whether this will affect me in future in any way?

P.S. - I am 21 years old.
 
It's always better to go for whole foods instead. But if you are really short of time and there is no way for you to cook chicken everyday then I'd suggest a protein shake. Else its better to go for whole foods (Chicken Breast ) . if money is not an issue for you you can use both whole foods and protein shakes . Protein will def help you grow more muscle . Body weight x 1.2 - 1.5 should be enough protein to consume.

for eg: Good protein shakes cost like around 4000 Rs or more for 60 servings . If you take 2 scoops per day you get 40 gm of protein and will last you a month. Chicken breast(I get mine from Nilgiris) is like 100 bucks for 300 gm which would give you close to 60 - 80 gm's of protein per day. and will cost you only 3000 Bucks per month. So in this way Whole foods are way better than protein shakes.

Also do not waste money on any other supplements other than protein shakes.
 
Can't you just drink milk/curd? You can add paneer (cottage cheese) to the mix too.

You can go for protein shakes and there's no problem with that, but why waste precious money on unnecessary supplements?
 
are you hitting your macro targets with your regular diet?

If yes, you don't need a protein shake. If you are missing your protein macro by a decent amount (i.e. not something that can be fixed by eating a sandwich) then you can consider a protein shake, but as stated above it it can be covered by "normal" eating, then that is the best.
 
Soy protein mixed in chapatis(40-60gm) + two scoops(60gm) whey protein in two shakes spread over the day.
I've found this to be a good mix. I haven't tried with chapatis but for soy protein that's the most natural and un-pukable way to have it. Its generally half the price of Whey protein and has its own set of benefits.
 
I maybe read this somewhere or heard that soy protein decreases testosterone level Is this true?

Please suggest me which protein to buy and of which brand. If its available online, please do forward me the link.

InTheCircle said:
It's always better to go for whole foods instead. But if you are really short of time and there is no way for you to cook chicken everyday then I'd suggest a protein shake. Else its better to go for whole foods (Chicken Breast ) . if money is not an issue for you you can use both whole foods and protein shakes . Protein will def help you grow more muscle . Body weight x 1.2 - 1.5 should be enough protein to consume.

for eg: Good protein shakes cost like around 4000 Rs or more for 60 servings . If you take 2 scoops per day you get 40 gm of protein and will last you a month. Chicken breast(I get mine from Nilgiris) is like 100 bucks for 300 gm which would give you close to 60 - 80 gm's of protein per day. and will cost you only 3000 Bucks per month. So in this way Whole foods are way better than protein shakes.

Also do not waste money on any other supplements other than protein shakes.
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Actually I am the only Non Vegetarian in my house so I can't bring Chicken or any other Nveg into the house. I usually go outside and ask for chicken breast once or twice a week. So its rather difficult. Also Can you tell me if there is any side/harmful effects of protein. Would you suggest me which one to buy?

blkrb0t said:
Can't you just drink milk/curd? You can add paneer (cottage cheese) to the mix too.

You can go for protein shakes and there's no problem with that, but why waste precious money on unnecessary supplements?
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I love milk so my daily consumption is around 1-1.5 liters of milk.

soggy316 said:
are you hitting your macro targets with your regular diet?

If yes, you don't need a protein shake. If you are missing your protein macro by a decent amount (i.e. not something that can be fixed by eating a sandwich) then you can consider a protein shake, but as stated above it it can be covered by "normal" eating, then that is the best.
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My protein Intake is Sprouts, Eggs and Chana Daal. All boiled.

Party Monger said:
Soy protein mixed in chapatis(40-60gm) + two scoops(60gm) whey protein in two shakes spread over the day.
I've found this to be a good mix. I haven't tried with chapatis but for soy protein that's the most natural and un-pukable way to have it. Its generally half the price of Whey protein and has its own set of benefits.
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Please clear this out. Does Soy Protein lowers your Testosterone levels?
 
Altair said:
My protein Intake is Sprouts, Eggs and Chana Daal. All boiled.
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Again, if that is satisfying your protein macro target? If you aren't tracking your calories/macros start doing so and then make a call.

Also, there are no harmful effects of excess of protein (within reason of course) the only thing I have heard is to increase your water intake so that your kidneys have an easier time. As far as the testosterone thing goes, ask a qualified nutritionist, but it seems unlikely.
 
soggy316 said:
Again, if that is satisfying your protein macro target? If you aren't tracking your calories/macros start doing so and then make a call.

Also, there are no harmful effects of excess of protein (within reason of course) the only thing I have heard is to increase your water intake so that your kidneys have an easier time. As far as the testosterone thing goes, ask a qualified nutritionist, but it seems unlikely.
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Sorry I am new to this. How should I track protein macro target? I really have no idea.
 
Ok, so first of all, get a tracker like MyFitnessPal or the like for your phone. Next record everything you consume and I mean everything, MFP has a decent selection of reasonably accurate entries for indian food, so you will be able to track both, total calories consumed and amount of protien consumed. Pick a good beginner program (SS/SL/etc) and then see what kind of calorie surplus/protein intake it recommends. Then modify your diet to ensure you get the required calories and the required protein per day (alongwith the program's lifting recos). Once you start progressing well you can jump to intermediate and advanced lifting programs based on your needs.

Simple :)
 
Good if you dont have access to natural sources like Chicken, eggs, fish and Paneer. Other reason to have it so that you can have it in your office or any place else when you are on the go and dont want your protein intake. Overall, natural is the way to go.
 
Dude you have no idea about anything. Read some articles and blogs and then you might. You will never be sure about anything by just asking random questions. Explore workouts and various techniques. Spend sometime on Muscle and strength or bodybuilding.com
 
First of all Whey Protein isn't a magic supplement that will give you muscles only by lifting weights and drinking them. It only works as advertised as any product. Its expensive but the amount of protein you get per serving compared to real food is much better but in the end real food sources like eggs, chicken, fish, red meat, veggies and peanut butter beat synthetic powder all day.

The supplement industry is largely a huge scam when it comes to most products. There is a famous saying "go to a supplement store, close your eyes and point to a product, you will most likely find that random supplement to contain the same ingredients as the rest of them"

That being said, whey protein is one the most bio-available proteins out there, what this means it is easily assimilated into the body when you consume it. BUT the EGG is still king when it comes to bio-availability, in the raw form of course, when you crack and egg and shoot it straight(gross i know) , its the best sources of protein hands down, the white of an egg contains some of the most easily digestible protein on the planet, the yolk contains half the protein of an egg and its high quality, its sad that people seem to think its bad for you and all that, they're wasting their money discarding it.

Now coming to wasting money, do not and I repeat do not buy a whey protein gainer, its mostly inferior quality protein loaded with sugar derivatives and other fillers which is 99% useless and will only make you bloated and fat, remember you are trying to gain quality muscle while keeping the fat gains at a minimal. So I suggest you take good look at your diet, figure out the total number of macro nutrients (proteins+carbs+fats)which make up the total calories you require according to your fitness and lifestyle goals.

Eat a surplus number of calories to gain size
Eat at maintenance levels to maintain size
Eat slightly less then maintenance levels to slowly reduce fat ( you'll need to incorporate HIIT and cardio into your routine)

Do some more research in these areas, If you are trying to lose weight just eat below your daily caloric requirement and you should be fine, cardio obviously to burn the calories you consume, remember you are not burning fat at the gym, its only the calories you already consumed, but cardio is a double edged sword the more you do the more it increases your appetite so make sure you have a good hour long lifting routine and cardio is something you add on top.
 
Thank you all for the replies. I'll Do a little bit more research about protein and stuff.

Will it be better that I join some gym or something? I did last year but for a month but then had to go back to college. Will it better than exercising at home on my own. I'll get the experience and then later on I'll start at home then.

Another question is going on a strict protein diet causes constipation. How to overcome that?
 
Whey burns easily and then there is also another protein called casein which takes like 5-7 hours to burn completely in the body. Now it also depends on the height you have. Make sure the BMI is not being compromised. You can take protein from non-veg food like fish-chicken-red meat or taking tofu. I am 190 cms and weigh around 90-92 kilos. It varies in summers and winters. Once i was 95 with a protruding belly. Did workout,reduced card by a bit and was able to get the tummy in. Changed the diet to boiled food with less salt, ate more fruits and also consumed 5 kilos of Optimum Nutrition whey isolate. Now i liked it and it did benefit me a lot. Biceps went to 15.5 from 14 but it could be becoz of the weight that i was lifting and other things aswell. Also, dont expect it to do wonders. Body of every being responds in a different so it might work or not at all work for you.
 
Fenix said:
Whey burns easily and then there is also another protein called casein which takes like 5-7 hours to burn completely in the body. Now it also depends on the height you have. Make sure the BMI is not being compromised. You can take protein from non-veg food like fish-chicken-red meat or taking tofu. I am 190 cms and weigh around 90-92 kilos. It varies in summers and winters. Once i was 95 with a protruding belly. Did workout,reduced card by a bit and was able to get the tummy in. Changed the diet to boiled food with less salt, ate more fruits and also consumed 5 kilos of Optimum Nutrition whey isolate. Now i liked it and it did benefit me a lot. Biceps went to 15.5 from 14 but it could be becoz of the weight that i was lifting and other things aswell. Also, dont expect it to do wonders. Body of every being responds in a different so it might work or not at all work for you.
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My Height is 5 feet 11 inches and i Weigh 68 kg. In the past 2- 2.5 months my biceps went from 11.9 inches to 13.8 inches with the diet i was on and all the workout i followed.

I didn't have any problem up till now because of it was my summer break and i was at home but now i have to go back to college and i won't have enough time to follow the same diet. That is why i was planning to shift to whey protein or protein shake for my protein intake.
 
As far as money goes, whey protein is the costliest form of protein that you can have but its value lies in the consumption amount. So if you reach your hogging limit (clean food) but not your daily protein limit then go for why protein.

I once made a nutrition plan and whey turned out to be Rs. 7 per gram of protein as compared to eggs and chicken which were around Rs. 1 or 1.5 per gram.
 
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