There are a number of different ways to increase your intake of protein. Other than simply increasing your intake of food, which is not as effective and more difficult to do well, one option that’s become very popular is protein powder.
This has become the dominant choice of serious bodybuilders and casual weightlifters alike for a number of important reasons. First, it is very easy to prepare. Rather than going through the effort of planning and preparing meals, you can just mix with water and drink it.
Sometimes people use special protein shaker bottles that are designed to mix the powder into the drink very well because it can clump, but that isn’t necessary. Additionally, if you choose a hydrolyzed whey protein powder, it actually mixes very well on its own.
The next thing is that you can control for and consume a much larger amount of protein than is easily gotten from foods. Many protein powder supplements have over 30 grams per serving. By comparison, you’d have to eat a large chicken breast to equal that amount.
You’re recommended at least one gram of protein per pound of body weight. So if you weigh 200 pounds, you should be getting at least 200 grams of protein a day (about 6 1/2 chicken breasts).
Most of the food we eat is not nearly as protein-rich as chicken breast, but even if it was you can easily see how being able to get 30+ grams of protein at a time in a beverage simplifies things greatly.
Another major issue is that when you drink powder solution, the protein is much more rapidly absorbed and bioavailable than if you were to eat a protein-rich food.
The greater bioavailability is due to protein powders having branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), which mean the protein is metabolized in the muscle rather than the liver. This means more of the protein actually goes to building muscle.
The absorption issue is particularly important if you’re trying to get your protein absorbed within an hour after working out so that you take advantage of your anabolic window. Choosing a protein powder, especially one that is hydrolyzed, makes it much easier to ensure you’re absorbing the protein in that window.
The final and most important issue is that you want to be getting in the whole spectrum of amino acids. Protein powders, whey in particular, have a much fuller composition of amino acids than whole foods.
This is extremely important in bodybuilding, because it takes the full spectrum of amino acids for your body to manufacture human growth hormone. In addition, different amino acids do different things.
For example, one of the most important amino acids which isn’t found in great supply in most foods, but constitutes about 10% of whey protein powder is leucine (which facilitates further protein synthesis).
It’s no accident that protein powders dominate the market of workout supplements for men. It is one of the few things which have been repeatedly shown to be effective at helping to build muscle.
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