Thread: how much protien in diet from protien shakes?

Interesting question. I don't think it matters. Protein is protein. I think you can get all your protein from a protein shake it you needed too? I mean if you need 100g of protein per day you COULD get it all from protein shakes, I think. I mean you obviously won't because protein is in almost all the foods you eat but theoretically you COULD.

Don't take my word for it though. These are just my thoughts.

I just checked my fitday, just over 14% of my protein comes from non-whole-food sources. But not sure about what Built will say.

thanks, i am bulding my fitday now and was concerned about protien shakes. namely the twinnlab super gainer' s fuel i had laying around. as high as that stuff is i did not want to just waste it.

Protein is protein. Get it where you can. Of course, protein shakes digest 10x faster than whole foods. I suggest getting it from better sources such as chicken, fish, etc.. Cheaper, more filling in my opinion, and taste better to SOME people.

Personally I feel protein shakes should only be used in the following cases:

Pre-workout
Post-workout
If you wake up late and don't have time for a real breakfast

Protein isn't just protein. If that were the case, then vegetarians and vegans would have no diet disadvantages.

For one thing, you need to consider protein quality. Just because a label says the food item contains 30g protein doesn't mean your body absorbs all 30g. Some sources have better absorption rates. If I'm not mistaken, eggs supposedly are the highest-quality protein source, at nearly 100%.

Secondly, and this relates to my vege/vegan remark -- not all proteins contain the same amino acids (AAs). This is why vegetarians and vegans need to combine certain foods to "complete" their protein. Some sources like black beans don't contain all the AAs necessary for the human body, which is why they combine it with a grain.

Good protein powders contain the BCAAs and other AAs, but this still doesn't mean it's the be-all-end-all protein source. Whole foods trump any diet market product.

Protein powders are useful for three reasons: (1.) they're calorie/carb efficient; if you're dieting, it can be difficult to get sufficient protein/AAs without taking in saturated fat and/or carbs; (2.) they can be used strategically in conjunction with training; this goes especially for whey isolate, which is a fast-absorption protein, used ideally after a workout; and, (3.) for those of us who are highly active, particularly with intense resistance training, and need more protein than the average person, powders are a cheaper, more convenient alternative to other expensive, filling whole food sources; while it's important to get your protein from primarily whole foods, it can be a bit much to stuff our faces with $5.00 chicken breasts all day....or the horrendous canned tuna path. Protein powder just gives us a break. It's a quick, simple, useful solution.

My rule is (ideally) no more than 1/5 daily protein from powder. For instance, I consume approximately 260g protein/day. I allow myself 2 scoops of whey isolate a day, 1 when I wake up on my way to work and 1 either in between my weight lifting and cardio OR an hour before bed...this gives me a total of 50g protein from whey powder, with the remaining 210g coming entirely from whole foods. Whey is the only source in my diet that isn't a whole food.

I just thought of a bonus use of protein powder...they can help certain staple BB'ing foods taste tolerable to good. I'm thinking cottage cheese and oats. Cottage cheese with avocado and tuna works decently, too, but my favourite mix is this:

-2/3 cup quick oats (240 calories, 54g carbs, 12g protein)
-1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese (80 calories, 1.5g fat, 14g protein)
-1 scoop chocolate whey isolate (120 calories, 25g protein)

For instance, tonight I'm training lower push and calves. So, I do three variations of squats, three calf exercises (mixed together..), head to the locker room and down this awesome snack, and head upstairs for a stationary bike for 20-45 mins. This mixture helps me a great deal.

Originally Posted by Jodi

Personally I feel protein shakes should only be used in the following cases:

Pre-workout
Post-workout
If you wake up late and don't have time for a real breakfast

I agree.

Though, I would like to add (a) early morning for those who have to wait an hour or more from waking up before breakfast (i.e. commute) just to prevent hunger-induced stress and allow energy to raise, (b) during the day for those who are unable to meet their usual meal plan due to external limitations (e.g. work schedule, traveling, sudden change of plans, etc), and (c) before bed to promote satiety going into the sleep without a large insulin spike.

Yea, protein is protein either from shakes or food. I personally like both a shake and a good tuna fish/chicken salad sandwhich prior to my work outs. A man can't live off shakes alone. You gotta have substance and calories to burn. Shakes are great, but make sure they're used to wash down a nice protien filled meal as well. Thats my opinion though.

thanks for the info. i am using up some old twinlab super fuel i have. i can only stomach 2 cups at one serving (4 cups is one serving). this is a mass gainer so it has alot more than just a protein. i use it towards my carb and colories also (plus it has a lot of minerals and vitermins). 1280 calories, 239 carbs. 14 fat, 50 protein. i am building my diet up, it is hard for a noncooker to start cooking. right now i am using sardines, white rice/black eye peas, peanut butter and honey on whole grain sandwich, canned green beans to get my intake up where it needs to be. thanks for the reciept phineas. i'll give that a try when i buy some protien shake.

by the way, i used the protien shake today as a pre workout drink. i mixed in about 4 coffee beans with it and took it about an hour before hitting the gym. first day back in the gym since last december (hadn't worked legs in 16 years though). i did 3 sets of 6 with 225 on the squat rack, then 3 sets of 6 with 205 on the deadlifts, 2 sets of 10 on the leg extension machine and lay down leg curls. gym was closing so i had to cut my workout short. stayed light on everything because i know i will be sore as hell tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Phineas

For one thing, you need to consider protein quality. Just because a label says the food item contains 30g protein doesn't mean your body absorbs all 30g. Some sources have better absorption rates. If I'm not mistaken, eggs supposedly are the highest-quality protein source, at nearly 100%.

Just kind of a side convo I'm trying to start.

Have you looked at AAS and PDCAAS for the ratings? The highest AAS I've seen is from beef liver (152. Tuna, Salmon, Herring, etc. are around 148. Egg is 145). But with the PDCAAS takes into account digestibility by looking at the fecal matter released. (Protein has a good list, and I was going to give you another list with whey, but the site is down, but just take my word that whey has a score of 1.00 as well). And I also look at Protein Efficiency Ratio for some proteins. But then again I haven't really looked up any of those since I found out about these two.

Since you didn't seem to know about that thought I'd throw that out there. And BV has pretty much been thrown out the window, yet people still refer to it for some odd reason.

the protien in the super fuel is milk and eggs. it's not the newer super fuel pro which has the whey protien and is asparian (not sure on the spelling) free, what ever that means. lol my old super fuel says it has aspirian like it was a good thing. guess they found out it wasn't .

Originally Posted by Phineas

Just because a label says the food item contains 30g protein doesn't mean your body absorbs all 30g. Some sources have better absorption rates.

Have you followed any of the Humapro hub bub?

Originally Posted by Phineas

If I'm not mistaken, eggs supposedly are the highest-quality protein source, at nearly 100%.

I believe you're correct. Eggs have an almost perfect bioavailability.

Bioavailability of Protein in Relation to Building Muscle

Originally Posted by Phineas

Protein isn't just protein. If that were the case, then vegetarians and vegans would have no diet disadvantages.

For one thing, you need to consider protein quality. Just because a label says the food item contains 30g protein doesn't mean your body absorbs all 30g. Some sources have better absorption rates. If I'm not mistaken, eggs supposedly are the highest-quality protein source, at nearly 100%.

Secondly, and this relates to my vege/vegan remark -- not all proteins contain the same amino acids (AAs). This is why vegetarians and vegans need to combine certain foods to "complete" their protein. Some sources like black beans don't contain all the AAs necessary for the human body, which is why they combine it with a grain.

Good protein powders contain the BCAAs and other AAs, but this still doesn't mean it's the be-all-end-all protein source. Whole foods trump any diet market product.

Protein powders are useful for three reasons: (1.) they're calorie/carb efficient; if you're dieting, it can be difficult to get sufficient protein/AAs without taking in saturated fat and/or carbs; (2.) they can be used strategically in conjunction with training; this goes especially for whey isolate, which is a fast-absorption protein, used ideally after a workout; and, (3.) for those of us who are highly active, particularly with intense resistance training, and need more protein than the average person, powders are a cheaper, more convenient alternative to other expensive, filling whole food sources; while it's important to get your protein from primarily whole foods, it can be a bit much to stuff our faces with $5.00 chicken breasts all day....or the horrendous canned tuna path. Protein powder just gives us a break. It's a quick, simple, useful solution.

My rule is (ideally) no more than 1/5 daily protein from powder. For instance, I consume approximately 260g protein/day. I allow myself 2 scoops of whey isolate a day, 1 when I wake up on my way to work and 1 either in between my weight lifting and cardio OR an hour before bed...this gives me a total of 50g protein from whey powder, with the remaining 210g coming entirely from whole foods. Whey is the only source in my diet that isn't a whole food.

I just thought of a bonus use of protein powder...they can help certain staple BB'ing foods taste tolerable to good. I'm thinking cottage cheese and oats. Cottage cheese with avocado and tuna works decently, too, but my favourite mix is this:

-2/3 cup quick oats (240 calories, 54g carbs, 12g protein)
-1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese (80 calories, 1.5g fat, 14g protein)
-1 scoop chocolate whey isolate (120 calories, 25g protein)

For instance, tonight I'm training lower push and calves. So, I do three variations of squats, three calf exercises (mixed together..), head to the locker room and down this awesome snack, and head upstairs for a stationary bike for 20-45 mins. This mixture helps me a great deal.

Thanks for correcting me. I really do appreciate it. But Irl I would probably beat you up for no good reason.

Originally Posted by Jodi

Personally I feel protein shakes should only be used in the following cases:

Pre-workout
Post-workout
If you wake up late and don't have time for a real breakfast

Where'd you come from?

Hey Jodi!

just sucked down some sardine fish stakes in lousiana hot sauce. better than tuna any day. from looking over my fitday logs, i will need to add at least 2 cans of sardines a day to get my protien up to 180, which is still only a little over 1 gram of protien per lb. of body weight (i weight 209 but my lean weight should be around 175). maybe that and another 2 cups of milk will get me over the mark. dam eating is harder than working out.