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A buddy of mine who is marathon runner and a gymnastics instructor, and who appears very fit, told me that whey protein is a waste of money.
It appears that the consumer reports article too has experts saying the same thing. I.e that americans already get all of the needed protein and that our body can only absorb so much protein before it's stored as fat or excreted otheriswise, etc....
Who is right? Do any of you find that whey protein makes a difference?
I've purchased Mercola's Miracle Whey ($100 for 3.6lb) and am wondering if I should be eating eggs instead once the supply is depleted.
1. No whey is not overrated. At least not for weightlifters and its great for weight loss as well. Maybe for a marathoner, but it just depends of your goals. Of course most protein should come from food sources but the quick action of whey is excellent post workouts or as an added boost of protein.
2. Why are you spending $100 on 3.6lbs? I have never heard of such expensive protein, and we have quite the variety of proteins here.
it depends on how highly it is rated. whey protein is food. if you are thinking it is some kind of miracle drink that will guarantee you become a beefcake studmuffin like CaptainNJ, then you are going to be disappointed. its to be added into your diet and seen as protein calories. paying $30 for a pound of it is insane. top quality whey isolate can be had for $8 a pound. then there is the more expensive hydrolyzed, which im not going to be wasting my money on.
A buddy of mine who is marathon runner and a gymnastics instructor, and who appears very fit, told me that whey protein is a waste of money.
It appears that the consumer reports article too has experts saying the same thing. I.e that americans already get all of the needed protein and that our body can only absorb so much protein before it's stored as fat or excreted otheriswise, etc....
Who is right? Do any of you find that whey protein makes a difference?
I've purchased Mercola's Miracle Whey ($100 for 3.6lb) and am wondering if I should be eating eggs instead once the supply is depleted.
What have you all found?
I can't figure out how the folks who wrote that consumer reports article can know whether or not all Americans already get all the protein they need from their diets? After all, not everyone eats well, let alone knows which foods supply them with required RDA of protein? Surely, a ton of people eat like crapola, loading up on too many simple carbos andf sugar and fat; surely these people could benefit from whey protein, especially if they're leading active lifestyles and/or are engaged in a fitness regimen.
An active peson needs at least a gram of protein for every two pounds of body weight. And if you are really active and want to lift weights and bulk-up properly, you could intake a gram of protein for every lb. you weigh.
But the thing to remember with protein, is that it is not going to automatically make you bigger from simply taking it; it only supplies fuel to your muscles via amino acids, which they then metabolize into glycogen and ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate.) Thus, this added fuel lets your muscles work more, and that's how you get bigger.
But yeah: if you eat pretty clean and lead a sedentary or even only mildly active lifestyle, then whey protein could be a waste of money.
Think of whey protein as high-octane fuel: a clunker car that drives slow around town won't benefit much from it. But a high-performance race car that is driven fast would reap some benefit.
BTW: you could use the exact same analogy for creatine, which is another supplement used by athletes and wannabe athletes that is oft-misunderstood.
But the thing to remember with protein, is that it is not going to automatically make you bigger from simply taking it; it only supplies fuel to your muscles via amino acids, which they then metabolize into glycogen and ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate.) Thus, this added fuel lets your muscles work more, and that's how you get bigger.
Wrong.
Amino acids are NOT metabolized into glycogen. glycogen is from carbohydrates, and have a completely different structure.
What happens with your protein after being broken down to amino acids is that it's sent into the blood stream to get transported to the cells where they're needed, and the part that becomes muscles is built into protein by ribsomes throught reading RNA-strings.
Just thought you'd like to know :P
As for protein powders, you'd be fine with boiled eggs etc instead, and most lifter wouldn't really notice a difference. but if you workout more than 4 times a week you will need the extra help recovering, and the protein supplementation does this.
The difference between eating eggs and taking a protein-shake is that it's less hassle to take the protein shake.
I personally workout 7-9 times a week, this would not be possible without supplementing some of my needs, protein being the most important one of them.
I think the "overrating" is coming from the companies that basically say "get HUGE and SHREDDED like an IFBB-PRO with our top of the market protein" and then people buy the proteins thinking "hey I'm not a sucker I don't believe that , but I will probably grow muscles at least if I take this", and it's not that easy either.
For your average gym member the protein intake isn't gonna do much,
But for the guys that really pull through hard and intense workouts just about every day there is clearly a need.
I eat two hard boiled eggs every morning and it takes my hunger away and satisfies me for hours. When I don't eat them, I want to eat the paint off the walls LOL Go eggs!
what about mixing 3 raw eggs+ 1/2 banana + milk for protein?
also, i hear contradicting info on whey proteins. on the one hand, it's claimed that optimum health proteins are bad quality ($50/5lb) and there is energy first protein, that's like $40/2lb that is much better quality, etc....
Those of you that are taking whey regularly, how do you judge the quality of the protein and it's effectiveness?
The effectiveness of almost every supplement is overratted if you are comparing the realistic results one might receive in contrast to what supplement ads say they will do.
That being said, whey protein supplements are a good fit in most people's diet. Also, I would never take dietary advice from Consumer Reports. I tend to not take dietary advice from the FDA either. We've been hearing for years and years that excess protein= bad for your kidneys. I'm waiting to hear all the stories of former bodybuilders suffering from kidney failure or kidney damage.....so far nothing.
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