[flutter]

I have been wondering if i should be taking in extra protein since i am weight training. As far as i'v heard, protein powder helps muscle recovery and helps the muscles grow bigger, faster. That's just what i'v heard from people so i dont know. Basically i want to know, if it is bad, to not have extra protein in your diet if your weightlifting. Could someone give me a list of the advantages and disadvantages of taking protein powders.
And also, what would the best types of protein powders be?
I havent been taking any powders, i just try to get enough protein in my food intake.

[nelie]

I would say protein powders aren't necessary and my personal view is that your first choice should also be whole foods first. If you find you aren't getting enough protein or maybe find yourself in situations where you won't be able to eat a protein source, then protein powders are good. I have recently been looking into protein powders because there are situations where I want to eat protein that is quick and easy and also I want to eat something low in fat. There are other options for me but lately I have been having what I would call a sensitive stomach for some reason in that I really don't feel like eating. Since this would leave me in a situation where I would be limiting my protein, I think I need something once in a while.

[MrsJim]

Protein powder is convenient to have around and is a quick easy meal or you can add it to other foods to 'boost' the protein content. I haven't used PP for some months but I've always preferred a protein blend - preferably one that doesn't contain soy, more of a whey/casein blend. There are probably HUNDREDS of PP's out there - you just have to find the one that tastes the best to you (people's preferences can REALLY vary widely in this regard!). If you're planning on baking with PP, you'd probably be better off sticking with a casein-type, since whey doesn't hold up very well in heat situations.

Personally I just got burnt out on doing shakes after 3+ years, and now get all my protein from my food, which isn't really that hard for me to do - I eat a lot of cottage cheese, eggwhites, chicken breast, fish and lean meats. I know that a lot of the articles that you see at the BB sites and such have bodybuilders literally consuming HUNDREDS of grams of protein - I don't think you need all that much, even if you're lifting.

At her "weight training for women" site, Krista Scott Dixon recommends the following:

Protein, of course, should be the foundation of your nutritional plan. The recommended amount of protein for a weight training person trying to gain mass as well as to lose mass is the same: about 0.7 to 0.8 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight daily.

I've used the "1 gram of protein per pound of GOAL bodyweight" myself. If you weigh 160 lbs and use Krista's equation, that would be anywhere from 112-128 grams of protein per day (or 448-512 calories from protein/day). With your goal weight of 125, using the formula I've used, you would be consuming 125 grams per day (or 500 calories from protein/day). So it's about the same either way! All you need to do at that point, now that you've figured out your daily protein intake, is divide the grams by the number of meals you have a day - so let's say you have 5 meals a day: that would be around 25 grams of protein per meal.

Anyway, that's my thoughts on the matter...

[srmb60]

Since I can't have dairy, I had trouble coming up with enough protein. I use isolated soy protein that I buy in a bulk food store. No flavour.
I tried cottage cheese, I love it but it doesn't love me!
Anyway, a shake a day usually bumps me up over 100 gms of protein per day and I'm very happy with the fact that it adds no fat.