I have been lifting weights for about 3 weeks now. I think I was lacking protein because I was craving peanut butter like crazy, seriously I was eating half a jar a day. I recently added Soy protein to my diet and that craving has since gone away. I was told that when you crave peanut butter your lacking protein. The question I have is, is there a difference between whey protein and soy protein? Which one is better? Also is it true that you crave peanut butter when your lacking protein? If anyone could please help me with this it would be greatly appreciated.

Hmmm, it seems to me that if you're craving PB, you're craving FATS, not protein. PB is not a high protein food at all - it's primarily a fat (a good fat ) with some incidental protein in it. In fact, more than 70% of the calories in PB come from fat. I'd think if you were craving protein, you'd be after tuna or chicken, etc?

In any event, sometimes when we cut calories, we cut out too much good fat out of our diets. As a guideline, 20 - 30% of your daily calories should come from healthy fats. Without them, your skin, hair and nails can get dry and brittle -- and you can get food cravings. Maybe your fat was too low and that was driving you to the PB jar?

As for soy vs whey, some people avoid soy protein because it can suppress thyroid function if you have thyroid issues.

Good luck to you! I bet adding the protein to your diet helped because it keeps you satisfied longer. Got to watch that PB - at 100 calories per tablespoon, it's a diet killer!!

I crave peanutbutter and fell into the demon PB trap again last night. According to fitday it's not about protein, but I'd believe the low fat thing. Mine can get pretty low.
Interesting.

I've several times found myself falling into the low-fat trap a little too far. I'll look back over what I've eaten and there will be very little fat. When I was counting WW points I finally gave myself "permission" to add some good fat without counting the points. When I did that, I lost better too. Now I make sure I have a little every day. Today it's avocado on my turkey sandwich

Interesting this has come up. I've been thinking about different sources of good fats. I'd forgotten about avocado. As you may know, I'm an oily fish fanatic (mackerel, herring, salmon). What do other people like to use?

Getting back to gaining muscle.. WHEY PROTEIN .. all the whey (pun intended)

iamfirmin!

Sorry, trying2B! Didn't mean to hijack the thread! Cottage cheese and chicken are my current food favourites for protein.

I've used both in my protein shake world. I think I may be slightly allergic to soy, as it kicked in my asthma after a week. I switched to whey. Whey protein has alot of cholesterol in it however, so if cholesterol is an issue for you, soy might be the better path. I interchange them now. My cholesterol is fine, but it has been high in the past, so I don't want to do all whey.

Soy protein really upsets my stomach unless it's cooked. Soy based protein powders have really unpleasant effects, but I can eat cooked tofu.

I don't find it nearly as filling as lean meat. Because I'm perpetually hungry, I'd rather stick to chicken, fish, turkey or very lean beef.

Mel

I have NEVER heard that one!! Where did you read this?... My cholesterol has slowly been creeping up in the last 3 years... I am borderline low, I don't like being borderline anything!! I have started, just yesterday, drinking soy protein because I read that if your cholesterol goes up when menopause hits it may be because your estrogen is going down and soy protein can bring your estrogen levels back up... I hope it works...But I am really disappointed that whey is high in cholesterol ... I'm going to Google now...

Got this information from this site... http://www.wheyoflife.org/benefits.cfm#performance

Here is more info from this site:

http://www.wheyoflife.org/facts.cfm#13

Neither the soy nor the whey that I use have very much fat, however the whey is slightly lower. I use plain powder from a bulk food store which is considerable cheaper than the specialty mixes.
I prefer soy if I have to heat things like protein pancakes but the whey is more palatable in shakes. It fluffs up a bit like a milk shake and is more dessert-y tasting.

Hey Ilene, I got it off the container of Whey protein that I use. It says:

1 scoop = 65 mg cholesterol, which is 22% of the RDA for cholesterol. I use 3 scoops in my shakes, so that would be a pretty high number for me, when I already have a history of cholesterol problems. That would be 66% of my days cholesterol, which might be ok, but probably not if I'm eating anything else like meat during the day.

On the other hand, my soy protein container says:
1 scoop = 0 mg cholesterol, so for me, that was a better choice.


I'm glad you printed out all the other sources though. Maybe almost 200 mg of cholesterol is not that much, but compared to 0, it seemed like a clear choice. But I am glad to see maybe it's not as bad as I thought; I think it's just a difference from where the source of the protein is coming from. Plant vs animal, right?

Still don't see any info on how long the container is good for once it is opened or does that make a difference?? It hasn't hit the expiration date, but I don't know if that means the sell date or the use date? Any info, I may google the maker and see if I get anything.

Of course, I take Tylenol that is 6-12 months expired but hey it works, I just don't take very much and seem to have a bottle forever.