Whey Protein Guide

Today, it is much easier for a modern person to achieve perfect proportions, because he has at his disposal effective training systems, exercise equipment with an enhanced system of influence on all muscle groups, and sports nutrition, thanks to which an ideal, toned body becomes not a myth, but a reality.

Useful amino acids, proteins and proteins of natural origin are what our body cannot do without. And therefore, an important point when drawing up a sports menu is the correctly selected amount of protein, which is responsible for building muscle mass, the athlete’s excellent well-being, immunity, endurance and achieving maximum results. You can get protein from your usual food, but it is much more effective to compensate for its deficiency with specialized sports supplements.

How to drink protein correctly: general recommendations

Proteins, entering the digestive tract, break down into essential amino acids. The latter, in turn, affect the growth of muscle tissue, the formation of certain hormones, the growth of bone tissue, and are also a source of energy production. To calculate how much protein you need to consume per day, you can use the standard scheme: 1.5-2 grams per day per 1 kilogram of body . It is important to take into account the fact that a sports supplement cannot contain 100% protein, the average is 70-93%.

A few words about lactate

When we talk about energy supply to muscles, and the entire body as a whole, during exercise or some time after it, we cannot fail to mention the role of lactate in this. Lactate is formed during the process of anaerobic glycolysis, which occurs during intense muscular work, when muscles use blood glucose or glycogen contained in them. Lactate is essentially “underused” glucose. And our body has mechanisms that allow us to squeeze out the remaining energy from lactate. The myth about the active use of protein after training for energy needs does not take into account the fact that glucose is synthesized not only from amino acids, but also from lactate. If at rest there is not much of it in the blood, then during exercise and immediately after it the concentration of lactate goes through the roof, returning to the original level only after an hour (see figure). Most of the lactate produced in muscle is transported to the liver, where it is used to synthesize glucose through gluconeogenesis, and then the glucose enters the bloodstream. In addition, lactate can be used directly, without conversion to glucose, as an energy source in skeletal muscles, the heart and even the brain.

How to take different types of protein

Today, there are several types of protein mixtures, each of which has its own characteristics in terms of intake time and serving size.

Intake and proportions of protein shakes

Why do you need protein shakes at all? Is it really impossible to get by with protein from regular meat, fish, chicken?

Firstly, with natural products we get a decent amount of fat along with protein. Look at the composition of even lean veal and fish - you are unlikely to find less than 9% fat, and in a protein shake it is usually less than 0.5%. (Yes, there are low-fat dairy products and cottage cheese, but they are hardly natural, and recent studies show a number of health problems associated with their consumption).

Secondly, you will never know down to the gram how much protein is in your specific serving of meat. You can, of course, weigh it on a kitchen scale and look at the table for the average protein content of this type of meat, but you will still get the average value. The instructions for the cocktail are clearly stated: so many grams of protein and so many grams of carbohydrates per serving. (This is important, because in one meal a person absorbs 35-40 g of protein, the rest goes to waste).

Thirdly, you cannot know how well your body will absorb a particular type of food. All protein is absorbed from cocktails, since it is already broken down into its components (amino acids) and standardized in the proportion in which the body absorbs them best. Finally, sports nutrition is designed for very rapid absorption. 15 minutes - and you can go workout, while after a regular meal you are still at the peak of digestion. As you can see, a protein shake does not replace regular food in any way (the stomach must work fully!), but is convenient as an additional snack in between meals.

By the way, protein sports products are available in the form of not only cocktails, but also bars. A cocktail is a powder in a plastic bucket, jar or cardboard box, which is stirred in milk, juice or water using a shaker or blender. The bar should be washed down with plenty of similar liquid.

How to consume protein depending on your goal?

Depending on the purpose of using protein (weight loss, gaining muscle mass, to achieve relief), the dosage and time of taking the supplement will differ. Let's look at the main and most common options.

1. How to take protein for weight gain . To achieve this goal, you need to distribute the daily portion of protein into 5-6 servings. It is better to give preference to whey or egg protein. The daily intake should not exceed 2 grams per kilogram of weight (during normal training). An enhanced program will require an increased amount of protein intake up to 2.5 grams.
2. How much protein to drink for weight loss . You should have 2 types of protein: fast isolate (whey) or complex (whey and egg), slow (casein); • Drink according to the same scheme as for gaining muscle mass, with the only difference being that you can replace 2 meals with slow-acting protein (casein); • Playing sports is the basis for acquiring ideal shape; • You can additionally use various fat burners, for example, L-carnitine.
3. How to take protein for muscle growth and muscle mass gain . At night, muscles go through a recovery cycle, so you need a portion of protein in the morning. Drink a serving of a quickly digestible protein shake (whey or complex) half an hour after waking up; • During the day. The amino acid pool must be regularly replenished, and therefore between meals you need to drink a portion of isolate (or complex protein); • Before training. 40 minutes before classes, drink isolate to maintain the existing level of amino acids in the muscles; • After training. This is a risky period for catabolism: glycogen reserves and amino acid concentrations decrease. Drink complex protein with fast carbohydrates, gainer with simple carbohydrates; • Before bedtime. To ensure the flow of amino acids, drink casein protein (absorbed in 6-8 hours).

Contraindications to taking protein

There are no absolute contraindications to taking such a substance. It is natural and one of the main components of all tissues of our body. But even such an irreplaceable component can negatively affect health if:

• you have an allergy or food intolerance to a certain type of protein. Thus, people who are allergic to cow's milk protein should prefer protein products based on soy or chicken protein. And those who have lactase deficiency should choose vegetable or cow protein, since milk protein may contain traces of lactose;
• you exceed the recommended protein dosage. Excess protein is as undesirable as its deficiency. Therefore, it is important to follow the recommendations given to you by your trainer or doctor. In addition, it is important to take into account the protein included in the product when forming a daily diet, so as not to exceed the total proportion of protein in the menu;
• You are preparing the drink incorrectly. If the drink instructions include any recommendations for the base of the cocktail (milk only, water only, etc.), you should not ignore them. Improper preparation of the drink can impair protein absorption. And this, in turn, will lead to the gradual development of protein deficiency.

Can food replace protein?

When understanding what protein is and what it is needed for, we should not forget that protein is, in fact, its analogue. You can fill your protein needs with a number of alternative products. These include:

• meat - pork, beef, poultry;
• seafood, fish;
• dairy products: cheese, cottage cheese, milk;
• eggs.

The most protein is in meat and seafood (23 - 30 g per 100 g), cheese and cottage cheese (16 - 20 g per 100 g).

A less valuable amino acid set is found in proteins of plant origin - legumes, nuts, and cereals. This composition helps little in gaining muscles - this is how it differs from a supplement. In addition, it is absorbed less efficiently.

If you have lactose intolerance, you can replace the supplement with meat products in case of diabetes. The lack of a glycemic index in meat makes it the most effective product for weight loss.

If lactose is digested normally, you can replace the supplement with cottage cheese. Cottage cheese and milk mixed in a blender form a cocktail that is not inferior in composition to a whey supplement.

Natural products are a good substitute for supplements, but proteins of natural origin will be absorbed much more slowly.

Why are protein supplements taken?

This question is often asked by those who have just started training. Indeed, in ordinary food you can find many healthy and tasty products containing large amounts of proteins - red and white meat, fish, cottage cheese, seafood. However, in practice, it is not easy to organize the consumption of sufficient amounts of proteins with regular food. Firstly, it takes a lot of time to calculate the required volume of product to consume a certain amount of protein. Secondly, many high-protein foods contain fats that will interfere with weight loss. Third, it takes extra time to prepare the food.

Therefore, many sooner or later come to the conclusion that using sports supplements is an easier way to achieve their nutritional goals. Protein shakes are easy to prepare, contain no (or minimal) fat, and take minimal time to count your micronutrient intake. Moreover, many experienced athletes use the drugs as a basis for preparing various dishes, in particular baking. They make familiar desserts healthier by increasing their biological value.

The best type of sports protein to add to your baking formula is casein. Many fitness gurus recommend using powdered casein in dessert flavors - for example, chocolate, caramel, nut. A good choice would be the Polish product KFD Nutrition Premium Dessert with the taste of freshly baked waffles. The manufacturer recommends adding it to muesli or fruit salads, but in reality there can be many options.

Why do athletes need protein?

Having received such a powder in production, it is distributed to sports nutrition stores. Why don't athletes drink milk in its pure form, eat chicken fillet and eggs, and get all the same proteins? The fact is that the proteins in the industrial powder are absorbed instantly, which is necessary immediately after training, both strength and cardio. Moreover, the cocktails are enriched with vitamins, contain both essential and essential amino acids, and are maximally free of fat and milk sugar. As a result, the athlete receives pure, easily digestible protein, which is easy to prepare, carry in a bag and consume anywhere when there is no time to eat.

What is protein

Many people are scared by the name “protein,” although it is just a simple protein, an organic substance consisting of amino acids that take part in the formation of new cells and participate in the metabolic process. It is also a building material for muscles, which is why the product is widely used in bodybuilding. The source of protein is the foods we consume daily - eggs, meat, fish, dairy products, legumes, nuts. Protein powder is a manufactured product that has gone through several stages of purification, after which the final product is obtained - protein.

Is protein harm a fiction?

The harm of protein exists in the minds of inexperienced people and those who have not encountered sports nutrition at all.
But, unfortunately, there are quite a lot of such people and they make a fuss. It is wrong to call them liars, because this is due to a lack of reliable information and incorrect use of supplements, which of course can cause harm. Like any other product, protein can have side effects. Among them there may be stomach upsets and increased stress on the kidneys - this is the maximum. This happens when the product is used incorrectly in large dosages. A high-quality drug in good hands will only bring benefits to the athlete, which is confirmed by many positive results around the world. And in order for protein to really help you, you need to try several options and see which one suits your body best.

Author: Adam Khasanov more details

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