All About Protein Supplements: Choosing the Best Protein Powder For You.
Protein is the most important macronutrient when it comes to fat loss or muscle gain goals because:
- in order to build muscle, you have to consume sufficient amounts of protein
- in order to lose fat and retain muscle while in a calorie deficit, you have to consume sufficient amounts of protein
Protein is one of the harder macronutrients to incorporate into our diet because it generally requires storage (meat and dairy need to be refrigerated) and prep time (meat, eggs, etc., have to be cooked well) and therefore it can be less convenient.
However, protein powder is super convenient! You can mix it into oatmeal for some High Protein oats, you can use it to make High Protein Smoothies, or you can just mix it with water and drink it from a shaker bottle while you drive to work after the gym. It’s easy and I often recommend it to my clients who struggle to get enough protein from their food.
However, there are A LOT of different types and brands of protein powder out there, and it can be confusing to know which protein powder you should buy.
As a coach, I believe in giving my clients the tools for them to feel as comfortable and confident as possible in their nutrition as possible. I am going to list my favorite protein powders, but first I want to give you tools that you can use to pick a good protein powder from the options that are available to you.
How to Choose a Protein Powder
Example: check out the nutrition labels of these unnamed protein product listed below.
The majority of the calories from this protein powder come from carbs and fats.
9 calories x 4.5 grams of fat + 4 calories x 15 grams of carbs = 100.5 cals from carbs and fat
4 calories x 21 grams of protein = 84 cals from protein
This makes it more of a “meal replacement” shake rather than a way to supplement protein intake.
If you are drinking a protein shake to increase your protein intake, try to make sure it is primarily protein.
The majority of the calories from this protein powder come from protein.
4 calories x 30 grams of protein = 12 cals from protein
9 calories x 3 grams of fat + 4 calories x 5 grams of carbs = 47 cals from carbs and fat
This is a true protein supplement, not a meal replacement in disguise.
If your goal is to increase your protein intake without adding a lot of extra carbs or fat to your day, this is the kind of label you’re looking for.
Most proteins are made from milk derivatives, with whey protein being the most popular source. This is important because if you are a vegan or allergic to milk, you probably don’t want to consume a milk product!
In order to see if a protein powder is made from milk products, look at the ingredients on the nutrition label. For example, look at the label of a protein powder below.
INGREDIENTS: Protein Blend (Whey Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Concentrate, Hydrolyzed Whey Protein), Natural and Artificial Flavor, Sunflower and/or Soy Lecithin, Salt, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose. CONTAINS: MILK AND SOY.
Any quality product will list something like “Contains: Milk” under their ingredients.
Most protein powders are made from milk because milk is readily available and it’s a really good source of protein, so again this tip is more for individuals who have a milk allergy or who don’t want to consume animal products.
For those who don’t consume milk products, there are great options with pea protein, egg white protein, hemp protein, and more.
For everybody else, milk protein is a great choice.
Supplements are not overseen by the FDA or any other governmental agency and are therefore an unregulated industry. Meaning supplement companies do not have to go through any sort of process in order to ensure that their nutrition labels are accurate. They can more or less put whatever they want on their label (with the exception of some specific health claims).
That means if you want to know whether or not the nutrition facts of a protein powder are accurate, you have to look for supplement companies that go through the trouble of independently verifying their products through a third party.
The third party that I trust the most is called NSF Certified for Sport, and it is the company that many athletic organizations (major organizations like the MLB) use to verify products that their athletes can safely use.
Conveniently, they have a website where you can peruse the list of their certified product companies.
NO NEED TO BE OVERWHELMED
Some people (usually somebody who is trying to sell a specific protein powder) will make buying the right protein powder WAY more complicated than it needs to be. They’ll talk about different types of protein compounds, bioavailability, amino acid profile, digestibility, and other technical terms in order to make it sound like all other products are trash and you HAVE to buy their product. You don’t. Keep the three tools from above in mind if you want to pick your own protein powder.
Now don’t ever let the salesman at a nutrition store bully you into buying the latest and most expensive protein powder ever again!
And if you don’t want to go through the trouble of picking your own protein powder, here are my favorite widely available protein powders.
SOME OF MY FAVORITES
Favorite whey protein. Optimum Nutrition has been around forever. Their protein mixes well, digests well, tastes good, and is available pretty much everywhere. You can even pick up a bag for a good price at Costco. Oh, and they’re NSF certified!
Favorite vegan protein powder. Vega is another company that is NSF certified and they make a vegan protein powder where the vast majority of calories come from protein, not carbs or fat. The only con here is that Vega is on the expensive side per serving.
Another great vegan option. Promix is also NSF certified, the majority of its calories come from protein, and their protein is a little bit cheaper than Vega.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
ISOPURE is another brand that has been around for a long time, high protein/low carb, tastes good and is widely available.
Muscle Milk Pro Series is a great grab-and-go protein. Muscle milk is another company that has been around for a long time, they are NSF certified, and you can find their ready-to-drink protein shakes in most gas stations.
Fairlife Core Power and Premier Protein are two other brands that make ready-to-drink protein shakes that are widely available and taste great. However, they aren’t as clear about their third-party testing status, which is why they’re only on the honorable mention list.
WHAT ABOUT COLLAGEN PROTEIN?
Collagen protein can be a polarizing topic and that is because collagen is not a complete protein source, meaning it doesn’t supply all of the essential amino acids (EAAs) that our bodies need.
For this reason, I usually recommend other protein sources to my clients over collagen.
However, this doesn’t mean that collagen protein is useless! If you are eating enough protein from multiple sources throughout the day, odds are pretty good that you’re getting all of the EAAs that you need, even if 10-20 grams are coming from collagen.
So, if you like adding unflavored collagen to your coffee or oatmeal for an extra protein boost, feel free to keep doing it.
Protein powder doesn’t need to be complicated. Check the label, know your source and look for third-party testing. Everything else is mostly marketing noise. If you’re still not sure which option is right for you or you’re trying to figure out how protein fits into your overall macro targets, that’s exactly what I help clients sort out. Book a free connection call and we’ll figure it out together.
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