Scooby's Home Bodybuilding Workouts Protein and Weight Gain Powders

Protein powder is the one type of supplement that I feel is useful but there is a lot of hype and misinformation on the subject.  If you don't remember anything else at all, please remember this Despite what the advertisements promise, protein supplements do not have any magical muscle-building properties!  All these powders do is provide your muscles with protein to rebuild and they are in no way superior to a well balance meal!  I personally have never seen any research which has shown that any of these powders rebuild muscles any better than natural sources like chicken, fish, or beans/rice.  These products do serve a convenient meal replacement when you don't have time to eat a full meal.  From my experience it is very important to consume small doses of protein every 2-3 hours throughout the day for maximum muscle building and since very few people can eat a small, well balanced meal every 2-3 hours protein powders can be very useful. If you live in the USA and are on a tight budget, the least expensive source of protein is nonfat milk powder since it is subsidized by the government (thanks uncle sam!). 

Weight Gain Powders

For 99% of you, these are a waste of money and will make you fat!  Weight gain powders are protein and carbohydrate, usually sugar, and a bunch of vitamins and fancy sounding stuff that is supposed to magically build muscle - dont believe it.  For most people the only weight you will gain is FAT.  For the few people that have no appetite at all or are dangerously low in body mass, these products can be a life saver but for the rest of us they are not appropriate.

Protein Powders

You have many choices when it comes to protein powder, animal source or plant source.  For you vegans out there, you can use soy powders.  There is a continual debate about whether plant sources like soy can provide the essential amino acids, you will need to do your own research and decide.  For animal sources, you can get egg or dairy based powders.  I have never seen any research showing that egg or dairy is superior so the choice is yours to make based on taste and cost.  If you choose dairy based powders, I would recommend that you get dairy whey.  Read the labels carefully, personally I like avoiding any products with artificial sweeteners or flavorings. 

Protein Shakes

These are usually just one of the above products in liquid form sold at gyms.  They are extremely expensive so I would recommend making your own at a fraction of the cost.

When you buy protein powder, read the label carefully.  Make sure that the protein is filtered or isolated whey, the cheaper protein powders are little more than nonfat milk powder.
	Costco carries very economical protein powder, about $26 for 6lbs.  Problem is that it has artificial flavor and sweeteners.  Has that strong artificial chocolate smell like Betty Crocker cake mix but it tastes ok.
	This is my personal favorite is from Optimum Nutrition and I have been using it for about 7 years now.  Nothing artificial period, I like that!.  At $47 for 5lbs it is definitely not the cheapest protein but I think its worth it to have all natural ingredients.  Optimum nutrition makes several other protein powders that have artificial stuff in them, make sure "100% natural" is in the name and you are safe.  You can click here to order some from amazon.