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. I actually consider protein powders to be a "food" rather than a "supplement". 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 balanced 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!). For vegetarians out there, these protein powders are necessary in order to get sufficient protein without consuming too many calories.
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. Many people mis-label themselves as "hard-gainers" when in fact they are normal. When working out hard and having flawless nutrition, it is resonable to expect you will gain 5lbs of muscle in a year - maybe 10lbs/year if your are one of the genetically gifted few. Don't beleive the ads claiming that mass gain powders help hard-gainers to add muscle, they dont, they just help add fat!
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. |
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Costco, Walmart, and all the big box stores carry very economical protein powder, about $26 for 6lbs. Problem is that they are all loaded with artificial flavors and sweeteners. They often have strong artificial smells and odd aftertastes. |
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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 $54 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. Look at the list of ingredients and compare it to that shown on the left, make sure there is nothing artifical sounding. You can order it from amazon: Optimum Nutrition 100% Natural Whey, Vanilla  Optimum Nutrition 100% Natural Whey, Chocolate  |
Important Disclosure: I get a small referral fee from Amazon if you purchase either of these two protein powders but this does not affect my judgment of the product I recommend or where I recommend you buy it. Choose any top notch protein powder from the Consumer Reports Issue where they rate protein powders, the one above I have been using and recommending for a decade and Consumers Reports agrees with me that its good. If you can find it cheaper somewhere else, by all means buy it but be sure that you have taken shipping and tax into account. I provide this website, the forum, and my videos completely free of charge, these sales help support my continued fitness work. You know I only rarely recommend the purchase of anything. If you are not 100% convinced you need something, don't buy it! Only deal with places that have good customer service and 100% satisfaction guarantees. I have always used amazon for my own purchases because I find them to be a great combination of good prices and top notch customer satisfaction which is why I use them here.