Protein - The Ultimate Athletes Guide
Contents:
A) Introduction - What protein does.
B) The Numbers - How much to take.
C) Type and Quality - In depth look into protein sources/shakes.
D) When - When to consume and the 'anabolic window' theory.
E) Misconceptions - such as 'Protein will make me pack on muscle???'
F) Conclusion - Key take home points
(A) Introduction
Protein is essential for growth, recovery and to maintain a healthy immune system. Even more so if you placing additional stress on the body through sport and exercise.
Consuming enough protein allows your body to absorb your training, recover quicker and so get back training again.
Often overlooked, especially by endurance athletes, protein is thought of as a specific to strength training but research has now proven otherwise.
You will be missing out on massive benefits if overlooked. Also after 2-3 hours of exercise, muscle catabolism occurs (the breakdown of muscle to use a fuel) and so having a small intake of protein/amino acids during/after exercise can also prevent breakdown and reduce overall sourness after a workout/the next day.
(B) THE NUMBERS
These should kick you into action:
How much grams of protein do I need?
General consensus is 1.2-2g/kg (1.2-2grams per kg of body weight) for someone who is active.
Example: 75kg male, x1.6g = 120g of protein aim Consumed through diet (no supplementation):
-Milk 9g
-4tbs oats 5 g
-27g full tin tuna
-25-30g chicken breast
-10g other sources
=76g , STIILL 44g short (and thats a healthy high protein diet) So you would need around 2 shakes (of 20-25g protein in) each day to get those numbers near where they need to be. The Hybrid Whey with 23.6g per serving is the go to in my opinion.
(C) TYPE AND QUALITY Ok so you probably should be consuming more protein. Where do you start/what should you look out for?
Whey and plant protein supplements
Most shakes come from either a plant source, like Soy in Lean and Green PLUS, or an animal source such as Whey (made from cows milk) such as The Hybrid Whey.
In general you tend to find a higher protein content from animal sourced Whey such as Whey Isolate and so 'more bang for your buck' if you just want simply the highest grams of protein per serving. However, the plant protein sources such as Soy have just as strong amino acid profile and so are a great alternative if you want a plant source protein.
Whether you opt for animal or plant protein, there are a few things you should always consider: 1) GMO - Genetically modified organisms- CHECK the labelling, description, make sure the protein is NON-GMO, you don't want any of the toxins seeping down into the protein your having and getting into your system.
2)SUGARS and ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS- Check the label, you want the lowest sugar profile possible WITHOUT artificial sweeteners. A lot of companies claim low sugar and then pack the product with SUCRALOSE or others types or RUBBISH. Ideally you would want to opt for the lowest sugar content with a natural sweetener such as Stevia Leaf Extract. Both The Hybrid Whey and Lean and Green PLUS only use the natural sweetener.
3) AMINO ACIDS PROFILE Protein is made up of amino acids. They are like the bricks in a wall. Some amino acids are 'essential' and other 'non-essential'. The essential ones can't be made in your body and so must be consumed from your diet. You want as many essential amino acids in your protein as possible as essentially these will act as the bricks to build the strongest wall. Whey - Whey protein has a great amino acid profile (so lots of strong bricks). Whey can be further divided down into whey isolate or whey concentrate. In a nutshell, whey isolate has undergone more purification so provides a higher protein content with less carbs, fats and sugar. ESSENTIALLY though, BOTH have virtually the same amino acid profiles. So when looking at a whey protein shake, a pure Isolate one will give you the highest portion of protein but is often more expensive, so choosing a blend that uses both a concentrate and Isolate is the best bang for your buck in my opinion. You will be getting a higher protein concentration than just concentrate alone, without the hefty price tag of pure Isolate. The Hybrid Whey uses the ultimate blend of Isolate and Concentrate and so I believe provides the optimum ratios of macronutrients (proteins, fats, carbs, sugars) for your money. Plant protein - Not all plant proteins contain your essential amino acids. However, Soy protein is the ONLY complete vegan protein that contains all 9 essential amino acids. That is why Lean and Green PLUS only uses high quality Soy isolate to provide the best quality plant based protein available, to match and rival its animal based protein counterparts.
(D) WHEN
Timing combined with practicality, is key in relation to consuming protein. You cant carry around a chicken breast everywhere with you and so thats why protein supplementation through shakes becomes key. There is a theory of the anabolic/metabolic window (AW). The AW theory is that you must consume protein within 20-30 mins of your workout for its optimum uptake and effect. There are however a lot of counter theories that this isn't necessary and a protein can be consumed throughout the day and still has a general positive effect. I personally tend to stick to the AW theory, just because I believe consuming a small amount of protein (with some added extras) directly after a workout can only help, and I don't want to take any chances of missing out on those gainz!
(E) MISCONCEPTIONS
-'Protein is for building muscle, I don't want to build muscle'. Protein WON'T cause you to pack on muscle, it just increases your bodies ability to recover from a workout. The TYPE workout/exercise you do (combined with genetics, age, gender and many other factors) will decide whether you will be building muscle.
-'I want to loose weight. I need to cut calories and carbohydrates and just increase my protein content'. If only it was that simple!. Unfortunately, a large calorie deficit and a low carbohydrate intake diet can shut the system down and cause you to go into survival mode. This topic is for another post but in summary, protein is one part of a healthy diet and should be used accordingly.
-'I don’t exercise/ do sport , its not for me'. Adequate protein intake is essential for health full-stop. Even a non active person should be consuming 0.8-1g/kg. Protein shakes are a great addition to a healthy diet even for non active individuals to maintain optimum health.
(F) CONCLUSION
-Protein is essential. -Most people don't consume half as much protein as they should.
-It becomes even more essential with sports and exercise. FOR ALL TYPES OF SPORT.
-Protein shakes are an ideal and time efficient way to get your required protein intake.
-Adequate protein intake is only one part of the puzzle to health and wellbeing.