Many people seem to think that protein supplements that are superior to chicken, fish, beef, and pork when it comes to muscle building so lets get this out of the way right now:
- Protein powder does not have magical muscle building properties
- Protein shakes do not have magical muscle building properties
- Muscle gain powders do not have magical muscle building properties
The massive money behind the marketing campaigns has worked for decades to try and convince people that these products are magical but they are not, they are not significantly better than chicken, beef, fish, and pork protein quality wise. Lets look at the facts:
- protein quality of salmon
- protein quality of whole eggs
- protein quality of beef
- protein quality of chicken
- protein quality of pork
- protein quality of whey
They all have very similar amino acid profiles! Beef isn’t the greatest because it lacks threonine… so eat a bit more!
For most people, eating real food is the healthiest and most economical way to maximize muscle gains.
So why do I use so much protein powder? You have been watching my videos and you know that I use a significant amount of protein powder, its because I’m a pseudo-vegetarian! I eat fish or chicken about once a week (hence I am not a true vegetarian) but most of my daily protein comes from beans. If you check out the protein quality of black beans you see that they are high in complex carbs and the protein isn’t that digestible so its just not possible for me to get sufficient protein from beans without getting fat … so I use protein powder. Convenience is a big reason why many meat eating bodybuilders use it. Because its dry and keeps for a very long time, it can be mixed with milk or water anywhere and consumed without refrigeration and cooking.
Convenience has a price though, not just in money but in quality sometimes. The more you process something in factories, the more mistakes that can be made. In my opinion, its always the best idea to eat the food that has the least processing that you can get away with. If you can afford the convenience of protein powder, thats great, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that muscles are going to pop out of your arms like when Popeye eats a can of spinach.
Many people spend hundreds of dollars a year on protein shakes, post workout shakes, protein powder but dont understand what they are. Many people do not understand what whey is and how it is made and if you dont understand then you are probably wasting lots of money. Please do not let this happen to you. Please read The Truth About Whey !
