Protein Shakes – Are They Worth It? Or Are They a Waste Of Money?

First i would like to introduce an exciting study carried out in 2008 that involved 3 groups of people.

1. A Control (CON)
2. Exercise only (EX)
3. Exercise and Protein (EXPRO)

It revealed that ingesting 2 EXTRA protein shakes (extra calories) per day (EXPRO) for 10 weeks caused a ~10% decrease in fat mass and +2% increase in muscle mass. Not bad for 10 weeks of training! This is compared to (EX) who underwent exactly the exercise programme and their diet was adjusted so that they ingested exactly what EXPRO did minus the protein drinks. (Lockwood, 2008)

So what caused the increase in muscle mass and decrease in fat you ask?

This part was not in the study and is merely my own hypothesis.

1. Satiety

My 1st hypothesis is not very scientific but makes sense Ingesting a protein shake in the morning would increase satiety and thus decrease the RISK of that individual heading for the cereal press (god I hate cereal) and eating 3 pieces fruit in the morning. No carbs + No insulin = ↑ Fat loss! Dont get me wrong fruit is great! Full of nutrients and goodness but it also contains calories, it is NOT a magical food that disappears once you eat it. . just think about it next time you eat 3 banana's on the way to work after having a bowl of cornflakes!



NO NO NO!!!

2. Timing

I am assuming the second shake was ‘post workout’ and ingestion of a post workout shake speeds up protein synthesis and actually boosts metabolism via thermogenesis (heat generation) on it own (workout or no workout!)

Also, depending on the rate of digestion/ absorption prevents muscle breakdown and increases recovery time. Whey hydrolysate (in ---->PROMAX<---- and ---->PROMAX AMINOS<----) will illicit the largest of these responses and next in line is whey isolate. Whey concentrates and milk proteins (casein) are too slow to digest (Barr, 2008) and they would not result in nearly as much fat loss or muscle gain.



3. Most people are in a caloric deficit anyway!

Most people are not consuming enough calories in the first place but their diet consists of mainly high glycemic foods and the resultant decrease in metabolism/ fat release from cells will result in a decreased 'basal metabolic rate' (number of calories your body need to survive) The excess calories along with the increase in metabolism results in a net increase in protein synthesis but increased fat loss also! You have the best of both worlds!

4. Their Strength increased!

Assuming both individuals were similar size/weight/limb length etc. If Individual A performs an exercise with 50 kilograms and individual B performs the same exercise with 100 kilo. Who has performed the most work and thus burned more calories and further stimulated protein synthesis?. . . duuhhh. . . ?

5. They 'broke the fast'

Ingesting the protein shake first thing in the morning broke the overnight fast (sleep) kerbed muscle breakdown and kickstarted protein synthesis. The post workout shake kerbed muscle breakdown and kickstarted protein synthesis post workout also. Individual B has a headstart and will accumulate more muscle and recover from his sessions sooner than individual A.

Take home message. .

Take a protein supplement! It will benefit you if your training or not! What I failed to mention was the EX group also lost 4.5% fat compared to the 10% the EXPRO group lost. . that’s 5.5% more fat lost my consuming MORE calories. . . huh? I thought extra calories make you fat? . . . well that’s another article

Promax

References:
1. Lockwood et al. Nutr Metab 2008, 5:11
2. Barr, Anabolic Index, 2008.

Bryan Kavanagh BSc. CSCS

PS

You can see me rant about this subject more by clicking HERE We hava 'Protein Debate' going on over there!

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