Why do people drink protein shakes?

[Braede]

I’m somewhat new to the dieting and health world. I’ve lost around 20 pounds with probably 25 to go. I’ve accomplished it by just following a three meal a day diet plan. Switched to whole grain and reduced alcohol.

But obviously there’s no denying everyone is obsessed with protein right now. And protein shakes. I jog for around 10 mins so assume my protein needs aren’t massive. And as a meat eater I am probably doing ok.

But can someone explain why a person would choose to have a protein shake over a chicken salad say. Or scrambled eggs?

My sister suggested I buy some as she saw some on offer but in my mind I prefer just to eat a meal as otherwise I would feel very hard done by and therefore much more likely to pig out.

Is it convenience?

Is it to do with muscles? As I know lifting is a lot more popular now

Do they keep you fuller for longer than a meal would? Just want to know if I’m missing a trick.

For me I have IBD and sometimes struggle with breakfast in the morning, but I'm not convinced they 'have to' be unhealthy. Sure, if you buy a Slimfast, or some pre-mixed chocolate thing full of sugar or artificial sweeteners it's unlikely to be great.

For, me it tends to be a scoop of a plain, unflavoured why in a shake with some combination of fruit / veg / nut butter / chia / oats (depending on what I'm doing and what I've got in) whizzed up with unsweetened almond milk. I struggle to see how that's less healthy than the sort of white bread / juice / cereal / flavoured yoghurt focussed breakfast that many in the UK favour.

Incidentally I think a lot of people are getting fairly hung up on 'processed food' as the cause of all ills. Sure, it's not great, but it's about balance. If your diet is largely UPF free but lacking in key nutrients, that doesn't mean it's 'healthy' as compared to someone who gets a good balance of protein / carb / fat and micronutrients from fruit an veg but chucks in the odd commercial protein shake.

Muscle burns fat. To grow muscle, we need protein. The amount we need is more than we would be able to get from eggs or chicken. To meet this ratio, we have protein shakes. Simple.

This isn’t true at all. Your body can burn fat more efficiently that it can burn carbs. That’s literally what ketosis is, and it also reduces insulin resistance etc. At home I literally eat high fat and ultra low carb. Double cream in my coffee x3 every morning, pork scratches, cheese and pickles. Cheese omelette. Meat and veg. I’ve lost 60lb since August

Fair enough, carbs is what my DC needs a lot of being a high level athlete.
And that is an incredible weight loss! Hope you’re happy with that.

My son has arfid and a very restricted diet. I've been giving him safe foods with added protein such as cereal & milkshakes since he was a child.

My daughter was a professional dancer and now does a lot of sport but she also worked odd, unsociable hours. Protein shakes helped to supplement her diet rather than eating junk food.

My brother has lots 70lbs eating a carnivore diet. Impressive. But I don't think I could follow it. A friend lost the same amount basically , just eating less of everything. You pays yer money I suppose...?

DD needs a high protein diet, because she has a metabolic disorder, whereby she excretes protein through the kidneys by mistake.

She’s under a metabolic dietitian, who recommends 90g of protein for her a day - preferably spread equally over the three meals.

The dietitian said specifically DD should not be having protein shakes, bars, etc. People do not get the micronutrients, that occur in normal sources of protein.

Fills you up. Builds muscle. Your body uses more calories to process it, ie accessing fat stores.

There are meal replacements and there are protein shakes.
Meal replacements are high UPF. Protein shakes depend on brand and source. Ultimately they're still processed but unflavoured pure whey based protein powders are a by-product of the cheese making industry.

Meal replacements are good for people that don't have the time/energy to prepare nutritionally complete meals. I was on them for 2x meals a day to lose weight whilst strength training as I don't have the time to calorie count. They have their place. As a veggie, I also used to have a protein shake per day. Calorie efficient protein. We also take multi-vitamins and Vegan Omega-3 supplements.

I cannot tolerate either now. The taste and texture are vile and the added flavourings, preservatives and sweeteners make me ill. The lack of fibre also took its toll over time. This is a big issue with a lot of influencer diets (more are now moving to promote fibre though as the latest trend)

A lot of meat-eating gym goers have them to top up their protein, especially as the alternative of lots of chicken and rice can be limiting.

Lots of non-meat eaters gym and non-gym goers take them because complete protein sources are more limited, come with high carb counts in comparison and can be more difficult to track. I use sources like Greek Yogurt, seeds, lentils, and beans primarily and still striking the balance between protein need, carbs and fibre. I feel better though because they're mostly whole-food sourced and go into home cooked food.

So that they can produce smelly farts in the gym 🤢

im calorie counting - so i throw a scoop of protein in my porridge sometimes and i would sometimes have a shake for my lunch at work as I know exactly how many calories are in it and then - i find it hard to hit my protein goal most days so this helps with that

I’m not commenting on protein for weight loss, or ultra processed foods. Just why we need more protein and how to get the best fit. Also I’ve had a bit of fun with the maths…bear with me!

The body needs protein to build and maintain muscle. So if you are exercising, want to get fit or do anything more then have a sedentary lifestyle, you need protein. The average person needs 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram body weight. It’s quite a lot.
When making dietary decisions we weigh up nutrition and cost- and the marketing guys don’t make it easy for us…

Let’s say you weigh 80 kgs. That means you need at least 80grams of protein a day. Take chicken breast as an example- it’s a v high protein food. It’s 31% protein so you would need 80/31x100 which is 268 grams of chicken. Every day.
A protein powder could have a lot more protein in it -up to 90% protein. So you would only need 80/90x100 which is 89 grams of protein powder. It’s a quick way to build up your daily protein compared to cooking and eating 268 grams of chicken.

But is the chicken cheaper?

A kilo of chicken (310 grams of protein) costs £6 from Sainsbury’s.
For the equivalent protein powder to get 310 grams of protein you would need 310/90x100=344 grams of shake. A brand such as nutri sport 90 costs £19:99 for 908 grams, so that’s 19.99/908x344 which is £7.57 to get the equivalent protein hit- slightly pricier than the chicken.

For even cheaper protein a kilo of peanuts (310g of protein, same as chicken!) costs £4.10. So that’s 4.10/1000x310 which is just £1.27 for your daily dose of protein. But yes you have to eat 268 grams of nuts- it’s a lot!

Ive seen “high protein” soup on the market at 3% protein. This is a joke surely? At 80kg weight you would have to drink 10 litres of soup to get your daily requirement!
Whichever way you look at it we do need quite a bit of protein in our diet- more than is generally realised. Anyone exercising or building up strength eg after an operation- needs protein.

For me it's because I need it
1 day a week I don't train
1 day I do 1.5hrs
The rest I do 3-5 hrs of sport.... So yes I have a high protein need- I don't always manage to get it from my food (20g at breakfast 40g at lunch and 30g at tea- but I need 90g on light days and 140g on heavy days)....

Plenty of info on the web regarding good average daily intake of carbs, protein fibre etc and what is in various natural and packaged foods.

This is one I have used https://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/lostart.htm

Accutrately measure what you eat and from that the carbs , sugars, protein , you will surprized with the answers

Quick comparison calculation should answer your question.

Muscle is denser that fat so there is a possiblity that muscle building will not decrease your weight as much as you think

They taste nice, and I tend to have them instead of breakfast. Otherwise I have a skyr or Greek yoghurt with added berries. I make my own (banana, Greek yoghurt, protein powder, sometimes a big of ovaltine or peanut butter. And they are portable.

They aren’t healthy compared to scrambled eggs on wholewheat toast but they are healthy compared to a chocolate croissant! So it depends on what you are replacing.

So I eat lunch at 12.30pm and dinner at 7.30pm. I have a protein shake mid afternoon at work, easy to bring in, just mix water. I prefer this rather than eating a carbohydrate snack.

I lift heavy in the gym so it’s a way of hitting my protein target. I eat the chicken salad for lunch 😀

As an aside to get 30g of protein from eggs I’d need to eat 5, that’s a full meal. My protein shake is less than 100 calories.

I aim for 120g a day - ie 2x 60kg. It’s harder to get to 120kg eating food that also has fat added like peanuts.

This. DS (29) has always been extremely skinny and couldn't gain weight no matter how hard he tried by eating huge high calorie protein rich meals. Protein shakes helped him gain weight so I am surprised that anyone who wants to lose weight would drink them.

I don't really know how to get 75 gm of protein a day on a veggie diet, plus also stay under my calories, plus also lift 3 times a week/ walk daily!

Joe Wicks and other experts have talked about this (you might want to search info about his Killer bar). A lot of experts say a lot of us just want easy. quick ways of doing things these days and we're influenced by key words like protein in a way that wasn't the case in the past.

No, sorry it's more like 56 gms. Still hard.

Because the ones I drink are basically just protein with no carbs or fat…

So would I... but I can't cook that on the 5 min walk back from the gym to my office on my lunch break.

No you are quite right in doing what you are doing. Protein is just trendy atm and you don't need extra if you are getting a balanced diet