Protein powder - advice please

[Happydaze2]

DS is 18 and recently started going to the gym regularly. Yesterday he bought protein powder and seems to think it’s ok for him to take it twice a day - there are no instructions about how often to use it on the pack. I’m not happy about him taking it at all tbh but have no experience to go on… Is it safe?

I'm a 41 year old women and take protein powder twice a day. There is really nothing wrong with that.

2 scoops will be 40-50g protein, which compared to 1.4mg/kg per day as the requirement for someone who is strength training is still only a fraction of your DS requirements.

Pick your battles, at least he isn't using steroids.

Also, as warning note on things to discuss with him. Some people are now using caffeine powder as a stimulant for training. This has to be taken in tiny quantities, and can be instantly fatal in teaspoon volumes. It can be purchased in large bags of powder, which is truely terrifying. I would not allow this stuff in the house, particularly if you have younger children living there.

@EgonSpengler2020 thanks for your reply and the warning re caffeine powder. Ingredients listed on what DS has bought - whey protein concentrate, glycine, cocoa powder, flavoring, thickeners, cellulose, emulsifier and sweetener

That sounds fairly standard for ingredients.

Most protein powder has sucralose as the sweetener, which I'm not a fan of, but you can get a smaller variety of flavours with Stevia as the sweetener.

Also you can get unflavoured/unsweetened protein powder, which obviously has far less ingredients in it. I put frozen blueberries, and skimmed milk with the unflavoured powder and wizz it through the food processor to make a smoothie.

Myprotein have the loads of info on their website about how much, what type, when etc.

I use protein powder every day and so does DS. As long as it’s just straight protein and no additional supplements then it’s fine and won’t cause any problems and is infinitely better than steroids. At least I know DS is actually getting some good nutrition and not just living in noodles and crisps which are his preferred diet these days.

I also use protein powder everyday. It's difficult to get enough protein in your diet to build much muscle without it.

I’ve used protein powder but it made me really fart!

I had horrendously bad stomach cramps with protein powder so I'd advise him to not go for too much too soon. I also find the grenade protein bars and shakes are better for me as I don't get the same stomach issues as I did with the powder but the my can be a bit pricey (I get them on Amazon). DH also takes creatine powder daily which was recommended by his coach.