realfooder

Hi all! I am wondering if you use protein powder as a meal replacement. I just bought some drink wholesome – real food protein powder – and I am wondering when I should use it? (There are no instructions.) Does anyone bring protein powder with them when they ride? Thanks.

Juan Foote

I am no expert in nutrition by any means....
The biggest issue you are going to find in eating just protein powder is that where it will provide protein and "empty" calories you will not be getting all the vitamins and nutrients you need to live, long term. It would be roughly proportionate to bread and water.

Protein powder as a whole is (IMO) taken as a supplement when you aren't getting enough, or are in a building stage for certain activities. If you are just "riding" there is probably no need at all for you to be using it. Consider slow release carbs as the meal before your ride. Oats, grits, etc. By and large there are a number of "special" products branded to be ride energy, and there is a Snickers bar...…

kingston 

A lot of mornings I will have oatmeal, some fruit and an ON Gold protein shake for breakfast after a workout. Very occasionally I will have a protein shake in the afternoon if I had to work through lunch and don't want to ruin my dinner. On brevets I drink a mix of protein powder and maltodextrin (1:7 by weight)

Seattle Forrest

Use it as a snack replacement to hold you over to a meal. Eat balanced meals made up of real good, with protein, carbs, and fat, and all the micronutrients you need. Protein does have calories, but it also tends to be filling. You don't damage your muscles cycling the way you do lifting heavy things, so you don't need to be taking lots of it daily the way some weight lifters do, but some is helpful, also carbs because if you ride hard you're burning glycogen.

realfooder

Thanks!

CyclingBK

My experience is it’s not good for a meal replacement. At least not the ON Gold, it’s got 25g protein but just 100 cal.

Maybe with some bread, cereal, at least fruit or something.

I was trying to use it as a breakfast replacement but now I have yogurt. The fage 2% fat is like 20g protein and 140 cal. I have a big box of plain Cheerios, lol, and have a handful or 2 along with it most work days for breakfast. I just buy em like 10 at a time and they are easier/faster than a protein shake anyway.

Ill have a protein shake at around 530 every day before I lift/hit the gym. Or if I have a low protein meal and want to add more protein to it.

wolfchild

Protein powder is not a meal replacement...Your daily protein intake should be coming from real food and not supplements...I stopped using protein powders and noticed absolutely no difference in my body composition, recovery and physical performance.

canklecat

It can be a complete meal replacement, with concessions to compromised flavor and texture. It's real food, just blenderized or minced.

I haven't figured out yet how to make a meatshake, but my own homemade soups and stews are pretty good.

In 2018 I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. By that time my left lobe was so swollen it was constricting and distorting my esophagus and trachea. I was on a mostly liquid diet for most of that year. I couldn't swallow solid food or pills for a year, even for several months after surgery. Took a few months for the esophagus/trachea to resume a normal position and for the sensation of gagging to clear up.

So I experimented with a lot of liquid diet stuff. I added fresh fruit to protein powder shakes or other mixes for fiber and variety, blended up in a Shark blender. Occasionally I'd switch to homemade veggie drinks.

For soups and stews I'd mince stew beef, pork or chicken into the consistency used for chili meat (real chili, not hamburger-faux-chili), or hamburger. I could swallow that if I was careful. Lots of finely chopped veggies.

I lost 10 lbs of mostly belly fat that year and have kept it off. I'm within 3-5 lbs of my optimal low fat body weight, pretty close to my physical peak in my 20s when I was very physically active. And I cut out practically all alcohol. I love beer but it doesn't love me, since the thyroid problem -- can't metabolize it anymore. I might have one beer once a month with friends over dinner. That alone probably contributed to the healthy weight loss.

I can handle solid foods now, no problem. But I've continued to blend up my own protein shakes and other meal supplements or substitutes. My usual morning mix is cold coffee, protein powder, added BCAAs or other ingredients missing from the protein powder, and a bunch of voodoo supplements that may or may not be beneficial.

But it's essential to get some fiber, otherwise we'll end up with some painful constipation or worse. So either eat some oatmeal and/or bananas and fruit, or add 'em to the blenderized mix.

HerrKaLeun

oxymoron. Unless there is a protein powder animal or plant.

You don't want to know what garbage they process to make that powder.

laychris

I don't think that replacing the usual meal with the powder is a good idea.

Clyde1820

I wouldn't consider any single macronutrient (let alone any single micronutrient) a "meal" by any stretch. That said ...

Frequently, I add a good-quality "clean" whey to another food. Such as, when making a blend (with fruits, whole-milk yogurt, leafy greens, sunflower seeds), which gives a solid boost of protein and rounds out the macronutrients to be more in line with what I'm looking for. Or, steel-cut oatmeal, with a scoop of whey and then topped with berries or some other fruit. Without the whey, I find some foods like that lack sufficient protein to be as balanced as I'd prefer. So, for some foods, it's a useful addition. In total, with those other ingredients, it can be a decent option for a meal.

On rare occasions, I have had just a scoop or two of the whey powder along with either a nut "milk" or water. Doesn't fuel me sufficiently that way, though it does provide calories. Would much prefer in combination with carbs and fats, along with a range of micronutrients, many of which can aid in digestion, absorption and repair.

wolfchild

The myth of post-workout window is what created a demand for protein powders and now thousands of fitness people have been brainwashed into believing that if you don't have your protein every two hours 6 times per day and drink your protein shake 5 minutes after your workout, your body will fall apart and all your muscles will disappear..... Taking fast digesting protein doesn't mean that you will recover faster or grow bigger muscles. Nature designed all protein foods to be digested slowly because that is what is most beneficial for human body, supplement companies come along and tells us that nature is wrong and we all need to start guzzling gallons of fast digesting protein shakes all day long....

Whey protein is only effective when taken as whole food in a form of milk, cheese, yogurt or kefir and not as an isolated supplement....The main purpose of protein powders is not to make you recover faster or grow bigger muscles but to increase financial profits for supplement companies who make all that stuff.

ThermionicScott 

You have to admire the cleverness of it, though. Whey was just a waste product from cheese-making and other dairy operations, but they figured out how to slap a big price tag on it and laugh their way to the bank.

CyclingBK

“Whey protein is only effective when taken as whole food in a form of milk, cheese, yogurt or kefir”

Can you substantiate this?

I agree about the whole “window” thing. But, I typically eat 200 calories of carbs and a 100 cal, 25g, protein shake about an hour before working lifting.

So, are you stating that the protein is not utilized at all?

Also, if you eat a meal or snack that is low in protein and take a protein shake, are you suggesting the protein is not “assimilated”.

Id like to see any evidence of this.

I mean, the ON Gold standard is only like 75 cents a dose, but....I’d prefer not to spend even that if it’s a waste of money ; )

Carbonfiberboy 

Of course protein powder, from any source, is not a meal replacement. It's a supplement. As I've said again and again, training is the hammer, supplements are a feather. OTOH, I need every advantage I can get to keep up with folks 10-15 years younger than I. I use supplements and yes, they do help. On the third hand, if your supplements aren't doing anything for you, you aren't training hard enough to need them. So there's that. Arnold used supplements, including whey protein. He wouldn't have if they hadn't done anything for him.

IME, the best use for whey protein, if one wants to use it, is to take ~15g 1/2 hour before a meal. Reduces appetite and increases protein availability. Another 15g right before bed is good, too. Only 60 calories, and one won't get hungry in the middle of the night. Associated with exercise, it doesn't matter that much whether one takes it before or after a workout. For long hard rides, I've found it best to do both.

If course if one is a big meat-eater, one probably won't need a protein supplement. However athletic diets are getting away from that now and going plant-based, which is when a whey protein supplement fits right in.

And rather than castigating those who provide us with food, we might thank them for finding a use for and an income from byproducts which would otherwise have been wasted. Selling whey protein keeps down the cost of other dairy products by providing an additional income stream. And we can also thank them for producing an exceptionally pure product which is almost the cheapest protein you can buy. Protein is the most valued foodstuff on the planet. We can get by without carbs, we can get by with very little fat, but we can't get by without protein.

wolfchild

How do you know how hard other people train, people who you haven't even met or seen their actual training ??….Are you saying that it's impossible to train hard and recover without supplements ??

wolfchild

Whey protein powder didn't build Arnolds body....Arnold and all other bodybuilders in his time ate huge amounts of red meat, huge amounts of eggs, drank gallons of whole milk and took regular doses of Dianabol….and don't forget genetics.

Carbonfiberboy 

I'm saying that the limit to training is recovery. The more one can train, the stronger one can get, "stronger" for a cyclist meaning that the "strongest rider" wins the GT, not the one who can squat the most. That's why the limit is recovery. If one goes over one's limit, one's body breaks down rather than getting stronger or faster or bigger or whatever goal one is training toward. If one trains at that limit long enough and experiments, one will find that certain foods, certain supplements, certain meditation practices, certain sleep practices, will enable one to recover faster, and thus train harder. I think this is very well known and documented. I say "certain". Not all. I've done a lot of experimenting. Some things work, some don't. For me, whey protein is in the "helps" category.

Carbonfiberboy 

Have you read his books? https://manofmany.com/lifestyle/fitn...t-workout-plan

And much more detailed info at that link.