Calsun

Lots of good vegan protein powders available online at Amazon and you can read the reviews as to taste. I buy EarthChimp non dairy protein powder and the chocolate version makes a great smoothie. It contains no sugar alcohols which give me an upset stomach and diarrhea. Usually the vegan powders use pea protein instead of whey (dairy by product). Whey protein feeds cancer cells and so it is not a good way to supplement your diet.

RH Clark

I struggle with knowing for certain how much protein we need. I understand not wanting to lose muscle as we age but I feel that the idea about how much protein we need is driven by marketing and the glorification of body building possibly more than by hard science. When studying what is the healthiest diets for humans it's hard to discount the so called "Blue Zone" studies. The Blue zone diets all have small amounts of meat or any animal protein and largely consist of local fruits and vegetables. It becomes very clear when looking into this decades long data how the food industry and processed foods in general have affected aging health. I've become convinced that the healthiest diet would be as close to nature as possible and that quality animal protein is a good thing in small portions and frequency. I'm not sure most of us need as much extra protein as we age, as what the industry tells us unless you are specifically a body builder.

If you want to change your diet just look closely into how each piece of it came to you and how it was treated and what was added along the way. Want to quit eating pork, look at some drone footage of the big pork industry.

GhostRider62

There is not a single double blind placebo controlled study demonstrating that.

Flip Flop Rider

maybe it's just a theory

GhostRider62

Carbs kill. Fat is your friend.

https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0...252-3/fulltext

https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardio...ongress%202018.

canklecat

For a year or so I've used Body Fortress whey protein powder. It's the most complete mix I've found and among the cheapest. Whey is just a byproduct and never should cost much. I've tried a few pricier types like Muscle Milk and others but they're not much different. Even the makers of Muscle Milk say theirs isn't more nutritious or potent, just easier to mix and it tastes better than most. But of the inexpensive whey powders I've tried Body Fortress tastes and mixes the best. Usually costs less than $20 at Kroger, sometimes discounted to $16.

I tried the vegan thing back in 2018 when I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and couldn't swallow solid food for a few months. Horrible experience. I can't digest legumes even with digestive enzyme supplements. And I never found any vegan protein powders that didn't have the flavor and texture of various forms of dirt.

OldTryGuy

Thanks to my Prostate Cancer -- meat, dairy and poultry are NOT on my menu so -- r.e. above bold >> current vegan protein really TASTES GREAT!!!

ORGAIN >>> https://orgain.com/collections/prote...SAAEgIxP_D_BwE

Brendan Brazier's >>> https://myvega.com/pages/our-story

canklecat

Wouldn't matter to me, I still can't digest legumes. Vegan protein is a waste of money and digestive energy for me. Once in awhile I'll indulge in refried beans or charro beans with Mexican food, or maybe a bite of Navy beans with ham if someone offers. But I'll pay the price, as will anyone within breathing range.

Unlike some of my acquaintances, I'm not going full paleo, carnivore or any other extreme diet. One of my acquaintances who's gone full carnivore won't even use pepper, herbs or spices on food -- I think he does use a little salt. For him it was a purely pragmatic approach to relieving years of health issues ranging from chronic indigestion, veering from diarrhea to constipation, skin problems, etc., and generally feeling unwell. I can say that his carnivore influence transformation seems genuine. He's happy, healthy, and annoying positive and optimistic... overall one of the kindest, gentlest human beings I've ever known. If a spiritual purist vegan didn't know his diet they'd swear he was One Of Them. (I, OTOH, am chronically cynical, skeptical and curmudgeonly, regardless of diet.)

I enjoy variety in food and occasionally indulge in stuff that doesn't agree with my digestion, just for the sake of flavor, texture and, equally importantly, as a social consideration. I find it rude to be a prude about food. But overall I feel better eating mostly animal products. Turns out I need very little, if any, "fiber" for comfortable elimination. My usual breakfast is coffee with a banana and oatmeal or a Clif bar if I'm lazy or running late. That seems to be enough for my digestive system.

My paleo diet and carnivore friends have linked to articles suggesting that genetics may determine our optimal diets. While most of those studies lack peer review, they aren't mere propaganda. I'm inclined to agree with them that genetics may play a significant role in our optimal diet.

OldTryGuy

A bicycling buddy (51yo) has gone *mostly carnivore* and is doing well. Fast as snot and strong as a bull on steroids butt then he has a Professional Bicycle Racer FRIEND who during her off season tried it and she reported that it got her very sick as in a hospital stay.

andrewclaus

Yes, big question there. I just read a pretty decent new book dealing with that, "Eat Like the Animals."

RH Clark

It seems to me that the culture and popular opinion pushes toward super lean muscular bodies and supports that vision with a wide array of products. As I said before though when you study the diets of people historically, some of the longest lived and healthiest into old age had what would be considered today as low protein diets.

andrewclaus

That's pretty much what "Eat Like the Animals" concludes. High protein diets in nature are good for reproduction, but lead to shorter lives. The converse is also posited. The animals studied include insects and mammals, herbivores and omnivores. Carnivores are discussed but not studied. It's a good read. It also discusses protein needs for aging humans (65+).

Carbonfiberboy 

The best thing we can do for cardiovascular health is exercise, exercise a lot. That means having muscles and bones. Having muscles for us means fighting sarcopenia. Sarcopenia, the inevitable death of muscle cells as we age, can be countered by making the remaining muscle cells larger. Making muscle cells larger will involve strength training, which will also fight osteopenia and osteoporosis. Yes, lean and muscular is what keeps us exercising, healthy, and injury-free. Those three things may not extend our lives, but they will make them more enjoyable. We have to eat whatever we have to eat to make that happen. The interesting thing is that we get hungry from lack of calories. We have no sensorium to tell us about what to eat. We have to eat what works for us, which we can discover by experiment - we all all different. I think the above comments are very interesting in that way. We can't read our way to strength and health.

Carbonfiberboy 

No, a theory would be a hypothesis confirmed by experiment. In this case, there has been no confirmation. I'd need to see an RCT.

LAJ

This is a good resource in regard to supplement choice.

https://labdoor.com/

I use MyProtein, and if you go that route, don't buy without a coupon. There's usually a 40-50% off coupon running around somewhere.

msolar

For me it has to be strawberry, taste good and have less than 150 cal, more than 25g protein per serving. Cheaper the better (assuming good quality whey).

andrewclaus

The data presented in the book I've mentioned above, "Eat Like the Animals," suggest otherwise, that we have a mechanism to sense protein. We require a minimum amount, and we may be eating too many calories because we're not getting enough protein in the crappy ultra-processed diet that's cheap and readily available to us. It's an interesting read, with great stories about the international effort in gathering the data.

On a personal level, I've noticed if I finish a meal with a handful of nuts rather than a sweet desert I feel more satisfied and am less likely to snack. I always thought it was the fat, but after reading that book I think it may be the protein at work. There's an old saying, "soup to nuts," meaning a topic is completely covered. Nuts were traditionally served at the end of a meal, back when people weren't fat.

Carbonfiberboy 

RIght on, dude. 1 ounce of walnuts contains 1g of protein. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...s-mind/534231/

wolfchild

Yeah sure humans have no instinct to tell them how to eat and what their bodies need and thousands of years of evolution and experimentation with what offers the best nutrition to sustain human body is irrelevant ...We now have self-made nutrition experts on internet and news media to tell us what to eat, without internet and social media we would all be dead.

MikeWMass

Unless you are doing serious body building, very few people in the US who have the means to do recreational cycling have protein-deficient diets.
strawberry, taste good which is it?
Plenty of protein smoking meats especially chicken I used to smoke chicken, but it was too hard to keep it lit.

Carbonfiberboy 

Ah, so their fine-tuned sensorium is why we see so many modern culture people with unlimited access to food - fat, weak, diabetic, and with heart disease. Got it. I think I need to drink a quart of soda right now. And yes, evolution is in a way irrelevant to us older individuals. Evolution only gave us health until 30. Then we are dead to evolution or evolution is dead to us. From 30 on, we have to figure it our for ourselves.

When I was a little kid home alone, one of my favorite things was to eat sugar with a spoon. Why? Because calories! That's the major drive. For a scientific look at our evolved sensorium, one might read this: https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...60982213004181

dennis336

I'm not very diligent about precisely measuring my protein intake but after my long rides, I'll make my version of a protein smoothy. Frozen fruit, dollops of peanut butter, Starbucks cocoa power for chocolate flavor, and milk.

LiftandPedal

if I’m doing a “shake”, I’ve been pretty happy with Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard Whey, Extreme Milk Chocolate, in water or milk. If I’m putting it in something else (like the bowl of oatmeal I just ate), Isopure’ s Zero Carb, unflavored. Both are, for me, easy to digest and I’m happy with the ON’s taste.

I’ll echo all of the “eat real food” comments, but think whey powders are a great way to bump your daily protein intake on top of a whole foods diet. The problem with a bunch of the suggestions to just eat steak, etc is that most of the animal sources of protein tend to come with a lot of fat attached. And while fat isn’t necessarily the demon we were all taught for years, it is calorically dense, and it can be tough to hit a “high” protein goal without completely blowing up your daily calorie intake when just using meats. Maybe not a problem if you’re aiming for 1g/kg, but definitely an issue once you’re up into the 1.5+g/kg range.