There is a staple rule in fitness, that either if you want to build big muscles or want to lose significant amounts of fat from the body, you will have to increase your protein intake.
Even though the daily protein requirements that a person needs to reach one from the above goals can be taken mostly from foods, there are days when we don’t have enough time to eat enough meals to get the required proteins or days when we just don’t feel like eating too much food. But thankfully for this kind of moments we have protein shakes, which will help us to get our required proteins without any struggles and loss of time.
These being said, here is a guide that will help you choose and to use protein shakes to reach your goals.
Source of the proteins from the protein shake
A very important aspect of protein shakes is the source from which the proteins from its content are obtained. This aspect is important mostly because humans usually digest, absorb and utilize much better the proteins that come from animal sources, than for example those that come from vegetable sources (like for example soy), even though the amino acid profile of these proteins don’t differ too much, both being of very high quality. A good thing to do to fix this problem is that whenever you drink a protein shake from vegetables to drink more than the calculated amount that you require, so if you need 20 grams of proteins from a shake you will have to drink around 30-35 grams of proteins.
Other macronutrients content
Depending on the reason for which you are drinking a protein shake, the macronutrient content can prove to very important. For example if your goal is to lose fat, you should look to see how many grams of carbohydrates and fats the protein shake contains, because some shakes contain more from these macronutrients while other shakes contain less. But if you are drinking protein shakes just to replace meals or for maintaining your health status, then you shouldn’t worry too much about the content of the other macronutrients.
Flavor of the protein shake
Another important aspect of protein shake is the flavor, many people giving up on drinking or using a protein shake because of its taste. By reading the label before buying or using a protein shake will help you avoid this type of problem.
Timing of protein shakes for persons that work out
If you are drinking protein shakes for building muscles, losing fat or for doing fitness activities than you should know that the timing of protein shakes is very important. You should drink your protein shakes like this: 30 minutes before the workout, immediately after you finished the workout and immediately after you woke up. By drinking your protein shakes in these moments of your day you will reach your fitness goals much easier and faster, but you will also perform much better in your training sessions.