Q: A friend of mine suggested that I use a protein supplement after workouts, but there are so many different kinds that I’m not sure which one I should purchase. What are the differences and how frequently should I be taking it?
A: Surprisingly, this question is often asked among our members and before answering this I will need to know some basic pertinent information: What are you goals in your fitness routine? For most, they would like to balance their diet, lose body fat, and improve their lean muscle mass ratio. For some athletes, they seek to gain significant size and put as much bulk on as possible. Obviously, these two goals would require a different approach to supplementation, and for the purpose of this article I will assume the former is what you are seeking.
Protein supplements range in type, price, and flavors. There are subtle differences to lay person, but big differences to your body. Let’s first discuss type. The most common types of supplemental protein are whey, casein, albumin, and soy. The first two, whey and casein, are separated from milk and are found natural in almost all milk-based products. Albumin is found in eggs and soy protein comes from the soybean. Obviously, the best way to ingest these proteins is through whole foods and a naturally balanced diet. Unfortunately, many of us do not have the time or resources to achieve this and fall back on supplements to aid.
The biggest difference in the proteins is rate and proportion of absorption. The most readily absorbed protein by the body, by far, in the shortest amount of time, is whey protein. If you want to break this down even farther, whey isolate is even better than whey concentrate. When you go to your local grocery, you’ll need to look on the back of the label to see if the whey protein that they carry is indeed whey isolate. Most often, the cheaper priced proteins are whey concentrate so you may end up spending a little more for a quality whey isolate, but this is also the least wasted in terms of how much you body absorbs.
Whey isolate is my recommendation for post-workout supplementation. Try and take this within one hour of the end of your workout with a piece of fruit or other simple carbohydrate to aid in the absorption. Also, try to ingest no more than 40 grams of protein to lessen the load on the kidneys so check the serving size and don’t forget to add the protein in the milk if you don’t mix with water. If you use the supplement to add to a smoothie or drink that you are using as a small meal during the course of the day, I would recommend using a soy or blended protein.
Soy based and blended protein supplements usually have a longer rate of absorption and therefore will be slowly processed as the day goes on. Hopefully, this offers some basic protein information, but your best bet is to have your diet analyzed professionally so they can best balance your carbohydrate/protein/fat ratio for the amount of activity that you are currently engaged in.