How to take protein?

Proteins are made up of amino acid chains. These are the basic units to grow muscle that also perform several essential physiological functions. But, how do we exactly have to take protein?

Why take Protein powder?

You have probably heard about this product. In fact, you probably know someone that uses it. Usually, the most common question is:

Why do you use supplementation?

At first glance, the answer is pretty simple:

It is a food and, as such, it helps us to follow healthy habits, apart from being an effective and comfortable way of meeting our nutrient requirements. If you are an athlete, you will probably do exercise in order to reach the hypertrophy, and you will need this macronutrient to do so.

Moreover, if your workouts are hard and demanding, you will have to increase its intake too.

But if you are following a weight loss program, you will also have to follow a low calorie diet. In this case, the protein intake is crucial in order to preserve the muscle mass.

This macronutrient has the highest satiety index, so it will come in handy if we want to eat less calories.

Protein shakes, powders or products are an excellent source of this macronutrient. In fact, they are an interesting choice for those who have higher requirements.

Protein Supplements

They are some of the most popular products in sport nutrition. There are many types that will help you in one way or another depending on your objective.

These are the types that we can find:

Even though all of them come from milk, there are other sources such as:

A great part of the population uses these supplements. From my point of view, these are practically another food, another protein source to choose from.

Establish your Objective

How can I calculate the daily amount of calories I need?

Your objective will probably be one of these 3:

How much Protein you need

How much do you need on a daily basis?

Once you have a diet plan and know how much you will need, you just have to distribute it between solid foods (chicken, turkey, tuna…) and shakes.

The most common choice would be eating 3 solid main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and drink shakes in between. Although any other scheme works too.

Buy Protein Supplements

Intake

When should I drink protein shakes?

This is another of the most recurring questions in the world of supplementation.

Basically, any time you need a protein supply. There are some moments throughout the day when their intake will be more adequate due to their format, absorption rate…

In this case, there are some options depending on the timing:

All in all, protein products are a very convenient product when it comes to meeting our requirements.

How to use Protein Shakes?

You can mix it with water, milk or juices.

In the case of milk or juice, we will be increasing the nutrient value of the shake by adding other macronutrients.

In fact, we can even cook protein recipes. For example:

For Breakfast

Options:

1. Mix the product with water and drink it. You can eat other macronutrients by adding nuts, rice cakes, cereals, toasts with oil…
2. Combine it with milk or juice instead of water.
3. You can pour the shake in a cereal bowl.
4. Cook nutritious crepes.

Pre-workout

Mix the product with water and drink it between 30-45 minutes before the workout.

You can add some carbs by eating a banana. If you want a more energizing supply to recharge the glycogen deposits use amylopectin. Therefore, we will make sure that our body is nourished in order to face the workout.

Post-workout

Like the pre-workout

Time Released

You can use several protein types in order to get a constant amino acid discharge to the bloodstream.

Sometimes, I mix a concentrate or isolate with micellar casein. Specially if I am not going to be able to eat a meal for some reason.

Meal replacement

A meal has to be balanced. In other words, it needs to provide the necessary nutrients from protein, fats and carbs.

We could use this choice in a pre or post-workout. Since it is better to use protein and carbs because the digestion of fats is very slow.

• Mix a serving of protein with a bowl of oats, which you should have let soak previously. Then, add a spoonful of peanut butter, without trans fats. Mix everything and dust some cinnamon.
• Feel free to add raisins, nuts, berries… A recipe with a high nutrient value.
• Again, mix a serving with water or milk and drink it with a piece of fruit. A fast and nutritious meal!

For weight loss

If you are following a low calorie diet in order to lose fat, you could get some energy from this macronutrient.

However, eating solid protein for all the meals can be stressful. So we can always drink a shake since it is faster and more comfortable.

• Mix a serving of piña colada Evolate with cold water with ice and enjoy a refreshing protein shake..

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