Do these protein powders really work? I saw that John used them, but are they really neccesary, or do ppl use them becuase other ppl use them

They are the easiest way to get wholesome protein without the expense of making literally hundreds of chicken breasts or cans of tuna to obtain the same amount of protein, the time to prep all the food, and to control your intake of other macronutrients at the same time. In two words I can sum up the supplements John has been using, "they work".

Now, I will temper this statement with the fact you need to know your daily intake of macronutrients before using supplements haphazardly.

Read this: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/planet52.htm

Where is the cheapest place to buy this. Online or at a store?

personally, i really like IsoPure's protein powder. Tastes 1000x better than the rest of the ones i've tried, especially with water.

www.advantagesupplements.com usually has the best prices. Look under 'natures best'.

they've also got a zero-carb version if you're watching carb intake.

50g of protein in the regular version - that's pretty awesome. ;)

Isopure is good stuff. It was the first protein I conciously purchased (I was given Designer Whey prior to that). I personally am one of the many who recommend Optimum Nutrition's Whey Protein. I personally enjoy the chocolate mint. 23g Protein per scoop, excellent taste, gotta love it. :)

As far as the necessity for protein powder, I find it necessary in order to get enough protein in a day. It's not that you cannot get your protein from other dietary sources, but most people can't/don't care to eat that much meat/eggs/cheese in a single day. Protein shakes are just an efficient and cost-effective way to help balance out your protein intake (and nothing is better directly before and after a workout, with a little dextrose, that is).

Mint eh? I use Optimum Chocolate. Is the mint noticable? Does it taste ok? (I love the chocolate, my wife can't stand it!)

They're a good way of getting protein. I think they work. The taste isn't that big of a deal to me. If it was, I'd be eating burgers and pizza :D

Mint eh? I use Optimum Chocolate. Is the mint noticable? Does it taste ok? (I love the chocolate, my wife can't stand it!)

It's not so much that it tastes like mint, I just think it makes it taste more like actual chocolate. I know that sounds odd but hell, I can't explain it myself. ;)

It's tasty. I recommend it to anyone who asks for a protein powder with a great taste.

Is it okay to mix your protein powder w/ black coffee? I heard that the heat can negate the effects of the protein.

Thanks for all the good info, much appreciated. One small question, what do you all think of this kind of deal:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2979531249&category=1278

Cheers

Ben

Mint eh? I use Optimum Chocolate. Is the mint noticable? Does it taste ok? (I love the chocolate, my wife can't stand it!)

ON's chocolate mint smells like the mint girl scout cookies, but the mint taste is pretty subtle. MuscleMag International has great prices on supplements and sells the 5-lb. tub for under $24 (www.musclemagnepa.com)

as this is my first entry in the forums i just want to say hello, first :)

my question:
where is the difference between the many different protein powders? the prices start at 15$ and end at around 50$. i noticed that the nutritions differ (is this the right word?) slightly, but i don't think that this is the point. so, how much money do i have to spend to get quality? i don't want to spoil my results with cheap and (maybe) bad supplements...

thanks a lot.

Some of the powders contain Whey and Isolate Proteins....The ones with just whey are the cheaper versions and the ones that contain isolate protein are the more expensive powders. Also there is the price to pay for name brand powders. I have found that Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey is probably the most bang for the buck.

Some of the powders contain Whey and Isolate Proteins....The ones with just whey are the cheaper versions and the ones that contain isolate protein are the more expensive powders. Also there is the price to pay for name brand powders. I have found that Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey is probably the most bang for the buck.

so there is no quality difference at all? or is it so minimal that i don't have to care about that?

Some will say that there is a difference but there are only about 4 companies that produce the whey and isolate proteins. These companies sell them to the different manufacturers that add the flavor and anything else that they may want to add. Some add glutamine, creatine, and other nutrients to make it seem like the users are getting a better deal.

thanks,that is good to know.
now i will save the money and spend it for something more useful...

I personally am one of the many who recommend Optimum Nutrition's Whey Protein. I personally enjoy the chocolate mint. 23g Protein per scoop, excellent taste, gotta love it. :)

Another second recommendation for Optimum's Whey, I have only tried the chocolate but IMO it's world's better than Isopure, at about 1/3 of the cost. (Better taste wise).

Did anyone ever try to BNS Lean Dessert protein shake..?

I am about to buy it off of www.bodybuilding.com but I need some reviews...

Has anyone tried the MetRx Protein Plus? It is whey protein plus isolates.. glutamine and etc.. It makes a huge, extremely thick shake(which can take a while to drink.. a possible drawback) , I usually add a bannana, and it tastes pretty good. I have been using designer whey and that tastes ok, but you can mix it with a spoon, slam it down and be on your way in about 2 minutes. My wife picked up this huge thing of metrx, so I'm working my way through it.. just wondering if its as effective as the other brands..

Thanks

Bill

But is this Lean Dessert any good?

Whether protein powders "work" or not depends on what you expect of them. If you guzzle down 100 grams of whey a day and expect to get massive or ripped or whatever, you're setting yourself up for some dissappointment. That being said, this is what protein powder really does.

Short story is, protein is the basic building block of muscle. So if you want to bulk up, you need a certain amount of protein everyday to repair and create new muscle mass. If you don't have protein in your diet, you simply won't build muscle, since your doesn't have the "material" to rebuild. Of course, if you're bulking, you also need plenty of carbs and straight calories.

Back on point, since I believe this is the fat loss thread, this is how it pertains to here. Extreme calorie cutting (I would define that as 10x-12x your body weight) combined with intense cardio eats up muscle mass like crazy. Without a large amount of protein in your diet, your body will begin to cannibilize muscle mass for energy. (Think marathon runners, stringy, skinny, etc etc) This also wreaks havok on all your internals too. (Think: your heart is a giant muscle) To prevent your body from eating itself alive, more protein will make sure the body weight that you do lose, is mostly fat, not muscle. In my opinion, protein powder is a MUST HAVE. So get some. If not, you might as well try the ever so popular anorexia diet...But then, you people are smart, and that's why you're here.

Protein powders are a great source of lean protein and that's about it. Most have about 20 grams per serving, 120 +/- calories, and 5 grams of carbs and that's it. 3 servings has as much protein as a steak, without the extra calories, fat, etc etc.

Muscle milk is easily one of the best tasting protein powders out there. However, if you're trying to lose weight, it contains about 3 times as many calories as plain protein, so people training for fatloss may want to stay away from this. They claim to have a "fat burning" lipid to explain the high fat content, but I'll get into that later.

If you're looking for a 0 carb protein, try isopure. Little costly, but its a decent name brand low carb isolate. They're ready make drinks are also my favorite.

The best deal I've found on protein is Pro-Rated. 6 lbs at costco for 29.99. Similar quality protein from GNC will cost you 39.99 41.99 for the same amount.. I should know, because I used to work there.

The difference between protein powders:

1) Taste
2) Price
3) Mixability

Yep, that's about it. Notice I did not say performance. I don't care if you've got some ecdy/methoxy/turbo crap mix (I've tried it all), performance is not an issue. Protein, is, for the most part, protein. There are a select few exceptions but I won't get into it here.

The three basic types of protein powders available

Whey Concentrate
A fast absorbing protein taken from whey. Same protein in your milk, only highly concentrated. Roughly 80% pure, the other twenty is made up of carbs, lactose, minerals and a little bit of other crap. THE cheapest protein available
Whey Isolate
Read above, only whey isolate is about 95-98% pure. Almost all 0 carb proteins are made from this stuff. Good if you're lactose intolerant but still want whey. Generally, very expensive.

Soy
For lack of a better word, a "medium" absorbing protein. Made from soy beans, my personal favorite for taste. Got all the anti cancer benefits and what not that soy is supposed to have, if you believe in that stuff.

Egg
A slow absorbing protein, made from egg whites. Generally a good deal more expensive then whey concentrate. That's all there is to say about that.

How do I chose you might ask? Well, if you read the last bit of info, you'd know that the main difference, aside from source, is absorbtion. The THEORY is something like this. You take a whey protein shake when you wake up in the morning. Since your body has been fasting while you slept for the last eight hours, your body is dying for nutrients. Therefor, the quick absorbing whey would be your best choice. Also, right after your workout, your body again is starving for nutrients because you've wrung your muscles out and they're screaming in pain, or you are, so once again, whey would be a good choice.

Egg protein is something different though. Since it is slow absorbing, the best time to take it would be at night. There's a thing out there called nighttime catabolism, which pretty much means this. Since your body isn't getting nutrients while you sleep for 8 hrs, it breaks down a little bit of muscle every night. Therefor, a slowly digesting protein sitting in your gut while you sleep, will give your body a steady supply of nutrients throughout the night, so your body won't break down muscle. You should probably avoid eating before bed if you're trying to lose weight though...since that's bad. I'm not a big believer in the night time catabolism thing either, but its a popular theory.

Soy is kind of the jack of all trades protein, popular now because its the IN thing these days.

Also available out there are protein blends. Whey/Egg or Whey/Soy. The different proteins in each break down at different rates, giving a "time release" effect.

In short, go for the cheap stuff that tastes decent. I'm a big whey fan, and it is cheap, though a lot of first timers think it tastes like vomit. I did.

Some people will say, what the hell do you know? Well, for one thing, I worked at GNC for a year and and was the resident "specialist" on body building products. That's a fairly loose term, basically it means that I knew more then all of the other employees at that store combined regarding body building supplements. So if I'm wrong, well, there's a lot, I mean a lot of people out there with some pretty bad info.

I think I should write something about how not to get ripped off when buying protein (where to buy and what to look out for), since it is a pretty big issue, but I've taken up enough space as is. If you want me to do it, or I wasn't clear about something or whatever, comment and let me know.

www.allthewhey.com

Price per serving is very reasonable folr the protein Isolate and protein concentrate. :tu:

Hi, Just thought i'd throw in my 2 cents for any UK readers. Most of the protein powders available over here are imported from our fitness friends in the US, as a result they can be quite expensive.
So I personally use Nutrisports 90+ protein. Its actually a Whey/Caesin blend. Tastes great mixed in a blender with just water and it comes in loads of flavors (I prefer strawberry).
It's manufactured by Nutrisport in the UK and it costs approximately £60 for 5kg (I guess thats probably about $374 and 15/32ths per 43lb (approx 8475 cups or 534 quarts) or whatever you yanks measure it in, lolol j/k).
I get mine from www.sportsnutritionx.co.uk. They've got free P&P and loads of special offers and stuff like that. I've always had great results using their products.

Greeno :)

p.s. and no, i dont work for nutrisport or sportsnutritionx, lol, although i sound like i do!

Excellent post,Zamboni! This will really help me w/ my protein-shopping. In fact, I was running low on protein this morning, so I was about to get some more today after checking out the forums. Now I know what to look for!

www.proteinfactory.com
Loove their pentapro mix! :spaz:

I think I should write something about how not to get ripped off when buying protein (where to buy and what to look out for), since it is a pretty big issue, but I've taken up enough space as is. If you want me to do it, or I wasn't clear about something or whatever, comment and let me know.

There's always room for an experienced opinion...I wouldn't mind knowing a bit more on where to buy and what to look out for.

100% Whey Protein Isolate!

A very very common tactic that supplement companies is to tack a 100% whey isolate label on their bottle and sell it for dirt cheap. (Remember how I said isolate was just about the most expensive kind of protein) Too good to be true? Totally. A good example of this is Nitrotech protein, brought to you by Muscletech. On their label, it says in nice big letters 100% pure whey isolate. Problem is, that's very misleading.

The truth is, many companies blend a lot of cheap whey concentrate with a small amount of whey isolate. So, in effect, each scoop of protein has about 9 parts 80% pure whey isolate, and 1 part 100% pure isolate. If my math is right, that brings the purity level to about 82% pure for the whole mixture, a far cry away from the 100% that they'd have you believe. Hopefully this is fairly easy to understand, but its a pretty confusing topic

*On a side note, these numbers aren't the exact, though I wouldn't be surprised if it were pretty close to reality

**Most plain/cheap/etc whey protein powders are blends of isolate and concentrate. Its pretty much the industry standard, just some companies are put that 100% pure label on so that they can jack up the price. I wrote this so that you'd know a little more about what you're buying, not to put down such and such product.



50..no..60 grams of protein, PER SERVING!
Again, one of those too good to be true deals. Most, if not all protein supplement companies are kind enough to supply a convenient scoop in their bottles of protein. Each scoop, no matter what brand of protein, will supply about 17-25 grams of protein. The reason why some companies can say they have 60 grams per serving, is quite simply, because each one of their "servings" is 2 or three scoops. Here's where the problems arise.

Example A(cost $69.99):

Super Mega Protein concentrate
Serving size 3 scoops (90 grams)
Servings per container: 30

Amount per serving
Calories: 350
Protein: 60g

Example B(cost 29.99):

Mediocre Plain Protein
Serving size 1 scoop (30grams)
Servings per container: 90

Amount per serving
Calories: 120
Protein: 20g

Hopefully, most people will see the problems here right away. These two protein powders are EXACTLY the same contentwise, only one charges twice as much as the other. They justify this by saying, well our protein has 3 times as much protein, so its totally worth the price! Well, that is true, but if you look closely, all they've done is triple the serving size. Most people will say, I'd never fall for that, its so obvious. The thing is, from my experience, a LOT of people do fall for it, because generally the 60 GRAMS PER SERVING! is in giant bold letters on the front, while the serving size, and the servings per container,are written in tiny letters on the back. I hope my examples were pretty clear, because that sad thing is, they're pretty accurate and there are MANY companies who will try to stiff you like this. Just another thing to keep in mind.


Other tips
Probable your best friend when it comes to buying supplements is google. I try very hard not to recommend any one specific brand or place to buy from, because, in my mind, as soonas someone tries to sell you something or push you somewhere, they've damaged their credibility. That's my own thing though.

Good choices/name brands to start which give the most bang for the buck (all the same pretty much quality wise):

100% Optimum Nutrition
EAS Simply Protein
Prolab
Designer Whey
Pro-Rated (Not so much a name brand, but its what I use)

Use google on any of these, any you should find competitive prices onall of these products. For example, that's what I did and here was the first site it gave me.

http://www.allsportsnutrition.com/listproducts.php

here, they list 10 lbs of Pro-Rated for 37.99, 5 lbs of optimum nutrition for 26.39, etc etc. Keep in mind, I haven't even comparison shopped, this is just the first thing that came up and these are very decent prices. In the states, shipping prices are ridiculously low, at least in my area. A few months back, I got some 40 lbs of powder for something like 5 bucks in shipping, maybe less.

Another good site is:

http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/protein/whey-protein-compare-1.htm

Definately a reccommended read, because they compare protein powders, price per serving and price per gram of most of the name brand proteins out their.

Just so I don't look like a hypocrite or anything, I've never shopped at any of these sites, they're just examples of what's out there. On another note, excluding super clearnace going out of business prices, "brick and mortar" stores CANNOT compete with internet prices. I have yet to find a store is an exception to that.

I think that's all I have to say, someone read me! Good luck

Thanks Zamboni! The whey protein comparison link answered my question earlier in this thread about the MetRx protein plus. Its a blend of whey protein, isolates, and egg protein. I notice that list price is $35, their price for it is about $28.. but my wife got it at Trader Joes for $22, their everyday price. They also have Designer whey in a container 1/3 the size of the metrx for $9, and their own brand for $8, so it looks like I may get the metrx again..

I was kind of hesitant to mention designer whey before and I didn't mention metrx for the same reason. Metrx, and Designer whey, while both great products, tend to be a little higher cost wise. Keep in mind its always cheapest to buy protein powder in bulk. I always get 6+ lbs at a time, though I know a lot of people get sick of sucking down that much of the same flavored protein. Try to shoot for tubs or cans too. Single serving packets tend to be a lot more costly because many companies add 50 cents worth of vitamins and minerals, call it an MRP (Meal Replacement Powder), and jack the price up 6 times

Okay, yer gonna laugh, I knooow you're gonna laugh, but here's the question that keeps nagging at the back of my mind.
If heat does bad things to protien shakes, doesn't the whirring of a blenders' blade create some heat? The shaved ice keeps the end result chilled, but I just thought I'd ask to keep that nagging feeling I should be shaking my product instead at bay.
Thnx,
chuckle
k.

:spaz: No. The blade will not create nearly enough heat, if any at all, to make your protein go bad. I'd be surprised if there would even be more than one degree in temp difference between the blade and the contents it's mixin' inside. That how I make mine every morning, and I've been makin' them that way for over 5 years. Trust me, I think you'll be fine.

LOL!!! yep,yep,yep, that's
aaaaalllll I needed to hear.
A gem ... a gem, y'are :} k

LOL!!! yep,yep,yep, that's
aaaaalllll I needed to hear.
A gem ... a gem, y'are :} k

I'm glad I could help put you at ease!! :claplow: Anytime you need that reassuring feeling, just let me know!!