Many of us take protein powder to lose weight or bulk up—we are no exception.  Protein is a major macronutrient and rightfully given precedence when discussing a healthy lifestyle.  It is true, numerous scientific experiments have confirmed the benefits of “protein” as listed below however, we need to be cautious when applying such data towards processed food like protein powder.

A scoop of protein is not the same as consuming its natural animal and plant based counterparts, but it can be adapted towards weight loss and lean body goals within the confines of the modern day lifestyle.  In this article, we’ll take an in depth look at protein and how to maximize its potential towards a Stronger Leaner Faster Body.

protein powder lean body

Benefits of Protein

The benefits of protein are well known and include:

  • Reduced appetite and hunger levels—satiety.  Protein is an excellent macronutrient to maximize on when you are cutting calories, reducing food intake and managing hunger.
  • Increase in muscle mass and strength — protein (amino acids) are the building blocks for muscle repair and recovery.  More skeletal muscle tissue translates into greater production of force, which means more strength.
  • Boost in metabolism and fat burning — protein is harder to digest, requiring more energy/calories and longer time compared to simple carbs. This is major benefit of consuming protein with every meal. 
  • Preventing Muscle Catabolism (breakdown) — For those of us that train with intensity—be it endurance, strength or speed—protein balance is a useful thing.  There are numerous research articles that note benefits of maintaining amino acids in bloodstream during training sessions in order to minimize muscle catabolism. 
  • Muscle Repair and Recovery — After an intense workout, numerous body systems recover and for up to 72-hours.  Protein based diet not only provides building ingredients for many such recovery process but also further assist with muscle hypertrophy. 

Keep in mind that above mentioned statements are based on research results likely due to a combination of:

  • whole food protein as found in meats, nuts, legumes, as well as fruits and vegetables;
  • and, likely supplemented with protein powder.

Often times media outlets direct our attention towards the later, and imply that protein powder is just as good as the real thing.  We have read numerous research papers on this topic and none mention the exact diet used in the results, in reference to type of protein used.  Hence, our claim that it’s likely a combination of protein from whole foods, along with protein powder supplements.  Moving forward, as we mention in The No-Diet Book, supplements in today’s busy, modern day life are hard to avoid and useful tool to meet the nutritional gap—protein powder being no exception.

Supplements and Busy Lifestyle 

There is no magic pill for fitness.  Health and wellbeing are the result of consistent steps taken daily, in regard to eating more nutrient-rich foods, goals oriented work-outs, and providing the body with required rest.  The supplements, such as protein powder can assist with nutritional requirements.

There are few common trends that keep us from losing fat and building muscle.  We, at the Science and Strength household, experienced these same issues a few years back:

  • Too busy to cook and prepare meals.
  • Don’t know how to cook healthy food.
  • Don’t like to eat healthy foods — especially salads.

So, we’ve searched for food options that can entertain our taste buds while providing nutritional value.  Naturally, we gravitated towards popular dietary supplements including protein powder, that is convenient, long shelf life and portable.

Protein Powder scoop in water is:

  • Quick to prepare—no cooking skills needed but, it will not fill you up like a meal.
  • Tasty—you will likely pick a flavour you enjoy, the options are endless and mimic the taste of real products fairly well.  However, the sweetness within the shakes is likely to increase the craving for more sugar later in the day.
  • Easy to drink—If you don’t like the taste, you can either close your eyes and nose while chugging the mixture, or simply place it into a fruit smoothie to mask the taste.

Protein Powder for Fat Loss

Many supplements suppliers, would like us to believe that the powder form of protein will keep us full like a complete meal.  We encourage everyone to test this theory, but from personal experience we can state that adding a scoop of protein to water does little towards satiety and weight loss.  The correct way to maximize on this supplement is to create a complete meal in form of a nutrient-rich smoothie.

Some of the Protein Powder benefits are listed as:

  • Suppressing hunger and appetite by releasing hormones—like ghrelin, glucagon-like peptide 1, peptide YY and others.  We discuss these hormones in detail in our The No-Diet Book—the appetite, metabolism and hormones chapter—their release is depended on a number of factors including: the expansion of stomach, duration of the meal (by chewing), along with many other factors that result from eating whole foods.  Whole food products contain fiber, protein, and fats that initiate involved mechanical and digestive breakdown of these nutrients while relaying continuous feedback to the brain regarding portion consumption.  A scoop of powder mixed in water—even a slow absorptive kind—will not carry over the above mentioned satiety signals.
  • Increased metabolism is due to the fact that protein is a high thermogenic food.  This simply means that it requires more calories and time to break down.  To get similar effect of a protein powder, the supplement mixture needs to contain a complex of slow digesting proteins along with other complexes mimicking the processing and duration of the whole food counterparts. 
  • Weight loss, especially belly fat—seems very presumptuous.  A number of things need to be considered for this benefit to occur not just adding a magic powder scoop in water.

Protein Powder for Training

If you train with intensity, to build muscle while maximizing fat loss, a protein powder supplement is an optimum choice to meet nutritional gap.  To increase lean body mass, an isolate type protein powder will be a better option, as it is already partially digested and easily absorbed by the body.  Most of the isolate mixtures contain high protein concentrations, providing a surge of complete amino acid profile while keeping the caloric intake to a minimum.  By adding isolate mixture into a smoothie, you essentially increasing the benefits of a complete meal, further diversifying nutrients of natural and supplemental capacity while customizing caloric value per intake.

How much protein do you need?

There was a time at Science and Strength household when we engaged in math numbers to figure out exactly how much protein was needed for optimum performance, as well as carb and fat ratios.  This translated into a prolonged and tedious process that made eating a dull business proposition.  With trial and error, we’ve experimented with numerous diets, food options, portions, feeding times and other popular topics, until figuring out the formula to a leaner body that can be sustained year round 24 / 7.

Currently we focus on lifestyle and looking for simple options within the busy, modern world.  Counting caloric values of each product is tiresome and unnecessary, so we simply don’t do it.  Nutritional quality of the food triumphs caloric quantity and this same philosophy applies to protein intake. 

Food has to be simple to prepare, nutritious and versatile.  We maximize on variety rather then specific protein content while selecting foods that are high fiber such as beans, lentils, whole meats (not just boneless, skinless, chicken breasts), along with fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.  All these foods contain adequate amounts of protein as well as energy necessary to fuel any type of high intensity training like our Stronger Leaner Faster Him and Stronger Leaner Faster Her.

Therefore, the answer to the above question is—complicated.  A  good advice is to experiment with food and a starting point for protein content would be some lower end numbers shared by most experts (0.7g of protein per pound of body weight).  Protein is a complex molecule and each version has different bioavailability—how easily the body can utilize it.  Protein from chicken is not the same as from beans nor dairy (such as whey isolate).  Variety of foods appears to be the sensible method of attaining nutrition, including protein that engages internal slow and fast digestive processes providing energy and building materials for Stronger Leaner Faster body.

Articles of Interest:

Optimum Nutrition — It’s about eating “Real” food

Calories: Energy vs. Nutrients

Final Thoughts

Something to be mindful of is that a supplement should not replace whole foods.  A supplement is best utilized in conjunction with whole foods to obtain maximum benefits.  The process towards stronger leaner faster body is an on-going endeavour that needs to be maintained.  The best approach is continuously taking small steps forward.  These steps include:

  • Eating more whole foods—fruits and vegetables.  They will keep you fuller than any protein powder supplement.
  • Introducing little bit of healthy fats in you diet—fats also promote satiety and are essential for building certain hormones and controlling appetite.
  • Work-out with intensity—the body is build to resist physical stress and craves action by engaging and adapting to it.  Diet alone may work as an initial kickstart, but will not be enough as the only factor in the longterm fat loss goal.  Diets alone often result in muscle loss along with some fat loss. 
  • Cut calories the right way—instead of counting calories, try replacing foods like an apple for a muffin.  Both contain sugar, but one (apple) comes with a slew of fiber, vitamins and other nutrients that increases digestive time in the gut while slowly raising blood sugar level.
  • Supplement when diet is not enough—in this busy, modern day life, supplements have become an integral part to bridge the gaps of several nutritional profiles.  Here is where protein powders, multivitamin, and the like fit in.

With utilizing all the above mentioned information, try the following simple yet effective recipe.  Fat loss component of this recipe can be used as a meal replacement.  With less than 400 calories, this filling, satisfying smoothie can quickly become a staple of any diet.  At Science and Strength, this smoothie serves as one of the nutritional foundation pillars.

Maximizing on Protein Powder —Protein and Energy Packed Smoothie

protein powder for fat loss

1 scoop Vanilla Protein Power of choice

2 cups water

1/2 Apple

1/2 Banana

1/4 Avocado

10 Almonds

A good quality Blender is a must here—we use Vitamix (no affiliation).  Add chopped apple, banana, avocado and almonds to the blender, along with 1 cup of water.  Mix, slowly increasing speed, until well blended.  In a bottle shaker, add protein power and left over 1 cup of water.  Mix throughly and add to blender.  Slowly increase speed until just blended. Don’t over blend as it will add unnecessary air to the smoothie.  Optional is adding a few ice cubes to thicken the mixture.

Enjoy immediately, it tastes like a vanilla milk shake!

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