Efficient Use of Whey Protein
What is Whey Protein?
Whey protein is made from milk and is a by-product of the cheese making process. It is freeze dried and put through various treatments to remove lactose and fat, with natural and/or artificial colours and flavours added for taste and appearance. Drinking whey protein shakes is better than drinking milk, as milk contains a lot of sugar and fat, which means for every 20g of protein from whey protein powder, you would need to drink over a pint of milk, at 2-4 times the calories depending upon whether you use skimmed, semi-skimmed or whole milk. The extra calories from the sugars and fats in milk are likely to lead to the accumulation of unwanted body fat.
How Is Whey Protein Used Efficiently?
To gain lean muscle, when weight training, it is recommended that you consume at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight per day, split over 6 meals. For a 12 stone (168 pound) individual, following a weight training programme, requiring 168g of protein per day, results can be massively improved by supplementing with whey protein. Each meal would need to include 28g of protein and as you cannot eat tuna or chicken 6 times per day, you basically supplement the low protein meals with 20g of whey protein, to reach your daily target. You could literally consume a whey protein shake with every meal, as long as you are still eating a complete diet with plenty of fruit, veg, wholemeal bread, rice, cereal, etc.
The mistake that many people make is that they supplement with 40g of whey protein at a time, which can be wasteful, as 20g of whey protein is the optimum amount in terms of digestion and absorption (subject to genetics), not to mention that consuming too much protein de-sensitises the body to protein and provides additional calories.
The Cost of Supplementing with Whey Protein
A 25g scoop of whey protein generally provides 20g or protein, with a very small amount of carbs and fat and based upon the cost of CNP Whey Protein, which is a high quality and affordable whey protein supplement. Each serving costs just £0.35, which works out to be less than 2 pence per gram of protein, meaning that it is the cheapest (and best) source of protein available, whether from normal food or supplements, whilst providing positive health benefits, such as boosting the immune system.
