Cons of protein shakes?

I´m going to start going to the gym in a couple days, and I´m pretty excited about it, going to read bradds guide.
My problem is that in moving to campus in college in a month and over there I´m going to be feed in the cafeteria. They have 3 meals a day and I guess that I won´t have much choice. So I´m guessing that I won´t be able to get any results without protein shakes, but I´m concerned about them as some people told me to be careful with that stuff, what do you guys know about them?
Right now I´m 6 4" and 172lb, I have been eating tons of junk food this month as I´ve been back in murica but I haven´t been able to gain a single pound, and my upper body is skinny(it sucks). Have been told that lifting weights makes you gain weight, I hope it works , I really want bulk in my arms.

You won't gain any weight no matter how much you lift if you don't eat enough. Ideally you want to get as much protein as possible from meats, nuts, etc. But that's not an option for everyone (including myself), so getting it from a protein shake is fine. Just don't make it your only source of protein. And if it's weight that you want to put on, you might want to look at weight gainer powders. They usually have a good amount of protein as well as a high amount of calories. They might be more beneficial for you if you don't think you'll be able to eat enough from the campus cafeteria.

figure out maintenance calories. eat a few hundred cals more. don't just go nuts eating. you will gain weight and put on too much fat. anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what they're talking about. you want to put on weight to look better I assume. goto a bodybuilding forum and read your ass off. lift for your whole body. do not neglect your legs.

50% of your cals from protein, 25% from carbs, 25% from fat. minimum 1g protein per lb you weigh, I usually eat about 1.5g. if you do exactly this you will gain muscle while minimizing fat. it's basically impossible to put on zero fat while gaining weight, but this will make it mostly muscle. at your age and presumed bodytype (based on height and weight) don't do cardio unless it's to warm up. lift weights at a high intensity.

whoever told you there are 'cons' to protein shakes is dumb as fvck. there are none. stop eating junk food. you will make yourself look like sh!it. the goal is to gain muscle, not weight. chicks don't dig fat, they dig ripped. i wish shirts were optional everywhere on earth, chicks go nuts for a dude in good shape. you really shouldn't be putting on much more than 5lbs a month, otherwise you will be getting fat probably. 5lbs a month is a lot by the way, doesn't sound like it, but it is. I've been bulking (clean) over the last 4 months, put on about 15lbs and am getting all sorts of compliments. Slow and steady wins the race with weight gain.

Protein shakes are fine, it's just a matter of finding one you like. Powders, shakes, all that stuff is the same way. There's a lot of it you just have to find one that agreeable to you. I'm picky and found out I hate any flavored powders, so I have to buy unflavored and mix it with something I like.

I also found it helps to identify foods high in protein that i like, even if it's something simple like a protein bar, and integrated that into my daily routine.

Sun Warrior only has 16 g of protein per scoop. That is useless for gaining weight as you want.

Brad's advice is solid. You can make your own mass gainer at home. Add protein, some fruit and some peanut butter in a blender. Strawberries are a great addition without having a lot of carbs. Since you want to gain weight, you should use milk instead of water.

I suggest a hydrolyzed protein for after your workouts. Best type of protein out there. ISO 100 by Dymatize is a great one. No fat and 0 sugar. 25 g of protein per scoop.

just be sure to avoid soy based protein products, stick with whey protein

Thanks for all the help! I´m starting tomorrow morning, for now I´m going to go ahead and try my best to follow those guidelines when it comes to diet. I´ll have to wait till I go to college to get protein supplements, my parents are totally against it hahaha. The cafeteria meals are going to be buffet so I guess I´ll be alright If I chose wisely.

You don't need protein shakes. I know some bodybuilders that compete that don't even use them. Seriously. Its the biggest sell job of all time.

Just like saying you need to eat meat to gain size. Bull****.

I haven't eaten a piece of meat in 3 months and still look like a cross between Superman and one of the Avengers by getting the majority of my protein from egg whites, flaxseed(exceptionally high level of protein and very healthy), and a combo of organic pea/brown rice protein with brewers yeast(another excellent and cheap source of protein and many other nutrients, especially relatively hard to find B vitamins---16 g of protein in 2 TBSP).

If I was eating meat, I probably wouldn't even use protein powders, I'd just eat a piece of meat an hour before going to the gym. Eating only egg whites tho, I get tired of cracking and making omelettes, so it gives me a nice 35-40 g of protein. I won't touch whey---it bloats me and causes inflammation in my gut, which happens to a lot of other people and they don't even know it.

Stop worrying about protein powders and lift heavier weights more intensely. Stop treating the gym like its social hour at the Ritz-Carlton and treat it like you should, a business trip for your body. No talking, no ****ing around, bust your mother****in' ass.

And none of that requires $50 jugs of protein.

its quite healthy



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marmel75 said:

You don't need protein shakes. I know some bodybuilders that compete that don't even use them. Seriously. Its the biggest sell job of all time.

Just like saying you need to eat meat to gain size. Bull****.

I haven't eaten a piece of meat in 3 months and still look like a cross between Superman and one of the Avengers by getting the majority of my protein from egg whites, flaxseed(exceptionally high level of protein and very healthy), and a combo of organic pea/brown rice protein with brewers yeast(another excellent and cheap source of protein and many other nutrients, especially relatively hard to find B vitamins---16 g of protein in 2 TBSP).

If I was eating meat, I probably wouldn't even use protein powders, I'd just eat a piece of meat an hour before going to the gym. Eating only egg whites tho, I get tired of cracking and making omelettes, so it gives me a nice 35-40 g of protein. I won't touch whey---it bloats me and causes inflammation in my gut, which happens to a lot of other people and they don't even know it.

Stop worrying about protein powders and lift heavier weights more intensely. Stop treating the gym like its social hour at the Ritz-Carlton and treat it like you should, a business trip for your body. No talking, no ****ing around, bust your mother****in' ass.

And none of that requires $50 jugs of protein.

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Whey protein right after a workout is beneficial. There are studies to support that. 1 shake after your workout can positively impact your gains.

Ronaldo7 said:

Whey protein right after a workout is beneficial. There are studies to support that. 1 shake after your workout can positively impact your gains.

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Actually what the studies show is an uptake in nutrients directly afterwards which theoretically will help build muscle. However what most studies don't show is there is a concurrent DECREASE in uptake in the hours afterwards so the net gain in uptake is zero. What happens is the body has lost a lot of glycogen and takes in as much as it can to gorge itself and make sure its full. Then over the next 12-18 hours, since you just topped off the tank so to speak, there is very little need for more nutrients to be taken up by the muscle. Realistically in practice there is little difference if you fill up the gas tank all at once or if you fill it up in 2, 3 or 4 seperate fill ups. Once its full its full.

There is way too much focus on the best way to fill up the gas tank instead of focusing on how to make the gas tank bigger, imho. Bigger muscle cells increase the gas tank. Neccessarily this means lifting heavier weight.

And there is no study I know of or have read that shows whey is any better long term than simply eating a piece of meat or 6-8 egg whites an hour before training. However there are plenty of people holding in lots of water and bloat weight from whey who have no prayer of ever seeing their abs til they stop using it.

bradd80 said:

Here's one:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15572657

Conclusion:

"Ingestion of a combination of CAA supplements (ie supplements of carbohydrates and essential amino acids) and meals resulted in a greater mixed muscle FSR (fractional synthetic rate) than ingestion of the meals alone (SUP, 0.099 +/- 0.008; CON, 0.076 +/- 0.005%/h; P < 0.05)."

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This talks about EAA's and carbs given in addition to a normal meal, not one or the other. Of course adding more amino acids will increase protein synthesis in comparison to lesser amounts. This is a relatively low amount of protein for a meal, so I would argue that increasing the protein content of the meal by 15g would give a similar if not same effect when taken with something like a banana or other fast acting carb

Here is an article talking about how no studies have shown protein shakes help any more than a meal

http://www.livestrong.com/article/317259-do-protein-shakes-really-help-you-get-big/#page=1

bradd80 said:

Marmel, I don't think anybody here is stupid enough to claim that you will get big by only consuming supplements such as protein shakes. Supplements are just that: a supplement to a regular, natural healthy diet.

Your article didn't cite any medical studies at all, and it conveniently failed to consider the medical study I just showed you. The author of your article, Cat North, came to a conclusion in his article without considering all of the available medical knowledge.

Besides, he doesn't state that supplements don't help. What he says is, and I'm quoting directly from his article, is that "there is no evidence that protein shakes or supplements alone will increase muscle."

But do supplements help you grow stronger combined with natural foods rather than just eating natural foods alone? Yes. Ronaldo was saying that a whey protein supplement after a workout is beneficial, and the medical study I posted corroborates this.

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I just addressed the study in my last post. EAA+carbs is not whey protein. The study basically says taking EAA+carbs in addition to a normal meal will increase protein synthesis. Ok, I agree, but so would simply taking more protein like meat, with a banana. It has to do with increasing nitrogen retention, which you can simply do by ingesting protein with some carbs to get the same effect.

The study you posted has nothing to do with whey protein. Again, you will not find a study that says whey protein increases muscle mass more than simply eating meat or other complete proteins.

And yes supplements help. Betaine, creatine, BCAAs, EAAs, etc all have their place. But I am not talking about supplements, I am talking about sources of protein.

Cons of protein shakes?

Whey products give me wicked farts. And unless I combine them with food, my chocolate whey protein shake comes out of me looking exactly like it did when it went in me.

The only arguable bad thing about protein shakes is the fact that some companies have a lot of contamination with heavy metals. For example in the past (2010-2011) EAS had a lot of arsenic , MuscleMilk had a lot of lead, etc. Optimum Nutrition consistently has negligible amounts of heavy metals but is also pretty expensive.

Also, a lot of companies lie about exactly how much protein there is in their powder. Some gimp you, but Optimum Nutrition is accurate. But once again expensive.

As Espi already said, if it is cheap, there is a reason for it. Look up the company's track record if they skimped on protein in the past, or had high levels of contamination. Don't buy that Body Fortress sh!t from Walmart.