Choosing the Right Protein Powder for Your Goals

Choosing the Right Protein Powder for Your Goals
Wake up, pee, roll down to the kitchen and make my pre-workout shake of Glutamine, 1/4 scoop protein powder and a pinch of pre-workout, plus water. Every day. Same thing. It works for me, after lots of experimentation. Using protein powder to enhance distance training is entirely a personal choice! It’s not a must or a requirement, no matter what anyone tells you. For me and many of my athletes it’s the most effective way to ensure we eat enough protein during high volume training months. Not only is this important for energy, but to prevent muscle loss which results in gaining fat and less powerful running. Read more about maintaining muscle during marathon training >>
Leading to the obvious question…what is the best protein powder for women, for runners, for men? How to Judge Quality? Above and beyond the form of protein, the first focus has to be the quality of the supplement. Many of the cheaper brands are filled with chemicals that will only slow your body down as it attempts to process these foreign substances. Leading to stomach pains, bloating and digestive issues. Things to avoid: MSG Artificial Sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, maltodextrin GMOs Toxic heavy metals are found in many of those cheap store brands This is why I have been feeding David PurAthlete Endurance before his epic mountain biking adventures! Hopefully we can keep a little of his muscle on him though he’s neglecting the weight room! PurAthlete Endurance is not only a clean powder, but has some unique benefits that you don’t find in every powder: Slow release so the body can fully absorb the protein and nutrients (often we just pee out the extra!) Helps to improve hydration (extra important at higher elevations) Malic Acid which helps to improve ATP creation (fancy words for energy) TRAACS Potassium which helps with muscle cramps and so much more thanks to the amino acids Glutamine which helps to prevent muscle breakdown and is great for helping to sooth the stomach NSF certified which means athletes can happily use it in competition No gluten or GMO’s What Type of Protein? Now on to the type of protein. Because I’m dairy free, I tend to use only plant based protein powders which include things like pea and brown rice protein. However, many who are dairy-free have no problem with whey protein isolates as the lactose is usually removed. This is one to test for yourself and find out how you feel because studies are showing some added benefits when using whey. Over the years I have tested out a whole slew of flavors and brands, much of that is going to come down to preference once you’ve found a quality powder. Again David happens to like the PurAthlete because it’s more like a pre-workout drink (citrus flavored!) which helps remember to hydrate and not something he needs to do after the workout when he’s ravenous and wants to bite into something. A quick break down of the most popular protein types and benefits: Whey Unlike the other powders, whey protein contains components which are found to have additional benefits to performance and healthy. CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) helps prevent cancer and improve cardiovascular health. It contains leucine which is critical for muscle building. It is digested faster which allows for quicker muscle growth stimulation. It has also been shown in studies to enhance recovery due to the complete amino acid profile. It boosts glutathione which helps the body to remove free radicals that cause cell damage. PurAthlete is a whey hdryolysate, which means it’s a predigested form of whey that has dairy allergens removed and is more easily digested (huge for endurance athletes whose digestive systems are often working over time or shut down to blood being diverted to our limbs!). Egg Made from egg whites, it’s low in calories and carbohydrates, dairy free and can be a great source of vitamins depending upon the quality of the eggs. It has a slow release which can be beneficial to muscle growth. If the powder is low quality, you could be exposed to antibiotics and salmonella among other things. A great option for making things like pancakes! Soy As always there are some amazing products out there, but I’m cautious about using a concentrated form of soy on a regular basis due to all the conflicting science. For Vegans, soy contains all amino acids, as well as the full B-vitamin complex, which are both things that many non-meat eaters find lacking in the diet. Pea/Brown Rice: For those with food sensitives this is the best option and of course completely Vegan as well. It could be part of a protein rotation to get the benefits of whey and the switch up to prevent creating food sensitives. It contains nearly as many BCAA’s as whey protein. It’s easy to digest, putting the protein to work right away and preventing bloating. It’s high in protein, low in carbohydrates and gluten free. It can help to regulate your blood sugar levels. Hemp Did you know that pro-athletes can’t use hemp seeds or powder?! It’s not a drug, but apparently it’s too closely related for those regulators. Another Vegan option, hemp provides omega-3 and omega-6 in the perfect ratio, which has a slew of benefits from reducing PMS issues to assisting with high blood pressure. However, hemp is higher in calories and slightly lower in total protein when compared to other sources and that could be a concern if the focus is weight loss. Dr. Axe has created a great little graphic which breaks down the benefits. It goes without saying that our as much as possible. But for athletes it’s often difficult to get in enough nutrients without the help of a quality supplement. I simply can’t process larges amounts of protein either animal or plant based, so a powder has been hugely beneficial to my routine as I was often hitting less than 40 grams a day…a great way to be skinny fat. But if you’re doing a protein shake followed immediately by a steak and potato, it’s overkill! So back to our original question, what is the best protein powder? Science would say if you don’t have any dairy allergies, whey is the top choice for men and women. After that it comes down to your body, your goals and taste buds! How often do you use protein powder? What do you look for in a powder? Other ways to connect with Amanda Pinterest: RunToTheFinish Get new posts via BlogLovin This post is sponsored by PurAthlete; all opinions, digestion and thoughts on powders are my own. Read Next: Protein Timing for Body Fat Loss >>
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