Does it MATTER where your PROTEIN COMES FROM?

[Lililston]

I weight 127, so I take 140-160 grams of protein daily.

The thing is I consume 90-95 grams of my protein from shakes... and 40-60 from whole foods.... Is there anything wrong with this???

 

[BOOEY]

Most definitely. I can speak from personal experience, a year or two back I was getting most of my protein from shakes. Once I switched to mostly whole food sources (eggs, steak, chicken, milk) the gains came a lot faster. I don't know the mechanisms behind it or why thats the way it is, but it is what it is

 

[FigureSkater]

Yeah that ratio should be the other way around....

 

[anthrax]

As much as possible eat real food

Powders should be a supplement = supplement to your normal diet, not the base

 

[Lililston]

Is cottage cheese considered a whole food??

 

[rchage06]

Making sure that you get plenty of different protein sources is important, and while protein shakes are a great source of a full spectrum of amino acids, your body can't use them as easily as natural sources of protein. Animal proteins are always best because they have a complete amino acid make-up, and are not lacking in one or more types of aminos.

 

[anthrax]

Is cottage cheese considered a whole food??

Sure
but CC is also loaded w/ carbs

 

[JKurz1]

The dry curd (FF) probably has the best nutrient profile of them all............low in sugar and carbs, yet high in protein!

 

[javaguru]

First, I do believe in consuming whole food proteins as they provide valuable nutrients and possible unknown nutritional factors that may support general health and muscle growth. I also don't believe in "meal replacements" as I prefer whole foods for all of my carbs except during my workout when I take dextrose.

However, many protein powders are superior to whole food protein when it comes to protein quality as measured by BV and the PCDAAS.

Take my milk protein isolate powder which has the same amino acid profile as whole milk and maintains most of the minerals, the extra calcium is beneficial on a high protein diet. It also contains high levels of magnesium which many people are deficient, I get 100% of my required magnesium from that naturally occuring in my milk isolate. On the latest protein quality scale, the pcdaas milk gets a perfect score of 1.0 while beef gets a sub par .92, making my milk protein powder superior to beef in protein quality. I also don't ahve to deal with all teh saturated fats in beef and can thus supplement with fish oil and flax for healthier forms of fat. Finally, I'm consuming 350g of protein per day of which 200g come from powders. It's more cost efefctive than traditional animal sources, easier for compliance and takes less prep time in my schedule.

Here is an article by John Berardi which has some good info for those wanting to learn more. http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/supplementation/prosuper.htm

 

[Thresher]

Most definitely. I can speak from personal experience, a year or two back I was getting most of my protein from shakes. Once I switched to mostly whole food sources (eggs, steak, chicken, milk) the gains came a lot faster. I don't know the mechanisms behind it or why thats the way it is, but it is what it is

I agree with you that whole foods are the way to go and when im eating alot of steak instead of drinking shakes my gains come quicker but I also wonder if those gains are coming because im taking in more calories eating all that whole food.