From Joey, Nutrition, Supplements
5 Ways To Pick the BEST Protein Powder
July 14, 2010 by Joey Vaillancourt · 40 Comments
Protein’s are the building blocks required to repair and grow muscle tissue when participating in any type of activity that breaks down muscle tissue including particularly in our case, progressive resistance training.
Examples of common protein rich food’s include chicken, beef, eggs, milk, cheese, fish and of course supplementary protein sources known as protein powders.
There are protein’s found in potatoes, rice, pasta and nuts, but the majority of protein’s found in these sources are not considered to be ‘essential’ protein’s and their bioavailability is not as high as what is found in the meats and dairy groups. Therefore, when calculating our daily protein needs, it is best to only count the ‘complete/essential’ proteins.
Typically to gain muscle mass or even lose fat, you have to keep your protein intake high. A good rule of thumb to calculate protein for lean muscle gain is to multiply your lean body mass by 1-1.5. Then we would want to divide that intake into 5-6 meals over the course of the day.
Now to anyone who is a newbie to this concept, the thought of eating 6 chicken breasts a day or 8 eggwhites each meal can seem like a daunting task. Fear not as there is an alternative to eating 6 whole food protein sources a day that is guaranteed to deliver just as good as results.
The alternative is to ingest 2-3 protein powder’s in the form of a protein shake.
There are several advantages to consuming 2-3 protein shakes in place of whole food protein sources throughout the day and they include:
- Convenience
- Faster absorption for post-workout protein requirements
- Better absorption and digestion
- Constant flood of amino acids at all times
By now It should be clear that including a good protein powder in one’s diet is very beneficial in ingesting your daily protein requirements.
The tricky part is trying to pick a GOOD protein powder that will contribute to muscle gain and not break the bank.
Here are my 5 ways to pick a good protein powder.
Mass Gainer VS Protein Powder
First, you need to understand that not all protein powders are created equally.
First there are powders that are known as mass gainers. A mass gainer is basically a powder that includes protein’s, carbs and fats. Although, all three of those macronutrients are required in a diet, when picking a protein powder, a person should never purchase a mass gainer if they really only want a protein powder.
Some people who are new to lifting often make the mistake of purchasing one of these so called protein powders not knowing that they are also consuming much more than just protein which may contribute to excess fat gain due to the excess calories.
When choosing a powder make sure it has the following:
- Low fat (1-5 grams is ok)
- Low carb (1-5 grams is ok)
- High protein (normailly about 20-30 grams per serving)
The Test of Time:
Another factor to consider when picking a protein powder is to find out how long that company or product has been on the market.
My general guideline is to only consider products that have been around for at least three years and have received positive feedback.
Normally, if a product lasts this long it is because it is a quality product that people continue to purchase because it works.
Natural and Pure Powders:
The quality of a protein powder is in my opinion more important than the total quantity of protein.
Always look at the label when deciding on a protein powder and make sure it doesn’t contain any more that 7-10 ingredients. Also, try and find a powder with more natural ingredients. Typically if you have a hard time pronouncing all the ingredient names, that might be a sign to put that one down and look for another one.
When choosing a powder it is also important to never get pulled in by advertisements that states it has so called added ingredients that will promote even more muscle growth.
Supplement Company’s use a dirty little trick where they will include a small trace amount of an extra ingredient that may be helpful in promoting more muscle gain on its own, but the amounts they include in their product is not enough to make a significant difference. When they do this, the price is normally inflated and not worth considering.
Concentrate, Isolate or Casein?
There is also lots of debate as to which type of protein is the best to ingest.
To make this simple, here is what you need to know.
In my experience, I have tried them all at different times in my training and have found that it really doesn’t make a difference. Of course, that is just my opinion, but that being said, if you have the money and you truly believe the type of protein will make a or break your results, then here is a basic guideline.
Concentrate – This is a good source of protein powder that is absorbed at a moderate pace. Typically it is good to include this type between meals.
Isolate – This type of protein is more rapidly absorbed and is recommended to have immediately following a workout to shuttle proteins and amino acids into the starving muscle cells.
Casein – Casein has a longer digestion period, more so that concentrate and isolate. Bodybuilders and many athletes normally include this type of protein as their final meal before bed as it provides a constant flood of amino’s throughout the night time fast during sleep.
Stay Away From The Hype:
Supplements are notorious for hyping up their products with unrealistic claims and promises.
DO NOT buy into the hype of major companies that price their product above and beyond what you really need to pay.
I am not saying their products are not good or that you will not see results with them, but rather, they are just not worth the cost they are charging.
Take the time to compare ingredients, company track records and do not let the hype influence your decision.
I get my protein powder from a very generic company. The packaging is simple and there is not any excessive marketing tactics behind the product. The product is simply composed of high quality ingredients and I trust the company. That’s all that matter’s.
If you want a HIGH quality protein powder along with Multivitamins, Fish Oils and other supplemental needs, Prograde Supplements is by far the best in the industry for high quality products.
These are the guys I use for my protein and the other mentioned essentials.
Check them out if your interested in supporting a muscle building environment in your body 
I Want The BEST Protein Powder On The Market Today! <—- Click Here
Also, be sure to let me know if you have any questions and feel free to share some stories about past experiences when purchasing protein at those ‘Supplement’ stores
Oh, and one last thing, there’s no annoying sales rep to deal with at the online shop No offense to supplement sales reps…your not all bad, but there are some! haha
Joey
PS.
If you are looking for a program that not only informs you on the other worth while supplements to take but also gives you a plan to gain muscle in as little as 5 weeks, check out Bones To Buff for the complete package!
Bones To Buff
The 5 Week Cycle Program
Gain Up To 10lbs in 5 Weeks
great article Joey thanks for sharing.
Is it ok to consume more than 3 or 4 protein shakes a day? sometimes it gets busy during the day and I just dont haev tiem to prepare all whole food meals? you input please?
No problem James, glad you liked it bro
Tammy,
Its ok to do this maybe in an emergency..but I would definetly not recommed doing this on a regular basis. The body was not meant to digest liquid meals such as these all the time.
But like I said, when you have to make due, its perfectly acceptable
I was down the gym the other day and thought i would ask this dude what protein he uses, so he told me his product and i said that stuff is so over priced why do you buy it. He said because it’s good quality and i asked why is it so good, the only thing he said back was all the pro’s use it. WTF i thought is that the reason he buys it because Mr Jay C or dexter has his face slapped on the front of the tub and because there getting paid for it.
It makes me mad when people say that something is the best because such and such uses it. GRRR lol. I have been buying WHEY for about 3+ years now and have tried many but keep going back to Dymatize which i get for a good price but the main reason is because haveing IBS i find alot of protein supps give me the shits but dymatize is easy on the Gut. with that in mind it can make it hard for some people to find the right stuff due to IBS which can be very common.
Great article Joey thanx.
@Thomas – Thomas, that was hilarious why you stick with the dymatize..lol. Thanks for sharing.
Im glad to hear that you didnt fall victim to letting some fake marketing draw you in
Your a smart guy, the majority of the pros dont use half the products they claim to use, or at least, they didnt build their bodies on those supplements alone like they claim to have done!
Thanks for this man
No problem, let me know which one you liked best
Thank you for this article
Happy to help
Hey man, thanks for this article!
I didnt realize alot of this stuff. just wanted to let you know, i also purchased your bones to buff program and i cant wait to start it next week!
thanks Joey
Joey I need your advise, i am new to protein supplements , and I was on this website calle allstarhealth.com and I just this protein called “dymaTize elite whey protein (instantized) smooth bannana” and it was a 5lb tub for 30$. I was shooed couse alot of other 30$ powders would only ge you 2lb tubs… So does this mean this protein is cheap or not as good, I would really appreciate if you took some time to answer this, is it so cheap couse the company sucks or if this company doesent have a good history or not legitement, and how long the company has been up for. Please an thnak you
@They call me “the” – Its hard to say. I have never heard of this company and I am not sure of the quality or reputation. Besides, I get all my stuff direct from the links I mentioned above in the post. That being said, I looked over their site and although the site itself doesnt look that great (quality wise) you never know. They have a 30 day refund policy so you could always try it out and if you notice anything weird then just kindly ask for your money back.
Couple things though…
The company is located in California…good if you are from the US and bad if you are from Canada or anywhere else in the world as shipping times will be outrageous and perhaps even customs cost.
Make sure that the protein powder you get has a seal…if not send it back!
and always check the expiration date. Should be somewhere on the bottle. Sometimes companies sell stuff close to the expiry date at cheap prices.
Hope this helps
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