Should you use protein shakes to lose weight?
Forget the pills, protein shakes have become the new fad in low-carb dieting – flooding supermarket shelves and health food stores, and they have even crept into pharmacies and constitute a major part of the offerings at nutrition clubs.
They come in a variety of flavours and are packaged in both liquid and powder forms, not only for adults, but even the growing child.
Then there are also protein bars for those on the go.
Many are boldly labelled ‘weight loss shake’, ‘complete balance nutrition’, or ‘the complete nutritional meal in a drink’.
A number of them are also labelled as containing the right combination of vitamins, minerals and iron necessary for keeping up with the daily demands of the body.
But are these shakes effective as the labels claim?
“The average adult needs 45 to 60 grams of protein a day.
As long as you are eating a healthy, well-balanced diet, adding extra protein – such as in the form of protein shakes – isn’t necessary,” points out dietician Jennifer K Nelson on mayoclinic.com.
Along with being a good source of protein, some shakes are said to be effective for those whose objective is to shed points.
So consuming too much extra protein can actually make losing weight more difficult.
Most protein shake mixes and some pre-made shakes get their protein from soy.
Others may use a dairy or egg base.
Although protein shakes generally aren’t harmful, you shouldn’t expect them to take the weight off for you.”
“Weight loss is achieved by controlling your calorie intake and increasing the number of calories you burn through physical activity,” Nelson stressed.
For local dietician Barbara Hamilton, protein shakes do not replace whole meals.
“There are many different types of what we [dieticians] call medical nutritionals.
We use them as supplements to the regular diet.
They don’t replace a whole meal,” dietician Barbara Hamilton told Thursday Life.
Hamilton explained that the amount of protein intake for the day would depend on the individual.
She said that that since each individual is different, the protein intake will vary and that the average amount of protein required will be dependent on the person’s body weight.
She added that the average protein requirement for the body is 0.8g of protein per kg body weight per day.
Health food stores have classified protein shakes into three groups: the super-high protein shakes – which should be taken in addition to a regular meal; the meal replacement shake, taken instead of a meal; and the weight-loss shake, for persons on a diet.
The super-high protein shake contains approximately 22 grams of protein, while the meal replacement ones contain 29 grams of protein.
All three come in regular or herbal forms.
“The purpose of protein shake is really to increase somebody’s protein intake.
The only time we would serve a supplement alone, is if the person is feeding from a drip, at that time we would measure the amount of nutrient in each serving to ensure that it is the amount that the body requires,” Hamilton said.
In concurring Nelson’s arguments, nutritional consultant, Dr Andre McDonald said: “Our diet is not inadequate, if one wants to be correct, protein shake is not really necessary for the average individual consuming the correct foods.”
“However, 69 per cent of protein consumed [in foods] is animal protein.
These proteins come with animal fat and cholesterol, which trigger many lifestyle illnesses affecting 60 per cent of the Caribbean,” he pointed out.
Dr McDonald explained that the way we prepare protein is a part of the problem.
“Animal protein is generally prepared in heat (high temperature), example frying, resulting in saturated fats, trans fat and pro-inflammatory fatty acids that are integral in many prevalent disease processes.”
He said the solution to what he called protein crisis lies within eating healthier proteins, which contain less disease-causing fatty acids, example fish (deep sea fishes) which contains Omega 3 fatty acids – that is, healthy fatty acids for the body.
“We should also improve the preparation of food by baking, broiling or steaming as oppose to frying,” he said.
“Due to the difficulty with regard to availability, accessibility and affordability of healthy protein, coupled with the palatability, one has the option of choosing a significantly, easily accessible and always available choice of great-tasting protein shakes,” he added.
“Protein shakes are designed with all the 22 amino acids the body needs, and has no unhealthy fats.
Unhealthy fats are the fats that make you tired and weak.
“A good way to alleviate the consumption of bad proteins is simply by supplementing shakes,” Dr McDonald said.
Some protein shakes such as Nourishake, he pointed out, are made with some types of sugar that releases the energy in the formula every four hours to keep the body energised.
While others are designed as meal replacement and suitable for active individuals and athletes.
Protein Shakes Good or Bad? (The Jamaica Observer)Forget the pills, protein shakes have become the new fad in low-carb dieting – flooding supermarket shelves and health food stores, and they have even crept into pharmacies and constitute a major part of the offerings at nutrition clubs.
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