What Protein , Why Protein, Which Protein, When Protein and Protein supplements.

Proteins are essential nutrients for the human body. Protein is a nutrient needed by the human body for growth and maintenance. They are one of the building blocks of the body, but can also serve as a fuel source.  Aside from water, protein is the most abundant molecule in the body. Protein is found in all cells of the body and is the major structural component of all cells in the body, especially muscle. As fuel, proteins contain 4 kcal per gram, just like carbohydrates and unlike lipids, which contain 9 kcal per gram.

Proteins are polymer chains made of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds. In nutrition, proteins are broken down in the stomach during digestion by enzymes known as proteases into smaller polypeptides to provide amino acids for the body, including the essential amino acids that cannot be biosynthesized by the body itself.

Amino acids can be divided into three categories: essential amino acids, non-essential amino acids and conditional amino acids. Essential amino acids cannot be made by the body, and must be supplied by food. Non-essential amino acids are made by the body from essential amino acids or in the normal breakdown of proteins. Conditional amino acids are usually not essential, except in times of illness, stress or for someone challenged with a lifelong medical condition.

Natural way of consuming protein:

If you believe in Natural diet, good sources of protein are legumes, nuts, seeds, dairy and fruits. Natural sources are effective but not as effective as protein shakes available in market for PRE / Post workout.

Supplement protein:

There are too many protein supplements available in the market to choose from. There is no full proof answer for it. However this post is attempt to answer basic queries about which supplements should be consumed and which can be avoided.

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Protein shakesThey are available in 2 forms:a. Blends b. Whey protein (concentrate, hydro and isolates).

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I would suggest people to avoid categorizing blends in this category. Generally blends act as meal replacement shake and have other ingredients that are needed for your body at that time. Shakeology, Visalus and other similar shake fall into this category. Please don’t use this as main source of protein. They generally contain less than 50% protein. Even if you consume blends – you still require better source of protein.

1. Whey protein

They can be made from various sources such as rice, soy, milk etc. Soy proteins should be avoided. Please Google side-effects of isoflavanols present in soy.

I honestly don’t care about ISO protein (protein isolates) or concentrated protein. ISO protein is just for people who prefer to add protein powder in various other recipes and not drink it plain with water. ISO protein is generally stripped down version of protein with less carbohydrates, fats etc. However those quantities are too less to care about unless you are part of performance training. If you are performance athlete, please find a proper coach to guide you.  For other people it really doesn’t matter.

It is up to personal opinion that added bonus features of whey protein are to be consumed or not.

Best protein shake contain features such as BCAA (Branch Chain Amino Acids). Some even contain Creatine and L-Glutamine. I would suggest against such protein though. You don’t need to consume Creatine regularly. Please buy a separate pack for it if you really require taking it. On other hand BCAA and other amino acids can be / should be consumed regularly. There is a new marketing ploy called HydroWhey – which is considered fastest breaking protein. For normal person, it is mostly irrelevant and should be considered as marketing gimmick to lure more money from the customer.

Consumption:
I have already explained my timing for consumption of whey protein. Some people like to take it pre/ post workout. My suggestion is Whey protein should be taken PRE – workout as protein contain little bit of nitrogen too which helps you for more rep. Extra endurance during workout leads to better muscle breakdown and better chance of the growth. Whey protein is more effective pre workout because it is considered fast protein.

Post workout – products high in glycogen should be taken for speedy recovery. Consume something that has alkaline properties. Even something simple as electrolytes would work. Protein can be utilized as source of energy, however when you have better stuff available, why to consume something that is secondary?

My suggestions:
On Gold Standard 100% Protein
Dynamatize ISO 100
Perfect protein by Tone it up girls.

Avoid:

Ultimate ISO sensation 93 – tastes sweet at start and bitter at end.
GNC – Horrible taste (Horrible everything in my opinion)
Amway Prolite – I don’t know who can consume this. Product is horrible and taste like puke.

2.     Casein

An attractive property of the casein molecule is its ability to form a gel or clot in the stomach, which makes it very efficient in nutrient supply. The clot is able to provide a sustained slow release of amino acids into the blood stream, sometimes lasting for several hours. This provides better nitrogen retention and use by the body. 

Casein should generally be consumed before going to bed. When your body is in rest state, it needs slow supply of amino acids for better growth of muscle.  I am only aware of one source of casein protein for vegetarian – cottage cheese.  Hence best time to consume cottage cheese is 2 hours before bed time. Casein by itself can’t be digested by your body. It needs to be combined with some other minerals. Calcium Caseinate provides the best result.

Any doctor would tell you that best period for muscle growth is while body is in rest. During workout muscles break down. For growth of new muscles, best source is getting proper rest and providing it with enough protein for growth.  Why do you need so much muscle? Because “Muscle burns FAT”

An attractive property of the casein molecule is its ability to form a gel or clot in the stomach, which makes it very efficient in nutrient supply. The clot is able to provide a sustained slow release of amino acids into the blood stream, sometimes lasting for several hours. This provides better nitrogen retention and use by the body. 

Suggestion:

Depending on your requirement – you can consume cottage cheese at bed time or consume 100% On Gold standard Casein protein shake.

3.     Amino Acids:
Protein are basically amino acids. Amino acids are basically classified in 2 parts:

a. Essential Amino – Acids – This needs to be consumed by the diet as this form of amino acid is not generally formed naturally by the body.
b. Non-essential amino- acids – They are formed naturally inside body and hence not required externally unless in case of special requirement or injury. 

     Protein are basically amino acids. Amino acids are basically classified in 2 parts: a. Essential Amino – Acids – This needs to be consumed by the diet as this form of amino acid is not generally formed naturally by the body.b. Non-essential amino- acids – They are formed naturally inside body and hence not required externally unless in case of special requirement or injury. 
 

BCAA (Branch Chain Amino Acids) – Branch Chain Amino Acids are the "Building Blocks" of the body. They make up 35% of your muscle mass and must be present for molecular growth and development to take place. They act as nitrogen carriers which assist the muscles in synthesizing other amino acids needed for anabolic muscle action. In simpler terms, BCAA's combine simpler amino acids to form a complex whole muscle tissue. I suggest buying protein shake that comes with BCAA in it.

L-Glutamine - Recovers muscles in trauma

Protein requirement:

I experimented with taking 30gm of protein as soon as I wake up and found that I recovered very quickly. I am naturally active and hence don’t suffer from any grogginess when I wake up. I wouldn’t be right person to comment on effectiveness of protein vs. caffeine. Taking caffeine is not recommended on empty stomach.

Consuming whey protein provides sufficient amount of energy and adequate recovery. It also fires up your metabolism in right way.  It is still highly debatable to consume protein vs. carbohydrate for starting metabolism in a right way. However consuming protein first does aid in FAT LOSS.

Overall theory is – Your body is in starvation mode for more than 8 hours while you sleep. It starts consuming nutrients from your muscle after a while.  You do get good muscle growth, however many of us feel lack of flexibility on cold body in the morning. When you warm up the body – to fire up the motors of muscles – protein is used. Providing right amount of protein early on would provide adequate supply of protein. It will not draw protein from your reserves.