Protein Consumption: Do I need to supplement?

     When you take a look at the shelves of health food stores, you see tons of promises and guarantees on a wide variety of supplements. One often asked about is whether or not to supplement your current diet with a protein product. They will make all the enticing promises: Take this to increase strength; eliminate soreness; speed up recovery; improve muscle growth. I feel like I can go on forever listing the "benefits" guaranteed by supplements but would much rather focus on whether or not these supplements do what they say they do.

    There are two forms of protein that are needed for proper nutrition. They are whey and casein. Whey protein is known as the "fast-acting" protein. The body is able to break this down and absorb the nutrients quickly. Casein on the other hand is known as the "slow-acting" protein. This type has a different amino acid profile and takes slightly longer to digest as it slowly releases amino acids into the bloodstream. Whey stimulates protein synthesis and casein inhibits the breakdown of protein. With that being said, you need both of them. Isolating one or the other in the form of a powder may not be the best idea. If you decide to supplement, choose a product that includes both whey and casein, and not a whey or casein isolate.

    The first question you need to answer is whether or not you need to supplement. In order to do this you need to take a serious look at your diet. According to National Strength and Conditioning Association, the recommended intake of protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of bodyweight (I weigh 200 pounds and that converts to 90.7 kg. I would then divide 90.7 by 0.8 and come up with 113.37. That is the recommended amount of protein). Now, there are some adjustments that need to be done if you are super-active or perform heavy resistance training. If that is the case, you are recommended to consume anywhere between 1.4g/kg to 2.0g/kg of bodyweight. So once you find out the amount of protein that should be consumed daily, you should divide that number by the amount of meals you will eat in a day (my recommended intake is 113.37, so if I eat 5 times in a day I should try to get 22 grams of protein at each sitting). The goal is to get 65-75% of your protein from foods of animal origin, but if that is not possible, you should seriously consider supplementing your diet with protein.

     And now back to all those promises made by supplement companies. Timing is everything when it comes to replenishing nutrients, boosting protein synthesis, reduce soreness and improve strength and body composition. The goal should be to consume the right amount of carbohydrates and protein within 30 minutes of your workout. The carbohydrate to protein ratio should be 4:1. So, if you plan on eating 22 grams of protein each meal, you should consume 88 grams of carbohydrates with that protein. The ideal way to get those nutrients is from whole foods that contain a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein within 30 minutes of exercise. If you are able to do that, then those guaranteed promises may actually come to fruition!

Chris