You finish a workout. You gather yourself, complete your cool down walk, give your fellow workout fanatics high fives, and give your score to your coach. Next you grab that mixer bottle that has your protein powder and fill with water to start that recovery process. And oftentimes conversations around the water cooler start by people asking which protein powder do you use.
When it comes to protein powders, there are a ton of options to choose from. And making the right choice gets confusing.
The FDA classifies protein powders (and other dietary supplements for that matter) as a food item. This means as long as the product is safe for human consumption and they company does not claim to cure diseases, there are no testing requirements (as compared to a pharmaceutical drug).
So how do you choose the right protein powder? There are a couple guidelines you can follow:
1. CHECK THE INGREDIENTS LABEL. My magic number is 5. Meaning if there are more than 5 ingredients on the label, I am moving on.
How many ingredients do you count?
Write here…
2. HOW MUCH PROTEIN IS IN YOUR PROTEIN POWDER? I prefer a powder to be above 80% protein (otherwise, what are you buying really?) To figure this out, check the nutrition label and divide the protein grams by the serving size (grams).
22g of protein / a serving size of 47g = this “protein powder” is 47% protein. Pass.
3. CHECK LABDOOR. When you want to know more about your protein powder, go to labdoor.com. They test protein powders and a variety of other dietary supplements for label accuracy, product purity, nutritional value, ingredient safety and product efficacy.
MORE THAN JUST WHEY
Some people don’t digest whey (dairy) protein well. Or are on a vegetarian or vegan based diet. Good news is, there are several plant based proteins out there. One website to check out is True Nutrition (www.truenutrition.com) as they have a wide variety of plant based proteins to choose from. You can even customize your protein’s flavor profile to your liking.
If you have ever have questions, come see Wes, Natalie or Brett. We’re here for any nutritional questions you may have!!
