Protein supplements are concentrated sources of proteins. They are used for muscle building, muscle repair and post-workout recovery, lean muscle mass maintenance while dieting, among many other uses. Protein supplementation also allows you to quickly and easily reach your daily protein targets.
Protein is a major nutrient, and together with carbohydrates and fats, they are the so called "macro nutrients". Protein is the biggest constitutor of muscles and most organs, measured by dry weight. Protein itself is made of amino acids, and the better the amino acid profile is for your goal, the higher quality the protein can be considered. For more information read our article "How to choose a protein".
Protein comes from different sources, both animal and vegetable. The most common protein sources are found in foods such as meat, fish, dairy, eggs (for animal-sourced protein) or soy and beans (for vegetarian-sourced proteins). Alternatively, you can quickly and easily add proteins to your diet through protein supplementation.
The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) recommends in general 0.83 grams per kg of body weight per day for an adult and more for adolescents or pregnant or breast-feeding women. So a typical adult weighting 80kg should consume 66.4 grams of protein per day.
Nevertheless, if you are a physically active person, or doing intense exercise such as bodybuilding, you may require more protein to speed up recovery and repair damaged muscle tissue. Since every person is different it is advised to consult a nutritionist or medical doctor for an evaluation of the protein that is needed to reach your goals.
Protein supplements may be a good choice for you, if you are looking to add protein to your diet, or in having a diet high in protein.
High protein diets are usually taken by those looking to lose weight or improve body composition, by adding more protein to their diet and lowering the amount of carbohydrates (especially sugars) in their diet.
For physically active people protein offers numerous benefits including:
- Muscle growth
- Faster recovery and muscle repair
- Reduced muscle soreness, pain and fatigue
- Increased strength (due to more muscle mass)
- Lean muscle maintenance while body transforming
- Healthy bones
Protein supplements are usually presented in powder form, to which you can add liquids (water, milk, juices) to make protein shakes. You can also get protein from protein bar supplements, ready to drinks (RTD) protein supplements and amino acid supplements (which are the building blocks of protein).
In this page we present you the most popular and/or best opportunities for protein powders. It includes whey protein (WPC, or whey protein concentrate), whey protein isolate, casein, beef protein, vegetarian proteins (soy and other sources) and protein blends, which include blends of different types of proteins, as well as protein formulas enhanced with other ingredients.
All the manufacturers include tips and instructions on how to use the protein supplement, so always follow the instructions recommended by the manufacturer.
But usually, you will add one serving of the selected protein supplement to a shaker and a set quantity of liquid (water, milk or juices) and shake it until it becomes homogeneous. Then you should drink it.
You can be make your protein shake even more delicious by using your creativity. Some suggestions are to blend it with ice cubes or add ingredients such as peanut butter, fruits such as raspberries, granola or agave syrup.
The most popular protein is whey protein. If you are intolerant to lactose you may consider a whey protein isolate. If you are vegetarian, you may prefer a vegetarian protein.
You can use the filters to find your perfect protein. You can filter by type, brand, price, customer ratings, flavour and more.
