What is the protein powder, What are the harms, How to use?

What is a protein powder? What are the benefits of using whey protein powder for daily protein needs? Does protein powder have any harm? How to use? How is it produced?

Why should you specifically read this article?

An ordinary day, an ordinary person:

I take 600 grams of chicken, 6 eggs, 2 cans of tuna, protein powder and BCAA a day. All of these wear me material and spiritual, but I only get 3 times my weight of protein. Do you think it is enough? But all are animal ...

An ordinary day, an ordinary news page:

Think again before drinking protein powder! Especially protein powders used by bodybuilders cause many problems such as brain tumors, heart and kidney diseases!

Can you understand now? No? So keep reading and you will be surprised.

From the need for protein to the fact that protein powder kills people, there is a lot of superstition and nonsense on TV, on the Internet, in gyms, in family conversations.

What is Protein Powder?

We cannot say that protein powder does not deserve to be the most popular supplement. The benefit of protein powder is that it contains protein. Voodoo is not a hocus-pocus product. You may need to take it when protein is lacking in your diet. Whey Protein consists of milk, it is not an unhealthy product. There are other ways of production (from eggs, rice, etc.)

We will examine all these in detail now, and you will use your money wisely.

It is a complex organic compound that results from the linking of protein amino acids in chains. There are many protein structures in the food we eat, as well as in the mortal body like us.

Proteins contain 4 calories per gram, but are consumed last at the time of hunger. Burning protein as energy would bring a huge bill as they participate in many structures in the body. We use "cheaper" carbohydrates for this.

Because they are very important for tissue formation, they are also the most important component for building muscle. This is why it is popular in the sports community.

What is Amino Acid?

Proteins are digested and used as amino acids, so amino acids do all this work. The interesting thing here is that while there are 20 different amino acids, our body can only produce 12 of them. All 8 amino acids are "essential" amino acids that must be taken from outside with food.

You may have heard that some amino acids are called "conditional essentials". While they can be produced on good days, so to speak, they cannot be produced in difficult situations. For example, glutamine is one of them.

What Are the Benefits of Protein?

Protein has many benefits. It is indispensable for health, but if we count it for athletes:

• It increases protein turnover and positive nitrogen balance: Our tissues must replace the worn-out proteins by synthesizing new proteins. Protein intake increases this. When not enough, protein synthesis will decrease.
• Protein has a high thermal effect: While 2-3% is spent for the digestion of fats and 6-8% for the digestion of carbohydrates, 25-30% of the energy it brings for the digestion of proteins is spent. So if we are eating too much, eating it from protein will reduce unwanted weight gain. Think about it, you think I got 400 calories but actually 300!
• Increases glucagon: A hormone that plays a role in fat burning.
• Increases growth factors: Increases hormones that help cells grow.
• Increases supplementary foods that support the body: Beneficial ingredients such as CLA, BCAA, creatine, l-carnitine, l-glutamine are found in protein-containing foods. When enough protein is taken, they do not need to be supported from outside.
• For these reasons, protein is an essential food.

How Much is the Daily Protein Need for Athletes?

• 1988 - Walberg et al. (1): 1.6 grams of protein per kilo is sufficient to maintain a positive nitrogen balance (muscle growth occurs) in weightlifters on a hypocaloric diet (low calorie).

• 1992 - Lemon et al. (2): There is no difference between 1.3 grams and 2.6 grams per kilo in inexperienced bodybuilders, ideal for a positive nitrogen balance of 1.65 g / kg.

• 1992 - Tarnopolsky et al. (3): There was no difference in protein synthesis, lean mass gain, or strength increase between 1.4 grams and 2.45 grams per kilogram intake, with high protein oxidation in the overtaking group (indicating overdose, burned).

• 2006 - Hoffman et al. (4): No difference was found between 1.7 grams and 2 grams per weight in terms of body composition, strength and hormone concentration over 3 months.

Protein Need for Intense Sports: If you think that you need to take more than these studies say because you are training too hard, bodybuilders who train 6 days a week for 1.5 hours a day did not add more than 1.65 grams per kilogram.

If you think you are an experienced and advanced bodybuilder and therefore need more than usual (do you even lift bro?), You need to know that elite bodybuilders need less protein than novice bodybuilders.

In fact, the protein needs of long-tempo endurance athletes are higher than even elite bodybuilders. This is because the more advanced you are, the less texture you can regenerate. The less tissue you wear and tear, the less protein you will need. Endurance athletes will have more needs due to their long catabolic training.

Likewise, people who inject steroid hormones need not much. In this study, even those who took 1.2 times the protein per kg per day for 20 weeks were able to add 8 kg of muscle mass without any exercise. The reason for this is that the drugs used make the nitrogen balance positive by reducing protein breakdown in the body.

Protein Requirement While Burning Fat: Although some researchers say that taking excess protein while creating a calorie deficit will help nitrogen balance, so people who want to burn fat will have their protein needs up to 3 times their mass, but this has never been proven. In fact, according to some researchers, nitrogen balance does not always indicate protein deficiency. Just as taking too much will not guarantee a positive nitrogen balance, getting 1.6 grams per kilo is enough for those who want to burn fat.

In other words, protein needs are not high for people who want to burn fat, but increasing protein intake from healthy sources will not be a bad idea, as high intake will help them both create a calorie deficit and feel full.

The Daily Protein We Need ...

Research shows that between 1.2 grams and 2.2 grams of protein per lean mass is sufficient to maintain and increase muscle mass, even in the calorie deficit.

The lower the fat rate we have and the more calorie deficit we have, the better it will be for us to consume from the upper limit. Taking more than this amount will affect neither performance nor appearance. If we take too much, at best we'll get expensive glucose (sugar); because the body converts excess protein into glucose and uses it for energy (see gluconeogenesis). Or if we are consuming more calories than we need, these calories are stored in the body as fat.

It is a myth that we should get 2, 3, 4 grams per kilogram, which is not based on a scientific background.

What Happens If We Don't Get Enough Protein?

Protein deficiency is not a big problem for a short time, you will not feel it.

Its constant deficiency may first impair your muscle development, and then cause serious health problems.

We share this not for you to fear and panic, but to approach consciously. You should check your daily protein intake.

Is There Any Benefit From Taking Too Much Protein?

By now we must have realized that we don't really need a lot of protein to build the body. But the industry has made so many advertisements and discourses to make you believe; You wouldn't believe a few vitamin-free researchers! Besides, science cannot respond to everything, what is love, for example? Is this the reality we live in or is it a fantasy?

While there are still many unanswered questions (!), If we eat too much protein, we will be on the safe side.

First of all, there are psychological benefits to making sure that we do not consume protein just to be "guaranteed". In my personal experience, I have seen dozens of naive young people attacking training with the determination of people in the line of the BRT just because they drank protein powder. If these people are going to do their training a little harder with this belief, let them do it.

Apart from the psychological benefits, as we wrote above, protein has a high thermal effect: so if we are eating too much, eating it from protein will reduce unwanted weight gain. In addition, protein consumption has a more filling effect than other foods.

We said that beneficial ingredients such as CLA, BCAA, Creatine, L-Carnitine, L-Glutamine are found in foods containing protein. When you eat too much protein, you take too much of them and it may have a positive effect to some extent, maybe.

Which Foods Contain the Most Protein?

You should get your daily protein requirement calculated above every day for optimum development. From time to time it does not cause a problem to fall below that minimum value, from time to time it may be beneficial to exceed it.

What we are wondering now is; Which foods contain protein?

Foods Containing Protein

• Animal sources: Red meat, fish, chicken, eggs, dairy products, animal protein powders (usually whey, ie whey).

• Vegetable sources: Nuts, legumes, cereals, vegetable protein powders (usually derived from soy, peas or rice).

In general, these food groups contain a significant amount of protein to meet our needs.

Do Herbal Proteins Build Muscle?

It is not unknown what foods contain protein, but people's biggest concern in this regard is whether or not vegetable proteins are counted. And unfortunately, there are too many legends around on this subject too. One of them is that vegetable proteins are not complete.

Almost every protein source in nature carries all the essential amino acids. In other words, vegetable proteins also have full amino acid content; however, from food to food, the amount of these amino acids can vary. So it carries, but maybe little.

The concern is whether missing amino acid intake will be a problem. However, when we examine it, the protein sources that we call deficient are not really lacking, or they can be easily completed with other foods we eat.

If we had to eat a single food in limited quantities for the rest of our life; maybe then animal protein could be a little more important; but grains with legumes, nuts with grains, etc. we can balance. Considering that eating plenty of plant sources is much easier than eating plenty of animal sources, there is no serious situation to worry about.

In the studies on the amount of protein mentioned above, there is no particular interference with the protein source, so you do not have to take all those amounts from animal proteins. If you meet your calorie needs with some milk and cheese in the morning, some meat chickpea at noon, dried beans and rice in the evening, you probably meet your protein needs easily.

Why are these myths spreading?

People also believed that the earth was once flat. However, making these suggestions when we have such abundance of information is more than innocent ignorance; either the unsuccessful advice of incompetent people, or the excuses of those who use secret steroids, "I eat a lot of meat, if you eat you, you will improve…"; Or by the greed of people who make money from the protein trade.

Protein Powder Prevents Muscle Breakdown!

Our goal after sports is to damage the muscle tissue. In fact, there is some muscle breakdown. Just as there is chaos inside the cell as the cell divides, we stretch the bow back to throw the arrow away, we sometimes need destruction in life, and that's good!

Protein powder does not prevent this destruction, but it prevents this destruction from continuing. If you feed quickly after training, you can support muscle growth.

Of course, if you have eaten a protein or amino acid source close to the training hour, you do not need protein powder.

In addition, the main benefit of protein powder is that while you are on a fat burning diet, you are already consuming less calories, so you can get something with low calories and high protein. So it helps you keep your macros. Many things you eat cannot do this as easily as a protein shake.

Protein Powder Builds Muscle! (Even Bone!)

In fact, protein or amino acid makes muscle. But as we mentioned again, protein powder provides convenience if you do not have any nutrients in your body at that moment.

How it does this helps you maintain a positive nitrogen balance after training as whey is digested fast. A positive nitrogen balance is essential for new tissue formation.

On the other hand, calcium is very important for the skeletal musculature and its deficiency can be overcome by consuming whey protein. One scoop of powder meets the need for about 20% calcium.

Protein Powder Burns Fat!

Of course not directly, you should understand this now. But when sports and proper nutrition come together, you will burn fat.

The biggest contribution of protein supplements is their high amino acid content despite low calories. Of course, it is possible to achieve this with diet, but it is difficult.

Protein Powder Makes Nutrition, Life Easier!

In fact, this is the biggest difference, everything else is not something that fish, chicken and red mullet cannot do.

Lives are very busy now, so industries such as diet food service have grown and now we want to make every job easier and focus on our own business. It is essential in one place for us to be better athletes, this is the subject of another conversation.

If you do not like to prepare food for yourself, if you cannot get protein easily and deliciously, is there good enough to meet your needs with a delicious shake?

You can also make simple recipes with the powder, it will be easy to gain weight fast with high calories.

On the other hand, protein powders can be helpful for relatively difficult disciplines such as the ketogenic diet and the vegetarian diet. There are even herbal powders for vegans.

How Is Protein Powder Made?

There are many types of protein powders. The most common are whey and casein protein. Both consist of milk, of animal origin. The less common egg protein is also of animal origin. In addition to these, protein powder of vegetable origin is produced from soy, peas and hemp.

Let's examine the types of protein powders one by one.

Whey Protein Powder

What is Whey? Whey is a product obtained in cheese making. So it comes from milk. The protein part is isolated from whey and its powder is formed. Therefore, it is of animal origin and contains lactose.

For those who are lactose allergic, it would be sensible to use products that contain lactase enzyme. The added lactase enzyme breaks down lactose, so it is more easily digested.

Fat is separated from whey and used in different foods. Processing can be done by simply drying or removing protein-free materials such as oil. Whey protein is a fast digesting protein.

Casein Protein

Casein is a phosphoprotein. We can say that it is the main protein of milk. It is produced from milk. It has adhesive properties. It contains all the amino acids required for development and survival.

Someone who is not allergic to milk may be allergic to casein, so it is a good idea to consult a doctor if it causes discomfort to use.

When the casein protein comes into contact with stomach acid, it forms a gel structure. It slows down the emptying of the stomach and the mixing of amino acids into the blood. Therefore, it is digested more slowly than whey protein.

According to researches, although it is not as effective as whey protein in muscle protein synthesis, it is more effective than plant-based proteins.

Egg Protein

Eggs are a great source of protein. When calculating the digestion rate of the protein, 100% is taken as the reference. It is a complete protein source like other animal-derived proteins. It contains all the essential amino acids.

Since egg yolk is not used when making egg protein, it may be a little weak in satiety. Apart from that, it will be a useful source of animal protein for those who are allergic to milk.

Although not as much as whey protein, it contains a good amount of leucine. Leucine is an essential amino acid for muscle protein synthesis.

Herbal Sourced Protein Powders

There are protein powders produced separately from many plant sources. Among them are peas, soy, brown rice and even hemp. There are also protein powders produced using multiple plant sources.

If the vegetable protein powder is of poor quality, it will not always be a complete source of protein like animal proteins. However, amino acids that are relatively lacking in protein powders produced from mixed plant sources can be supplemented. Therefore, when buying vegetable protein powder, we need to pay attention to its content.

One benefit of plant-based protein powders may be more beneficial in suppressing appetite than whey and casein. It will also be digested more slowly than animal sources because of its higher fiber content.

Vegetable protein powders will be beneficial for vegan athletes to take protein more easily. Thanks to fortified protein powders, vegetable protein with full amino acid content can be consumed.

How to Use Protein Powder?

You can take protein powder as much as you need to complete your daily requirement. There is no harm in taking too much protein.

The need for protein on sports days will not be different from other days, because your muscles are renewed on the day you do not exercise. The calculation is already done accordingly.

You can mix the powder in water as it is written on the package or in milk if you want a little high calorie. It's pretty simple 🙂

If you need to take it before your workout, we recommend taking it with water. Milk is not something to recommend, especially before training, for many reasons. We can say the same about whey, which consists of milk. We recommend you to be hungry already before the workout, a separate conversation.

When to Use Protein Powder?

Whey protein is a fast digesting protein. Casein protein is digested a little slower. The timing of the protein or protein powder is said to be very important, but this proposition is often not valid.

If you take your meals at regular intervals during the day and you can somehow meet your protein needs at the end of the day, fast or slow digestion of protein makes no difference. So you don't have to buy it before - after training! You can take it with a low protein meal or a snack!

However, when you cannot meet your protein needs during the day or when you are exercising hungry with an intermittent fasting type of diet, it may make a difference to take protein in a way that is digested quickly after training.

In addition, some studies suggest that protein that is digested faster as the age progresses should be preferred.

If you are new to sports, get the right training program and nutrition program before using protein powder. However, after 3 months, there is no time limit like after 6 months, if you want, you can meet your protein needs without exercising. You don't need to tie it to a time, you don't need a right to use powder.

Is Protein Powder Harmful?

Protein powder is made from milk, it is natural, not synthetic. The healthier the milk from which it is produced, the healthier its powder. This is the factor that determines the quality among products. It is healthier than the bread on the table of millions. But when examined in depth, problems related to milk also carry many protein powders.

Milk can cause allergies, acne, and problems such as gas & bloating in some people. Those with lactose allergies may prefer isolated whey.

Protein powders or protein do not harm the kidneys. However, people with kidney problems should consume protein carefully and consume protein powder carefully. In general, consuming protein will make the pH balance of the body acidic, so drinking plenty of water will be beneficial for people who want to develop muscle.

About protein powder, from heart attacks, artificial muscles, sagging muscle building; There are superstitions ranging from too fast muscle building to abnormal growth. However, the benefits and harms of the product are as summarized, it is not an actionable supplement as it seems.

Now we come to the exciting part of the article. Let's say we eat a lot of protein, will we encounter any negativity?

First, none of the studies mentioned above have shown that those who take too much protein experience a downside. These studies were conducted on active, healthy young people.

Is Protein Harmful to the Kidneys?

It has been tested up to 2.8 times the mass in people with healthy kidneys, and no adverse events were encountered. For people with healthy kidneys, there is not much to worry about protein intake, but it is recommended to increase protein intake slowly and consume plenty of water.

However, protein is definitely a nuisance for unhealthy kidneys. Therefore, restricting its intake may slow the increase in kidney problems. 0.6 grams per kilo is recommended. However, you should consult your doctor for your specific circumstances.

In fact, this is where it gets mixed up, because it is not easy to understand whether our kidneys are healthy or not.

Kidney problems don't show up early. Therefore, it is very important for those who consume excessive protein to do research on kidney health and those who see any abnormality in urine immediately consult a specialist.

Kidney problems are a serious issue, ranked 9th among causes of death. Animal proteins in particular are much more troublesome than vegetable proteins at the point of creating kidney problems.

If you experience an abnormal situation, it's normal to investigate it. Not to panic or blame anything.

Is Protein Harmful to the Heart?

There is no negative relationship between protein and heart. TV, newspapers and worried families on this issue; especially if they claim that grew the heart of whey protein powder, these allegations are known only within the borders of Turkey.

On the other hand, protein sources containing saturated fat can negatively affect heart health, according to the American Heart Association, but these claims also appear to have been debunked in a recent meta-analysis.

So you don't seem to have to worry about your heart when consuming protein.

If you are, or are considering using, steroids, you may encounter many potential heart health problems. This isn't about protein, it's about powder.

Well, is meat harmful?

Publications on this subject have recently appeared showing the cancer-related risks of meat consumption. In fact, researches on this subject do not show a very clear result. We still do not know for sure what is what, because it is difficult to investigate.

Still, there are serious risks. This is related to the type of meat and the way it is cooked. I find it sufficient to summarize the comments of the researchers at the Examine, as this topic is not as simple as our previous bets, and probably the reader does not care about its details:

• Consuming red meat every day carries a serious risk of cancer, especially bowel cancer. Organic meat 1-2 times a week does not seem problematic.

• High consumption of processed meat (sausage, salami) is to play with the fire.

• Playing with fire (overcooking, frying) is also playing with fire. Therefore, different cooking methods should be preferred.

Is Whey Protein Harmful?

Okay, protein maybe not harmful for healthy people; but protein powder? Because they say "not natural"? Look alike, Prof. Dr. He wrote an article in the newspaper, never put any research under it like you did, but we should stay away from protein powder. He does not say the reason, but he knows something… 

Frankly, I got around to this interesting question. Protein powder is a food, just like anything you buy from the grocery store. It is not a hormone, drug, chemical, synthetic product. Protein powder is what milk is. If you do not have a problem with milk (such as lactose allergy), you will not have any trouble with protein powder. In fact, if you have trouble with milk, you can benefit from isolated whey protein powder and milk protein and not trigger your allergies.

For God's sake, are there any academic studies that the world accepts? There are teams that carefully interpret the studies we have mentioned above. We have never seen anything like this in any of these teams. Somehow these problems are only in Turkey, hmmm ...

Everything that is discussed in the media on this subject is the product of ignorance, without any scientific background. Just as you go to the ministry-approved cheese and buy it from the market, you can buy the ministry-approved protein powder from pharmacies, stores, the internet, from your friend, your gym, etc. You can take.

Why Doctors Say Harmful Then, You Know?

We have heard this expression a lot, and we welcome it with respect.

If you think this way, you have to understand that being a doctor or even a direct kidney doctor does not guarantee that you know anything about what protein powder is.

Yahu something new is constantly coming out in the world, will I know everything about sports forever? Of course not. That's why people specialize in their expertise, they can become experts in limited areas, even those areas are constantly changing.

What do they know about the production of powder that we and the experts we follow do not? If they know why are they talking about this in the media?

The place of doing science is academic work, creating media speculation is not science!

Summary: Practical Tips On Protein Powder

Let's wrap it up, you read a lot:

1- The protein we need to build the body is not too much. Many of us are in financial and moral difficulties to buy "expensive candy" unnecessarily! We can meet this need without much difficulty from plant and animal sources.

2- If we cannot meet it, this will be necessary especially during the fat burning period, protein powder will also help us meet our needs. So dust makes life easier.

3- It may be beneficial to consume more protein or more than needed. Excessive consumption does not cause any health problems in healthy people; but if you have any health problems, it will be more appropriate to eat according to your doctor's advice.

4- Excessive meat consumption is unnecessary as well as harmful! Protein is not only found in meat, or only in animal sources. Complete muscle can also be developed with vegan diet.

5- If we need to use protein powder, we can use it whenever we want. There is no age for this, there is no need for a sports experience, there is no pre-post training requirement.

6- It can be used as written on the protein powder package. There is no hockey pocus!

7- There is no such thing as every expert will be right every time they say it. You have to use your mind, nobody thinks of you more than you!