When To Drink Protein Shakes For Weight Loss
Protein supplements are popular on the market for different reasons. People use them to build muscles, lose weight, or improve overall health and wellness.
Today, protein powders are popular supplement options for anyone looking to boost muscle growth and lose weight.
Drinking protein shakes is important in adding protein to your diet. However, should you have a protein shake before or after a workout?
This article assesses the importance of protein shakes and the best time to drink protein shakes for weight loss. The article explains everything you need to know about protein shakes and how they may affect your weight.
Can Protein Shakes Help With Weight Loss
A protein shake is a good supplement to build muscles and reduce weight. You make the drink by mixing protein powder with water or another liquid. It can be a convenient addition to your diet, especially when you have limited access to quality high-protein foods.
You can buy protein powder, mix it yourself or get different brands of pre-made liquid shakes.
While you should get enough protein from your diet alone, you can incorporate protein shakes to help with weight loss. People compensate for their normal diet with protein shakes if they don’t get enough protein.
Depending on your deficit, you can drink one or two glasses of protein shake in a day.
Consume fewer calories than your body needs to achieve a calorie deficit in a weight loss program. The number of calories you consume differs depending on the individual.
The factors that determine how many calories you can consume include age, height, weight, gender, and level of physical activity.
You can find many types of proteins on the market. Whey protein is a dairy-based protein powder that contains all the essential amino acids. Your body needs more energy to absorb and digest the protein you washed down before sleeping.
When you consume protein, it gives you more energy allowing the body to burn calories and achieve weight loss.
However, watch the total intake of calories if you’re trying to lose weight. Determining the number of calories in protein shake will add to the diet. For example, mixing 40 grams of protein powder in a glass of water gives you 160 calories because there are four calories per gram of protein.
If you mix the protein powder with milk or fruits, you could increase the number of calories leading to unwanted weight gain. Therefore, 20 to 30 grams of protein in a shake is enough to help lose weight.
If you’re trying to lose weight, be cautious not to exceed your calorie limit when including a protein shake in your diet. You can capitalize on the benefits of consuming protein shakes by adjusting calories from your food.
You need 0.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight on average. If you exercise regularly, you need about 0.8 grams of protein per pound of weight.
How does a Protein Shake Help With Weight Loss
Getting enough proteins can help support a healthy metabolism and reduce your appetite. It can also help you lose body fat without losing muscle. Drinking protein shakes is an easy way to add protein to your diet and help with weight loss.
If you’re trying to lose weight, drinking a protein shake before going to bed can help burn calories even as you sleep. When you drink a protein shake, it promotes MPs while pushing your metabolism into over-activity.
Combining a high protein diet with strength training helps build muscle by helping metabolism and energy production. By building muscle, you can keep your metabolism healthy if you are eating less because of a recommended weight loss plan.
Since an extreme calorie restriction can cause muscle loss, protein shakes help maintain a healthy metabolism and lean muscle. It can help you gain the weight back once you go off the restrictive diet.
Protein is one of the important nutrients for fat loss for many reasons. It reduces the hunger hormone ghrelin to curb your appetite. Studies have shown that higher protein consumption can cause less hunger throughout the day.
Protein kills hunger pangs by suppressing the hunger hormone and promoting leptin’s satiety hormone. If you feel less hungry, you eat less and reduce the chance of weight gain.
A protein shake will help you stave off hunger pangs for longer if you’re trying to lose weight. You will feel less hungry throughout the day due to increased fullness.
As a result, you consume fewer calories in the day than someone who eats low-protein food. It means eating a protein shake may lead you to eat fewer calories that contribute to weight loss.
Dangers of Protein Shakes in Weight Loss Process
While you should eat more protein to build muscle, there are several dangers of eating protein shake every day for weight loss.
For example, consuming protein shakes can lead to the depletion of good bacteria in your gut and increase the bad bacteria that can cause constipation.
The dangers of protein shake include stomach pains and cramps when you consume them at high doses. If you have lactose sensitivity, eating protein shakes good causes discomfort and digestive distress leading to malabsorption of essential minerals.
Consuming too many protein shakes can also burden your kidneys. Studies have shown that too much protein increases the risk of kidney stones and can reduce calcium retention.
Protein shakes are usually safe despite being unregulated. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate all supplements.
Hence there is a risk of consuming contaminated supplements unless it is third-party certified. Some manufacturers may hide the protein content in a shake.
Some proteins may have high sugars and calories, which can cause unwanted weight gain. Lots of protein shakes have flavorings, sugar, and additives to make them taste better.
These sugars can increase your energy levels and disrupt your sleep. Check the sugar content in a protein shake before buying it and consider the added calories.
Eating excess protein can lead to weight gain because the surplus protein in the body settles as fat. More protein does not offer extra benefits to your body. Therefore, always don’t exceed your daily calorie limit.
However, lactose is not the only nutrient to look out for when consuming protein shakes. If you have any food allergies or intolerances, check the label on your protein powder before consuming it.
These allergies can cause side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, bloating, stomachaches, headaches, and acne breakout.
Best Time to Drink Protein Shakes
Most people ask the best time to take protein shakes. It all depends on your health and fitness goals. The best time to drink protein shakes when trying to lose weight differs from when you’re building muscle.
People who drink protein shakes before or after a workout have advantages and disadvantages on both.
If you’re trying to build muscles, it’s important to eat a protein shake before working out. If you want to lose weight, take protein shakes after exercise.
The best time to drink protein shakes is between 15 and 60 minutes after exercise.
According to fitness enthusiasts, this is the anabolic window that allows the body to get the most nutrients. This period is up to two hours from a workout.
During this time, you can burn fat as the muscles can absorb the most protein. Proteins provide a slight metabolism boost which makes more calories burned. It increases metabolism because of the energy required to digest and metabolize it.
Anyone can have a protein shake before going to bed because it has many advantages. The shakes are a convenient option to ensure you incorporate enough protein into your diet.
Taking a protein shake before sleep gives you an added advantage of muscle growth and may help in weight loss. If you take a pre-sleep protein shake, mix 40 grams of protein for optimal benefits.
The time to drink a protein shake also depends on what type of protein it contains. Some protein shakes contain protein-based dairy products, and others are completely plant-based.
If you want to win, use protein shakes for weight loss, hoped-for soya-based or casein protein powder.
Having a protein shake before going to bed is also beneficial. It is a great way to promote muscle growth and adapt to the exercise regime.
The protein taken before going to bed is effectively digested and absorbed, which increases the possibility of muscle recovery.
Conclusion
Consuming enough protein is important for your body regardless of the time, unless you’re doing resistance training which requires consuming before or after exercise. There is a scientific explanation behind drinking your protein shake to get the most out of it.
You must follow instructions properly if you take protein shakes or any supplement. If you are unsure whether a product is right for you, speak to a nutrition specialist or a medical professional.
Resources:
