By Shira Kramer, Managing Editor
Did you know that dietary guidelines recommend roughly 10% of daily caloric intake to be protein? For instance, a 150-pound person would need to consume around 50 grams of protein daily. For college students, that is not as easy of a task as one would think. With constant exposure to trending health products, protein powder companies have taken over many students’ For You Pages.
These protein supplements seem like an easy fix to an overly common protein deficiency, but in order for them to work, you first need to get it down your throat. While taste is subjective, the thousands of articles published online about how disgusting these powders are hint at the lack of success of these brands to find tasty additives for their product.
Recently, I became hooked on the protein powder trend. I thought that drinking protein shakes (that I wanted to make myself) would help me snack less throughout the day. According to the Cleveland Clinic, protein actually takes longer for the body to digest than most other nutrients. Therefore, it will keep you satiated for longer periods of time. But the first day I made the shake, the taste was so off-putting that I had difficulty finishing it. While I did feel full until lunchtime, I couldn’t make myself have another one on future mornings.
Trying out these supplements left me with many questions: Is protein powder actually healthy? Can I find easy ways to incorporate protein into my diet without using disgusting supplements?
Scientists create protein powder by extracting protein from animal or plant-based sources. Protein powder that uses animal protein is typically called “whey,” whereas a plant-based protein is labeled according to its source. Once the protein is isolated from the source, manufacturers can add other nutrients and sweeteners to enhance the product’s flavor and nutritional value.
Unlike conventional foods, dietary supplements like protein powder are not considered food by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are therefore not regulated as such. Many protein supplements are not tested for efficacy and side effects.
Some protein supplements contain caffeine, which is often left out of advertisements describing the product. The danger with this additive is that for college students who may be drinking multiple cups of caffeinated beverages throughout the day, added caffeine that is unknown (and therefore uncalculated into your daily caffeine intake) can cause unwanted side effects.
For people looking to support muscle growth, added protein is necessary. However, most people can achieve their daily protein requirements through regular food. One piece of chicken or fish can be close to 30 grams of protein. Therefore, supplementation is unnecessary for most people who aren’t looking to put on pounds of muscle.
Additionally, just because something is high in protein or placed amongst vitamins at the grocery store does not mean that it is actually healthy. Many protein shakes and bars have tons of added sugars. Hence, if you are looking to use these products for weight loss, eating processed protein might have an adverse effect.
Protein powder is an unregulated product that should not be consumed without proper research. Understandably, these shakes and bars are easy for on-the-go, but can be dangerous in the long run. Therefore, when trying to bulk up, ingesting natural sources of protein may be healthier and more beneficial than relying on supplements.