The benefits of protein shakes are numerous. Practicality and effectiveness are just a few benefits to be gotten from including shakes in your muscle building diet plan.
For me, including protein supplements in my daily routine just makes sense. I, like many other individuals, live a busy enough life and as a result find it difficult during the day to prepare meals.
Consequently, if I find that if there is a time during the day where I might find it inconvenient to prepare a lunch with muscle building foods or even sit down for a meal, I simply prepare a meal replacement protein shake in advance.
This way I can get all the vital nutrients required for my body to recover and gain muscle mass. This works perfectly if you’re someone who may be eating several times per day.
Downsides of Meal Replacing Protein Shakes
However, I’d only recommend you replace a meal with a meal replacement protein shake once a day, quite simple because solid foods are just more nutritional complete than liquid foods.
I would take particular notice of this if you’re someone who is dieting to target body fat as your body tends to burn more calories when digesting whole foods as oppose to liquids like that of protein shakes.
If you are in this scenario I would advise mixing some whole foods in with your meal replacement shake. This can be things like oats, peanut butter, yogurt, crushed almonds etc.
Benefits of a Post Workout Protein Shake
Another major benefit of consuming protein shakes is post workout, when you’re body is craving vital nutrients.
At this point it’s far more practical to consume a liquid protein shake which has everything your body is craving as oppose to a meal, which would sit idly digesting in your stomach. On top of this, the nutrients in a protein shake are far more easily digested after a workout due to lack of blood in the digestive tract.
This occurs after intense exercise when the body is being sucked from certain regions of the body into the muscles. Of course, this leads to a lack of blood in the digestive tract which hinders digestion.
Protein Shakes And BV
Certain protein powders on the market also happen to have a far superior Biological Value (BV) than that of regular protein foods such as chicken breast and eggs.
This means that the muscles of the body are being provided with the best possible source of protein directly after a workout, during the day or first thing in the morning.
Protein is of course responsibly for the growth and repair of muscle cells.
This is of primary importance not only for those who wish to pack on muscle mass but also for those who wish to lose body fat and have a more defined and overall better looking body.