Breaking Myths Around Whey Protein

Whey Protein is one of the best sources of getting fast-digesting and high-quality protein. For vegetarians, it’s difficult to get food sources offering lean protein, and hence Whey protein is a blessing for people like me who rely on vegetarian foods for their protein needs. Whey protein helps me meet my required protein amount. In spite of so many health benefits, there still remain a lot of myths around whey protein in Indian society. With this blog post, I aim to provide detailed knowledge about whey protein benefits and also clarify myths around whey protein.

Benefits of Protein in your Diet

A high protein diet has many benefits in your everyday life.

• It strengthens your muscles and makes recovery after any injury easy.

• If you are someone who loves snacking and want to curb those food cravings, a high protein diet, preferably in breakfast, is the answer for you. 

• It reduces hunger and appetite and makes you consume fewer calories this way. You can also burn fat that will ultimately make you lose kilos and maintain your weight as a high protein diet will boost your metabolism. 

• Additionally, as you will eat more proteins than fats, you will be at lesser risk of developing heart diseases and would be able to control that spiking increase or decrease in your blood pressure that you might face if you are diabetic or have hypertension.

• Women, if you have or are at risk of osteoporosis, you should be consuming more proteins as it will make your bones more strong and healthy.

Now that you know how important it is to include proteins in your diet, the bottom-line question is how are you going to choose a good quality protein and ultimately fulfil your protein needs?

Good Quality Protein Options

We all love eating cakes, pastries, bhaturas, kachoris, etc. don’t we?

Be it someone’s birthday or a brunch out with friends, be it a lazy Sunday morning or a family dinner, we as Indians love food in general, especially those fried refined foods. But do you know that Maida, that you so love to eat, has minimal amounts of protein as all of its protein is lost during de-husking and polishing? That’s why it is said that go for unrefined grains, to keep the nutrient quality intact.

• I would suggest you all make small changes first by doing smart consumer selection and by choosing whole grains like wheat over refined grain products like Maida, in the first place. However, a cheat day does no harm so you don’t need to stop eating Maida but reduce eating it and start replacing it with better options such as wheat flour, ragi flour, bajra, etc. 

• Another option to get really good protein is through milk if you are not lactose intolerant (cannot digest milk or feel uneasy when you drink milk). However, I would like you all to go for low-fat milk options such as toned, double-toned, and low-fat milk variants instead of full cream milk. Milk products such as low-fat curd, paneer, etc. are excellent sources of protein and can help you achieve your protein requirements.

Myths Around Whey Protein

1. A high protein diet can harm your kidneys: Most people think that eating protein can harm the kidneys but this is not true as a healthy kidney can very well adapt and function just fine.
   
2. The more whey protein you consume, the weaker your bones will become: There is absolutely nothing that proves that eating more whey protein can lead to a drop in your bone mineral density, weaken your bones or cause osteoporosis.
   
3. Your body cannot absorb additional protein: Many people believe that additional protein will not be absorbed by their body. However, it should be noted that after the protein has been utilized for muscle building, damage repair, etc., additional protein can be utilized for energy expenditure. So don’t worry even if you consume more protein than required but don’t make it a daily habit of eating more proteins as an excess of nothing is good.
   
4. The more whey protein you will eat, the more muscle you will gain: As discussed earlier, the protein will only be utilized until a certain threshold for muscle building. After that, protein is utilized for the expenditure of energy.

5. Eating more whey protein will make you fat: This is a false statement as you will lose weight with a higher dosage of protein in your diet than gain more kilos and become fat.
   
6. Dairy protein is more nutritious than plant protein: Dairy proteins are not nutritious as plant proteins. However, on a gram-to-gram basis, plant proteins are far more inferior to milk-based proteins, especially during muscle protein synthesis.
   
7. You should consume whey protein immediately after you finish working out: It is not entirely true. More than the timing, your total protein intake in the entire day matters more but if you are doing high-intensity workouts, bodybuilding exercises, or are working out twice a day, you might need to eat after working out as you will have less time to fulfil your protein needs for the day.
   
8. Whey protein is not a supplement but only a placebo: Increased protein intake through supplementation has always shown a positive impact on performance and exercise outcomes. Therefore, it is only a myth that whey protein is not beneficial or does not show any effects.

Also check our article How to choose a good Whey Protein.