It is a common misconception that protein intake is only important for professional athletes and bodybuilders. This is because protein is an essential component of the human body, and you need it in an ample amount to function healthily.
Protein helps your organs to function optimally and boosts your immune system. The macronutrient also helps curb your appetite and promotes faster muscle recovery and growth.
So, besides dairy products, poultry, fish, eggs, and lean meat, you can get protein from the best whey protein and casein protein supplements. And these are considered to be the best sources of healthy protein.
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What Is Your Daily Protein Requirement?
Before adding more protein into your diet, you first need to understand how much protein you need. And according to the dietary guidelines for Americans, adults should consume 5 ½ ounces of protein daily.
Meanwhile, you don’t just need to consume protein but diversify the sources too. Doing so will make it easy for you to get all the essential amino acids required for the healthy function of your body.
How Can Your Diet Benefit From Adding Whey Protein?
Ideally, it would be best to eat as per your fitness goals, like weight loss or lean muscle gain. This is not always feasible, though, due to hectic work schedules. Moreover, cooking and preparing meals is a highly time-consuming task.
Meanwhile, just adding a scoop of whey protein to your diet can compensate for 29 grams of protein on average. Plus, you can consume it as a smoothie, before or after a workout. Moreover, it keeps you satiated for a long time so you can avoid binge eating.
What Is Whey?
There are two types of proteins in milk:
- Whey (20%)
- Casein (80%)
It is one of the most high-quality protein sources available, and it’s natural. And usually, there are two types of whey:
- Sweet Whey: This is what is left after making hard cheese. It has a pH greater than or equal to 5.6 and is perfect for making smoothies.
- Sour Whey: It is also called acid whey and is what is left after making yogurt. And apart from protein, acid whey or sour whey is a good source of sodium and potassium.
Sweet whey is a richer source of protein than sour whey, and the best whey protein supplements are made from it.
The most popular supplement types are:
- Whey Isolate
- Whey Concentrate
- Whey Blend
- Hydrolyzed
How to Choose the Best Whey Protein Powder Supplement
The only thing left to do now is to choose the best whey protein for your daily intake. And to do this correctly, you need to keep a few factors in mind, though.
Your Fitness Goals
People usually consume more protein with three specific goals in mind. Either they want to lose weight or gain lean muscle mass, or both. So whatever your goal is, you need to implement whey accordingly.
Whey protein powders can help you maintain a calorie-restricted diet when trying to lose weight since they keep you full for long. Besides, it is incredibly thermogenic and breaks down into the blood quickly.
The Type of Protein You Need
Suppose you are following a kosher or vegan diet. In that case, you must include whey supplements to fulfill your amino acid needs. Furthermore, lactose-intolerant people need to choose whey isolate since it is lactose-free pure protein.
Whether you want to lose those extra pounds or build up some hard-hitting muscles, protein is essential. And even for regular people trying to live a healthy life, having a protein-rich diet is mandatory. As such, including whey protein supplements in your diet is a great way to fulfill that need. It also saves a lot of time on cooking. Moreover, you can even use whey as part of your recipe to spice things up.