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Sir, do I need more protein? Please give me a protein supplement. Which supplement should I buy? How many grams of protein should I take in one serving? When should I take my protein shake — before or after workout?
These are everyday questions from athletes on a sports nutrition plan. Protein is the building block of the human body. The muscles require protein to rebuild and recover quickly between training sessions. My advice is to consume 11.5gm per kg of your body weight in foursix meals through the day. So, a 70kg athlete needs about 100gm of protein a day. This can be as high as 2gm per kg body weight in the case of a bodybuilder, who will eat 140160gm of protein per day.
Ideally, for every gram of protein you consume it, you should consume 4gm of carbohydrates. Most athletes make the mistake of consuming proteins with very low carbohydrates. They normally achieve this by using a protein supplement, which are designed to full the needs of a tness diet that hinges on the high proteinlow carb concept.
Protein is an essential macronutrient required by the body to carry out series of functions and maintain structural integrity. Food sources rich in protein include pulses, legumes, dairy, meat and sh, among many others. In order to meet the RDA (recommended dietary allowance) requirement of protein, one needs to eat a substantial amount of protein food sources, which may not always be feasible. Protein powders make it easier, with better absorption and digestion.
Protein supplements can be divided into dairy protein and plantbased protein. Conventionally, protein powders are made from whey and casein with added sweeteners, articial avours, vitamins, minerals and probiotics. With veganism on the rise due to increased awareness on animal rights and climate change, there is an increase in vegan protein powders available in the market.
The recent trend in 2020 has led to a
With veganism on the rise due to increased awareness on animal rights and climate change, there is an increase in vegan protein powders available in the market.
greater consumption of plantbased foods as dairy has been shown to increase inammation in the human blood. A recent documentary, The Game Changers, on plantbased diets showed greater recovery and power gains. Many elite athletes in the last two years have opted for nonwhey protein supplements to get leaner gains and recover faster.
As a nutritionist, traditionally I have recommended whey protein abundantly in the last two decades. Whey has a very high biological value and protein eciency ratio. Hence, it is always the preferred protein supplement. However, with the advent of blood testing and foodsensitivity testing, I am nding a greater number of athletes having lower recovery due to dairy or milk proteins due to inherent higher inammations.
Protein is signicant for muscle growth. Though plant sources lack the essential amino acids, several combinations of plantbased foods contain enough protein to full the required intake. Vegan protein has many health benets like lower risk of cardiovascular disease, reduced risk of diabetes mellitus, protection against weight gain, et cetera. Vegan proteins are rich in micronutrients and easily absorbed. Some rich sources of vegan protein are peas, soy, hemp, pumpkin seed, brown rice, sunower seed, quinoa, beans, chia seeds and pumpkin seeds. Most plant foods in their natural form have less than 10 percent protein. When these foods are concentrated into ours and their carbohydrate and fat content is removed, they become better concentrated protein powders. A carefully made combination will ensure no missing amino acids when making the powder blends.
A word of caution for some user. Usually, vegan protein powders have a high bre content and can have tolerability and digestive issues leading to side eects like gas and bloating. I discourage protein supplements to clients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, constipation, piles or any other
digestive issues. Those with sound health and digestive systems should add a vegan protein powder to bump up their protein post training. For a lot of my celebrity weightloss programmes, I prefer using plantbased proteins over dairy or soy protein powders in fat loss and muscle gain.
Here are three of my reviews on plantbased protein products:
Fast&up Plant Protein Isolate
Rating: 4/5
This plantbased protein is a sound protein combination based on peas and brown rice proteins. Brown rice protein has good BCAA (branchedchain amino acid) content, which is ideally suited for muscle protein synthesis. It has no added sugar and a natural stevia sweetener, which I really like due to not using chemical sweeteners. The chocolate avour is derived from natural cocoa powder, while many brands use chemical avouring. When mixed with water, the coconut milk powder in the protein allows for a thicker shake, though you need to have some good biceps to shake up your protein shake. When blended with ice directly, the shake prole improves hundredfold. Consuming a vegan shake may come as a cultural to the taste buds of a veteran of milkbased whey shakes. Fast&up have done their work correctly in the avour department, making this one of the besttasting vegan proteins in India. The addition of mediumchain triglycerides helps athletes have sustained energy and glycogen replenishment. Their plant protein could have used some added bre to prevent constipation. This is easily handled if you mix a banana or fruit into your shake. At 34gm of protein per 45gm scoop, this is a heavyweight protein contender!
Oziva Organic Plant Protein
Rating: 3/5
A frontrunner in the combination of pea, brown rice and quinoa protein, this organic choice also gets the thumbs up from me. It also has dietary bre added. This plantbased supplement should have got a 5/5 rating but lost out severely in the taste department. With no avour and no natural sweetener, it does not appeal to the gymgoer or athlete looking to shake up the protein in the postworkout shaker. Truly tasteless, I recommend this protein is best added to your chapati or soup or dal to bump up the protein in your diet. At 30gm protein per 36gm scoop, this wins hands down on being the most concentrated.
Sunwarrior Clean Greens & Protein Rating: 4/5
For close to a decade, I have used plantbased proteins, and this has been my preferred choice till recently. Not cheap due to high import costs, it wins hands down in the taste department. It has green pea protein with goji berry protein extract. The veggie blend contains broccoli sprouts, onion extract, tomato, broccoli, carrot, spinach, kale and Brussels sprouts, providing you with a portion of your necessary veggie servings. At 1■gm protein per 25gm scoop, this protein supplement loses out in the race for concentration of protein. It wins, however, with the added vegetable extracts that help in greater green matter and recovery antioxidants.
Those with delicate digestive systems may want to add a probiotic supplement to their vegan protein powders.
AUTHOR IS CHIEF SPORTS NUTRITIONIST AT
QUA NUTRITION CLINICS. FOR GUIDANCE ON A VEGAN
DIET AND THE USE OF PLANTBASED PROTEIN
SUPPLEMENTS AND RECIPES, WRITE TO HIM AT
WWW.RYANFERNANDO.IN