You may have considered trying to incorporate a protein supplement into your diet to finally build the muscles you’ve been hoping for. This is a great solution as protein supplements offer many benefits from improving muscle gain to helping with weight loss and even help with recovering from injury.
While protein is found in some of your favorite foods – chicken, eggs, and milk, choosing a protein supplement is a great way to make sure that regardless of what you eat today you’ll get the daily dose of protein you need. Check out the ways protein supplements help build muscle.
How much protein do I need?
Depending on your weight and daily calorie needs, the amount of protein will vary for each person. You’re likely getting the proper amount or close to it in your daily diet, but for your specific goals, it’s wise to include a supplement.
There are groups like elderly women who are more at risk of being deficient in protein. On the other hand, make sure your diet isn’t over 30% protein because you could end up with excessive ketones that your kidneys will have to work to flush out which will also dehydrate you. Keep protein at around 15% of your daily calories.
Benefits of protein
Protein offers so many great benefits and building muscle is one of them. It’s also going to help you by maintaining fluid balance, regulating functions throughout the body such as blood clotting and scar formation, and it synthesizes hormones and enzymes. You’ll notice a diet containing protein is good for the muscles, bones, blood, and even the skin and hair.
Types of protein supplements
You can incorporate protein through your food choices but protein supplements are often found in protein shakes, powders, liquids, and even capsules. You can get them in either animal-based sources or plant-based proteins. Popular options for animal-sourced protein supplements would be whey or casein which usually come from cow’s milk or egg white protein. For vegetarians, try soy, hemp, rice, or pea protein.
Benefits in muscle gain
According to Healthline, you should combine protein shakes with resistance training to ensure both muscle growth and enhanced performance. It says that when you increase your amino acid levels, which are found in protein shakes, this will trigger the body to respond with more muscle synthesis.
Additionally, protein shakes will help you retain and trigger muscle gain even during a weight loss diet. In a study of 40 men consuming a high-protein diet through protein supplementation, the men ended up losing more fat mass while increasing their muscle mass if they incorporated cardio and strength training.
In addition to the muscle gain, you’ll feel the benefits of better appetite control, the promotion of fat loss, and a boost to your metabolism. While you can incorporate protein into your diet through food sources, going with a protein supplement helps you to achieve your daily protein goals. It will be much easier to achieve to bulk up those muscles while staying trim and improving other functions of the body as well.