How Much Protein Do You Really Need Anyways?

The Fitness Industry isn’t just a collective group of people in tight neon pants and sweat bands prancing along…

 

It’s a business.

 

This doesn't make everyone involved evil, but there are people out there who care more about getting your money than actually helping you.

 

The great thing about working out is that many approaches are effective. If you put in the effort, you’ll get results following CrossFit, powerlifting, Zumba, etc.

 

While some approaches are definitely better than others, simply moving more and becoming more active is going to help you lose weight and feel healthier.

 

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the supplement side of the industry…

 

Some of the biggest money makers in the fitness industry are supplements… and they've been doing pretty well...

 

If the Vitamin Shoppe or GNC around every corner isn’t enough to convince you, simply type in “Protein Powder” into you google search bar and prepare to be presented with a plethora of sites claiming to have the “most advanced” or “purest” supplements available.

 

Here’s the problem: the majority of supplements are either minimally effective or simply don’t work!

 

I would venture to say that a good 90% of the supplements out there are going to provide you with zero benefits.

 

I don't want harp too long on supplements (I’ll probably write a full-blown article on them soon), so instead let’s just stick to protein powders to keep this article on track...

 

Now, the good news for protein powders is that they squeeze themselves into that 10% area of supplements that actually work!

 

However… it’s not because it has anything “special” about it.

 

Protein Powder is simply powdered food. (doesn’t sound very appealing when it’s look at that way huh?)

 

The most common form is Whey, which comes from dairy, but there is also many others forms such as pea, soy, egg, and casein.

 

What makes protein powder effective is simply the fact that it provides your body with protein, which is necessary to build muscle and can aid in fat loss (more on this later).

 

So while protein powders may be useful if you have trouble eating enough protein, don’t think that simply taking a protein powder is going to magically lead to more muscle and less fat.

 

You can absolutely get enough protein from a normal diet, and protein won’t matter if you aren’t training and working out in the first place.

 

Now, back to how protein is a business…

 

Because businesses are all about making money, it would make sense why supplement companies prescribe sky-high protein recommendations as well as tout the importance of the sacred “post-workout” shake.

 

So I guess the takeaway of this “point” is this…

 

Takeaway: There is money to be made with protein, so recommending outrageously high amounts of it to people makes perfect sense. Realize that these recommendations come from a place of making money more than actual scientific evidence.