Protein powder is a nutritional supplement that athletes and bodybuilders commonly take. It helps them gain muscles and lose weight, which fuels their physical activities. Proteins are also important because they aid in building muscles, repairing tissues, and creating enzymes and hormones. Therefore, anyone could use it, especially those who want to increase muscle mass, develop body composition, or aid them to address a specific protein need.
However, not everyone who uses it is familiar with its benefits but were just using it because they were told or were influenced intaking them. This article expounds more about it to deepen your knowledge about protein powder and give importance to the efforts that are put into its formulation and creation.
Types of Protein Powder
Protein powders are classified into concentrate, isolate, and hydrolysate. Moreover, various types of the product can be seen in the market, including:
- Whey Protein – It is a type of protein powder that comes from milk, which helps increase our body’s supply of amino acids that helps in improving muscle mass and strength.
- Casein Protein – It is a type of protein also made from milk known for being less aggressive in breaking down food intake.
- Egg Protein – It is the best choice for people with dairy allergies. It is primarily made from egg whites.
- Pea Protein – It is the alternative for vegetarians, vegans, and people that are allergic to dairy products. It is a plant-based product with a similar effect to a regular protein powder in muscle growth.
- Hemp Protein – It is also a plant-based product composed of high omega-3.
- Brown Rice Protein – It is helpful for body composition but significantly low in lysine content.
Benefits of Protein Powder
As a nutritional supplement, protein powder has something great to offer to those who are physically active. Here are its benefits based on various studies:
- High Source of Protein – As a great source of protein, protein powder helps develop muscle growth. Gaining muscle helps individuals avoid various chronic diseases due to the body fats they have. So, it helps avoid having high cholesterol, increasing the chances of a person having heart disease.
- Lowers Blood Pressure – It helps avoid heart disease because protein powders are dairy products. Furthermore, it has angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors called lactokinins, which have an essential influence on human blood pressure.
- Helps Treat Type 2 Diabetes – Intake of protein powder increases the insulin level of our body, wherein the hormone allows regulating sugar level.
- Helps Reduce Inflammation – The product also diminishes the blood levels of C-reactive protein, which allows it to lessen inflammation. Moreover, it also can treat inflammatory bowel disease, yet further studies must be done to support the claim.
- Develops Antioxidant Defenses – An antioxidant’s role in our body is to regulate oxidation, lessen oxidative stress, and avoid the risk of having a chronic disease. Protein powders are evident to have a high cystine, which is an important amino acid to produce glutathione.
- Reduce Hunger – It is also commonly used for weight loss. So, it helps to lower the person’s desire to eat. Therefore, it lowers the fat level of our body by deducting calorie intake, increasing metabolism, and retaining muscle mass.
To sum it up, protein powder intake is very beneficial for our bodies, but you must still make sure to follow the correct amount of dosage intake so it would not go to waste.