The Ultimate Guide to Protein Powders and Supplements {Protein Part 2️⃣}

"What kind of protein powder is best?" I can't tell you how many times I've been asked that question.

In this second episode of my four-part series on protein, I delve into the world of protein powders and supplements. 

I cover:

• The importance of using protein powders as supplements, not primary protein sources
• Different categories of protein powders: whey, plant-based, and egg white
• Key factors to consider when choosing a protein powder, including leucine content and third-party testing
• Specific recommendations for protein powder brands I trust and use
• An explanation of collagen supplements, their benefits, and limitations
• Resources for verifying the quality of protein supplements through third-party testing

This episode provides practical guidance on navigating the often confusing world of protein supplements, helping you make informed choices that support your health goals.

Get your Protein Playbook free download here

Transcript

The Ultimate Guide to Protein Powders and Supplements {Protein Part 2️⃣}

Welcome back to our four-part series on protein.

If you missed Tuesday's episode and you're like, Amy, why are you showing up on a Thursday? That is because I'm trying to get all four of these episodes in two weeks, because I have a lot of really great episodes coming over the next several months. And I didn't want to push them back. 

The last episode went longer than I wanted, which if you know me, and if you are a longtime listener, you are probably not surprised. 

I will try to keep this one a bit shorter. But I want to really quickly reestablish some of what I am calling my own ground rules for this episode. Number one, I am assuming that you want to age with resilience, strength, and functionality. We are looking for grandma goals here.

Where we are moving well in, however it is that we want to be able to move as we get older. This is aligned with intuitive eating. If you are a longtime listener, you know that I just finished an entire season on intuitive eating, and this is a. Christ centered, intuitive eating show. I do not educate or coach or train for weight loss 

And I believe we can have health promoting behaviors and lifestyles, regardless of the body that we are given . God made all sizes and shapes and skin colors of our bodies. And so let's just honor that and steward the body that we have well. 

I will assume in this episode as well, that you are active in some sort of capacity. 

 Also keep in mind that might nutrition coaching certification through Nazism or the national academy of sports medicine is for general guidelines. If you have specific needs, specific health issues, you are working around, please go to a registered dietician. Preferably one that is focused on intuitive eating, 

And if you don't have one, you can always look for1@intuitiveeating.org or reach out to me. And I have several that I can connect you with. 

With that let's jump in. First let's talk about protein powder. One thing to be aware of is protein powder is considered a food supplement by the us food and drug administration. 

This means it is regulated differently than the other foods that we have that are classified as foods. And I want to hone in on that word supplement. If you choose to use protein powder. 

Use it as a food supplement, not as your primary way of considering protein. God gave us these amazing bodies and he gave us an abundance of food, plants, and animals, whatever you like to consume. And that is what our body is going to thrive best on. Again, this is assuming general population. There are some people who need to have specific types of foods to meet their specific body needs. 

That's not what this episode or not who this episode is for. We're talking about general guidelines. 

First, we want to make sure that we are eating enough. That can be an issue. 

And with the understanding that all foods are morally equal. There are no there's none of this good foods, bad foods. There are some foods that provide more. Nutritive value. So those are the ones that have more nutrients. These are what I call nutritionally dense foods. That's the term that I use in my book for teen girls, which does not get into the weeds as much here, 

it gives it to them in very easily digestible chapters. No pun intended. 

Nutritionally dense foods and foods that are like, you can hold it in the Palm of your hand and know where it came from. Those are the ones that will oftentimes oftentimes help us feel and function best. Is it always the best answer? 

No. I am not demonizing anything here, but with regard to protein powders and as a food supplement, Consider them and use them as a supplement. And this does include protein bars as well. 

 Protein bars are great for on the go. They're great for travel. They're great for like, I just need to eat something really quickly, but I don't think that those are exactly what we want to have as our primary source of protein. 

So when possible use protein powder and protein powder. Type foods to supplement the whole plants, whole animals not entire animal, but just whole foods that you consume. Now let's talk about types of protein powder. 

I'm going to put these into two main categories, but one of them kind of has multi categories. 

So one of them is way, way is the protein found in dairy in milk.

If you can consume dairy and you don't have a problem with it. Or you can have whey protein. 

Honestly that's ideal. And in fact, whey protein isolate, cause there's a lot of different types of whey protein, but whey protein isolate is considered the gold standard and has the highest amount of leucine. 

To trigger that muscle protein synthesis. And if you're just joining us for this episode, go back and listen to episode one to hear more about what all of that is and what I mean by loosening and muscle protein synthesis and all of that kind of stuff. 

So that's one category of protein powder. Another category is going to be your plant-based. There are a ton of different types of plant base. 

Each different type of plant offers a different amount of leucine.

Again, this matters because L leucine triggers the muscle protein synthesis, 

Which is what helps to rebuild and repair those muscles. So muscle protein synthesis, a good thing, leucine. Very good thing. Protein powders. They will have varying levels of that. 

 I know at the grocery store that I go to and I look at all the different plant proteins, there are a ton of them. You can see pea protein and hemp, protein, and rice protein, and soy protein. It is an egg white protein. I mean, there's all kinds of different ones. And actually, I guess that is a third type of protein because egg white is not necessarily way clearly, but it's also not plant-based so egg white protein is another type of. Protein. 

According to Dr. Stacy Sims, Who I shared in episode one is one of the voices who I learned from and who I trust in this space specifically as it relates to women and perimenopause and beyond women. She says that P hemp and keenwah protein are really your best bets for getting a good amino acid profile. 

 Amino acids, or you might see them as BC a, 

which our branch chain amino acids are just a group of three essential. Amino acids that play important roles in our body. Particular in muscle function and metabolism. So those also will help promote your muscle protein synthesis. It helps reduce your muscle breakdown. It will decrease your exercise related or exercise induced fatigue. 

So like when you've had a really big workout that can help. And then it also helps support recovery for after exercise. Remember, one of the assumptions that I would made that I shared in episode one is I am assuming you are active in some capacity, so. BCAA is our important in our active lifestyle, which yes, you absolutely can get from regular foods. 

We're just talking about them today. In relation to protein powders. 

So again, P hemp and keenwah protein are good to get that strong amino acid profile. 

That can be a little hard to find on your grocery shelf. However, I do have one that I feel like fits the bill pretty well for that. And I'll share that here in a minute. When you are looking for a protein powder, here are some things to look for. Number one, if you can tolerate way, get one that says whey protein isolate again, that's kind of the gold standard for the amount of leucine that it has per serving. Number two, look for. Lucene that is going to be about two and a half to three grams per serving. 

Number three, just look to see that it has some BCAs again, to help with that muscle protein synthesis and just to help give the, your muscles, the support that they need. And then number four, finally, I feel this is very important. Look to see that it's, third-party tested. 

Food supplements like protein powder are not regulated by the food and drug administration here in the U S so to that end, you don't know if what they are saying on the label is actually on the label and this can go both ways. You can get way more of something. Than you think you can get way less of something than you think you can have added ingredients in there that are not on the label 

That may cause issues. If you are sensitive to something. So I really have transitioned over the last couple of years 

to almost all of my supplements are third-party tested. Yes, it does cost a little more sometimes. However, in my opinion, It's worth it to know that what I'm putting into my body is what the label says. So look for that. A third-party testing. How do you know if it's third party tested there are two dominant third-party testers. One of them is N S F.

And as a Nancy S as in Stacy and F as in Frieda, I don't know I'm making this up, but in S F. If you go to N S F sport. Dot com you can do a search and you can find out which products they third-party test. I have found it harder to see a comprehensive website for you. For USP, but if you are looking on the label and it says USP, then that means it is third-party tested. There are some other supplements and food supplements out there who will do other third-party testing. 

Another place that does third-party testing is consumer lab.org. So think of consumer lab.org as. Consumer reports, but for supplements. 

That one requires a subscription. I think it's like $60 a year, but you can go and you can search and you can do your own research with that. 

I think it's very empowering to do your own research and. To know. I mean, you've got to choose what's important to you. And so anyway, consumer lab.org is another great resource for finding some protein powders. If you are interested in that

Lately. I have seen a doctor who focuses on menopause and women's health and hormones. And she does a lot of really great education. But she recently came out with some products and she had those third party tested. 

So that is something I would say, if you were interested in using her products, then go for it because she went to the extra effort to ensure that they are safe and that they are third-party tested. So that is something else. In my opinion is really important to look for. In a protein powder. 

I've had people asking me what my recommendations are for protein powders. 

And I will share these with you. But just know that one of the reasons I use these is because I can pick them up at my grocery store. And they meet some of the needs. This is absolutely not the only ones out there. But it's just what I use. I mentioned that I don't tolerate dairy very well. So unfortunately I don't consume the whey protein or whey protein isolate, which again is the ideal or recommended one. 

I do like and feel really good with a plant-based protein. And so the one that I use is the brand is garden of life. 

And I have to admit, I hate the label because it says garden of life, raw, organic fit, high protein for weight loss. 

I'm like, don't you be assuming that just because I want protein, I'm trying to get, I'm trying to lose weight. Like this is not my goal. So that's probably a little sensitive subject for me, but I do like that one, it has 28 grams of protein in it actually has some extra fiber. 

It has about 2.3 grams of leucine per per serving. 

So it's not even meeting that recommended 2.5 to three, but again, it's, it's easy. It's convenient. It has some BCAs in there it's third-party tested. So that's just the one that I like. 

I buy muscle milk for my kids, because it too is. Third-party tested by NSF. It's convenient. It's actually not whey protein isolate, 

so, like I said, in the first episode in this series, let's just allow for some nuances it's convenient. I can get it at the grocery store. I don't have to order it online. So that's why I get it also for my young adult men they eat differently than I do to say the least. And so I'm not as worried about them. 

They're getting lots and lots of protein. Which have adequate levels of leucine and BCAA, so I'm just not as worried about that for them. One place I like to go online is live momentos.com. If you are a listener of some of the what I would call bro optimization podcasts. You've probably heard them talking about that. They are sponsored by a lot of them, honestly. I, I do think it's good quality product. 

Dr. Stacy Sims partners with live momentos. Again, I trust her. She's a voice I I learned from, and I have used a handful of their products and like them. So that's a place that you can go if you want to get things online. 

Now let's talk about collagen.

Basically college and helps support your tissues. And so those are your tissues, like 

Your connective tissue, your ligaments, your tendons, those type of things. College and can be helpful for your joint health. It can be helpful for your skin health. Some studies say that it may support your bone density. Hair and nail growth. So there's, there's a lot out there about collagen. I do take it. I actually kind of just restarted taking it. I think I was out and then I forgot to get some, and then it was just kind of like off my thing. 

So yes, I do take collagen. I don't have as many thoughts about like brands again. I just recommend getting one that is third-party tested.

But this is what you need to know about collagen. If you turn the label around, it will say like two tablespoons is 19 grams of protein. Yes, but it's not a complete protein meaning. It's not going to. Trigger the muscle protein synthesis. It does have leucine. But it does not have tryptofan tryptofan is you've probably heard of tryptofan before in relation to Thanksgiving because Turkey has a lot of tryptophan in it, but because. Collagen is not a complete protein. 

You're not going to get the. 

Same muscle support from it. Then you would a complete protein. So just like kidney beans are not a complete protein. You need to have it with like rice. That's why you see so many rice and beans dishes, because then that forms a complete protein 

because you get all nine essential amino acids. You do not have all nine essential amino acids in collagen because you are missing. Tryptofan.

So collagen has its benefits, but in terms of muscular benefits and growth and muscle protein synthesis, 

They also don't have any BCAs. So again, 

You're just not getting that. Muscular focus from college and that you do with your animal proteins or your plant proteins that are either complete or paired with something to make a complete protein.

Okay. I think I told you in the last episode that I would talk about timing today. I'm actually going to shift that to next week, because I feel like talking about the protein powders and the college in wrap it up really nicely. So that way we've talked about all things supplement with regard to protein. 

And then on our next episode, I'm, we're going to come back. I will talk about nutrient timing and then I will talk about more specific guidelines. So for those of you who are like. Spoonfeed this to me. I'm not going to spoonfeed it, but I will like put the plate in front of you and let you figure out how much of it you want to eat. 

Because again, these are general guidelines and we are all different. 

So we'll get into more of that on the next episode. Thank you again. The other thing that I don't think I mentioned earlier in this episode, but an episode four, I will be talking about some of the very practical strategies and applications that I have used. In my own kitchen rhythms. That make things simple. And easy for me. 

And you can go ahead and grant the download. Now if you want. And so you can get that over at grace health.com/protein-playbook. In that I provide some recipes that I use. 

That have protein. So these are just like, these are various forms of protein. I will make the recipe, I will freeze the items and then I'm able to pull them out. So I can enjoy them for lunch or I can pull two servings out. And my husband and I will have him since, because I tell you what empty nesting makes things a lot easier, especially when you're not feeding. Young adult males.

But you can get that over at graced health.com/protein-playbook. 

If you have not followed the show or subscribe to the show, I encourage you to do that. So you can get the next two episodes right in your feed. And if these have been helpful, I have a favor. Can you please? Either. Share this with someone, send it via text, put it on your stories. Put it on the socials, whatever is authentic to you. Can you please share this? Get the word out about it or leave a rating and review. Those are super helpful. As well with just showing people that this is a valuable and helpful podcast. 

Okay. That is all for today. Go out there and have a Graced Day.