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Good Diet While Drinking Protein Shakes

Protein shakes are increasing in popularity because of their convenience and people's fear of consuming too many carbohydrates. These days you can find protein shakes not only in select health and supplement stores such as GNC, but in most supermarkets as well as at the local gyms. You can also blend your own protein shake at home, using protein power or eggs.

  1. Protein Shakes and Diet

    • What constitutes a "good" diet while drinking protein shakes depends primarily on your goal. It is fair to say, however, that, no matter what your goal is, a good diet is always one that is healthy and well balanced. If your goal is to lose weight while drinking protein shakes, you want to make sure that you do not consume more calories than you burn every day. According to licensed nutritionist and dietitian Martha Mckitrick, protein drinks or smoothies are high in calories, so you need to be careful. "In general, adding a scoop of protein powder will add 100 calories and 20 grams of protein. Unless you just did a really heavy workout and are trying to build lean mass, you don't need the extra calories and protein found in these protein shakes." If you are a body builder looking to bulk up, it is a good idea to add a protein shake in addition to the calories you consume in your regular diet. Martha Mckittrick wants you to keep in mind that "1.8 gram of protein per kilogram is all that your body can make use of, so there is really no point in drinking too many protein shakes even if you want to bulk up."

      If your goal is to simply be healthy and you drink protein shakes because you think you will be healthier doing this, be aware that it will not really make a difference (unless you are a vegetarian and not eating any other protein). And it is not a good idea to drink a protein shake to replace a meal either. According to the Mayoclinic.com website's nutritionist Katherine Zeratsky, "these types of shakes--even if the labels shows added nutrients--do not replace all of the benefits of whole foods, such as fruits and vegetables."

      Anyone drinking protein shakes need to make sure that they do not forget to consume enough of the other food groups and these are: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, heart healthy fats and low fat or non-fat dairy products.

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