Introduction
The diet market is full of products, powders and pills that are designed to help consumers lose weight – not without earning a significant amount of money, of course. Protein powders are part of the basic equipment of health and professional athletes. But can protein powder really help people lose weight? Or is it just another scam by the weight loss industry to at least make the user’s wallet lighter?
Can protein powder be useful for losing weight?
One important point first: protein powder is not absolutely necessary for losing weight. Weight loss occurs when the calorie intake from the diet is less than the energy consumed daily, for example through basic metabolism and physical activity. If you want to lose weight, you should follow a balanced diet that is rich in protein and low in carbohydrates, as well as exercise in everyday life and sports.
With regard to nutrition, protein powder can indeed be useful if weight loss is to be achieved with the least possible loss of muscle mass. A change in diet with reduced calorie intake is initially accompanied by considerable weight loss due to the emptying of glycogen stores. If the amount of training is small, such as endurance training only, the next step is mainly to lose muscle mass.
Unfortunately, the most persistent are the fat reserves, which one would like to tackle mainly when losing weight. An increased supply of protein through diet in combination with strength training can partially prevent muscle loss. Meat, fish, eggs or vegetable protein sources can be used, but also protein powders.
Protein powders have the advantage that they have a high protein (or protein) content with a low carbohydrate content and fewer calories. However, you should pay close attention to the composition of the protein powder. If you want to lose weight, you should choose products like whey or whey isolates.
How does losing weight with protein powder work?
There are different ways to lose weight with protein powder. If you want to lose a few kilos of weight quickly for a goal that is very close in time, a turbo diet with protein shakes from Almased or Yokebe is popular. This diet brings a fast weight loss success, but has a high risk of a yo-yo effect.
Losing weight with protein powder is very often designed in such a way that individual meals are replaced by a protein shake. The protein powder is mixed with water or low-fat milk and drunk. Care should be taken to ensure that the protein powder contains as few carbohydrates as possible and few unnecessary additives.
At the same time, you can choose the protein powder according to taste. There are different directions such as vanilla, chocolate or strawberry. The delicious taste makes it much easier to keep going. For maximum success, the other main meals should be low-fat and balanced. Sporting activity additionally boosts the metabolism and burns calories.
