Are Protein Shakes Healthy For Weight Loss?

Protein shakes are an easy way to add more protein to your diet and have also been shown to help with weight loss.  

They are convenient especially when access to high quality protein is limited. 

Getting enough high quality protein is important because it can help with reducing your appetite, boosting your metabolism and also help you lose body fat.  

Here are some of the more popular protein shakes on the market today. 

• Whey protein: This is sourced from dairy and contains all the essential amino acids. It is a quick absorbing protein. 
• Casein protein: This is also sourced from dairy and contains all the essential amino acids.  It is a slow digesting protein though and complements whey protein nicely. 
• Hemp protein: This is a plant based that also contains a good amount of omega-3 fats, but it does not contain all the essential amino acids. 
• Pea protein:  This is also a plant-based protein and doesn’t contain a complete source of proteins.  

Protein shakes can decrease appetite and hunger in a few ways.  

It increases levels of appetite-reducing hormones like GLP-1, PYY and CCK, while reducing levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin

It also helps you feel fuller for a longer period of time. 

In one study they found that shakes containing 20-80 grams of protein decreased hunger by 50-65%.  It didn’t matter the amount of protein that was in their shakes.

In another study researchers found that when given an extra 56 grams of whey protein per day they had lost 5 lbs more at the end of the 23-week study period.  They also did not specifically change anything else in their diet.

So Which Type Of Protein Is The Best?

Some studies report that whey protein is superior based on what they found in some of the recent studies like the one I mentioned just a second ago. 

Other researchers though don’t exactly feel the same way as they have seen equal results when researching other proteins such as casein, soy, hemp, etc. 

One thing to look at from a quality protein is that whey, casein and soy are the only proteins that provide all the essential amino acids, but if you are also eating other high quality protein foods then you should be fine with getting in enough essential amino acids. 

So it really comes down to preference since you shouldn’t be consuming protein shakes only.

If you are not a big fan of meat then a protein shake is a great alternative to get in your protein requirements.  

You can also add protein powder to numerous recipes so that you dont always have to drink numerous protein shakes.  

Here are 51 recipes that we have created that you can use protein powder in and they taste delicious. 

 [DOWNLOAD FREE 51 Protein Recipes] Want Easy Ways to Include Protein In Your Fat Loss Plans?