Protein drinks

[popps]

Hi all,

My old gym has become a victim of the credit crunch and so I've been looking around for a new one. Today I attended an "orientation" session at my local JJB Fitness centre. As well as being shown the usual fire exit routes, etc., I was introduced to the centre's cafe bar. Here I was strongly urged that after every workout I should purchase a protein drink. I told the guy showing me around that I'm on a fairly stringent diet and don't want any sugar products at all. He told me that the drinks do in fact contain "sweeteners" and came out with the stock answer that I should consult my GP if I have any concerns. I was just wondering if any of you who attend a gym have been offered similar advise and, if so, have consumed the protein drinks and to what effect?

 

[hanadr]

I attend a local authority Gym and we all have tea and coffee after class. there are cakes on offer too, but I resist. They don't sell any "Fancy" stuff. Water is available free.

 

[fergus]

Hi popps,

You could always make your own high protein drinks and take them with you? You can buy tubs of soya protein isolate, for example, in a variety of flavours. Use this to make your own shakes, avoid all the sugars, and save yourself a fortune at the same time!

All the best,

fergus

 

[cavelioness]

Our local gym only ever offered me water, tea or a range of coffees. They do a number of fresh fruit drinks with or without some fresh ginger.

 

[ally5555]

you know that I am a sports dietitian and there is evidence that having pro and carbs post exercise improves glycogen uptake and muscle building. It is usual to have around 20-25g protein and 5-10 g carbs in a drink. However it depends what you are trying to acieve - as a female just trying to keep fit i do not think i need them but guys doing wts might .What are you trying to achieve? just remember that these companies are out to make money!

Interestingly some work done at Loughborough has shown that milk is actually the best recoevery drink - problem is alot of people cannot drink it post exercise.

 

[popps]

Thanks for the tip, Fergus. It's not something I've previously considered. My previous gym never mentioned anything about protein drinks. It was a real "spit and sawdust" place where you brought your own water and nothing extra was provided or suggested.

Ally - I agree, these places are out to extract as much money out of you as possible. It's a shame that the little places are falling victims to the credit crunch and the big corporate brands are taking over. My programme at the gym consists of cardiovascular exercises and some resistance routines. There's no heavy weights involved and so therefore I don't know if I require the protein drinks at all.

 

[davehunter]

you know that I am a sports dietitian and there is evidence that having pro and carbs post exercise improves glycogen uptake and muscle building. It is usual to have around 20-25g protein and 5-10 g carbs in a drink. However it depends what you are trying to acieve - as a female just trying to keep fit i do not think i need them but guys doing wts might .What are you trying to achieve? just remember that these companies are out to make money!

Interestingly some work done at Loughborough has shown that milk is actually the best recoevery drink - problem is alot of people cannot drink it post exercise.

Ally5555,

Can you provide some example amount to put together for a range of people. I personally am a 22 year old male looking to build up from 10.5 stone. I have seen soya protein in some health shops e.g. http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-loc ... _750g.html Is this what you are meaning?

How much of this should I take, possibly in milk or maybe in water?

Thanks in advance
dave

 

[ally5555]

hi - protein in gyms and sport is a massive issue and there is alo of overuse.

I use the foll to calc protein intakes - 1.4-1.7g/kg - there is no evidence going above 2g/kg actually builds any more muscle.Some work by a guy called topolpsky (splelling!) from cananda has backed this up - i heard hima at a meeting a few years ago and he was inspiring. Susan Sherriefs at Lloughborogh published a paper 2 years ago showing milk was the best recovery drink. You could find them on google.

To give you an idea the following contain 20g protein

75g meat
an average chicken portion or fish fillet
3 eggs
60g cheese
a pint of milk

So you may be taking enough?!

You can make a protein shake - i think keeping them as a recovery drink works best

If you mix 300mls of milk and 20g skimmed milk powder with some sugar free milk shake syrup you get around 24g CHO and 18g protein. I suggest putting it in a thermos flask with some ice. If the carbs are too high I can tweakit!

Commercial protein shakes are often made from amino acids which taste awful and are often backed up by dubious research! Soya protein powders less protein and often has carbs added.

look at runsweet.com

 

[face990]

Personally i have to agree with ally, you can get most of your protein from good healthy eating, but if you are looking to bulk up then i would say from experience that protein and carbs in an easily digestible form are necessary.
The down side to this is that most ready made drinks are stacked full of simple carbs and sugar. so i would personally go back and have a rather stern word with any so called instructor that recommend this.
I think it is also down to what type of diabetic you are and how you train, there is no exact science, and what works for some does not for others.

I personally find it almost necessary as a type 1 to have a drink that contains fast acting carbs and protein after weights, i have also found bodybuilding to increase your sensitivity to insulin which also needs to be accounted for, as such i use only drinks containing no carbs ( add my own i.e apple etc), or containing a mix of simple and complex carbs but no sugar.

 

[bonerp]

I use protein mixes available from GNC. Theres plenty of high quality low carb varieties about. Just look on the back. My current one is 5g carbs in a drink mixed with water. Take it in a screw top plastic cup and shake it up after you've done (within 20 mins ideally as thats when your body is most receptive to it). Personally I have one before and one after. Not too close to bed as they can give you weird dreams!!!

I also have one at breakfast. However I train quite hard and do light body building.

I read something somewhere that it can help to stabilise BGs. You wouldnt think that after I got up this morning on 13!!!

Paul