Healthful Or Just Hype: Are Protein Supplements Needed?

By Yuri Elkaim, BPHE, CK, RHN

The market is flooded with nutritional supplements to aid in performance and recovery. However, most of them are a waste of time, money, and effort. This isn’t an anti-supplement argument. Supplements such as multivitamins, EFAs, and antioxidants definitely provide valuable nutrients beyond your regular diet to restore what is lost during training. This is more of a pro-food stance, especially when it comes to protein intake.

The push for protein supplements
The supplement industry is big business. Since farmers corner the market for whole foods, protein manufacturers have to draw you in by writing slanted articles that sway you toward their products. Not only that, but they throw in scientific words like “microfiltration”, and “ion exchange” to make it more believable. You have to take into consideration that most fitness and health magazines earn a heavy portion of advertising money from pharmaceutical companies who make protein supplements.

You also need to consider the source of the “experts” writing these magazine articles. Most likely they in some way sell supplements for major companies. So, why would they tell you anything other than that these protein products are superior?

Determining protein quality
The protein that comes up most often is whey protein in its various forms. These experts suggest that whey protein, a byproduct of the cheese-making process, has distinct advantages over whole foods in that its more readily absorbed by your body. Various methods are used for measuring protein quality, the best being biological value (BV).

BV takes the ratio of absorbable protein versus actual protein consumption. The higher amount of protein (nitrogen) contained, the greater the BV value. BV is measured on a scale of 0 to 100. Egg whites score the highest BV at 100, meaning all the protein consumed is absorbed and used by your body. Sources of protein such as kidney beans have a BV of 49.

Necessity of protein supplements for athletes
Most athletes, if following a healthy diet, consume more than enough protein during a given day. Supplementing with whey or other processed protein sources may be overkill. Many protein-manufacturing companies claim their products contain a BV of over 100 (whey protein isolate boasts a BV of 154). Considering this is an impossibility, they intentionally manipulate you into believing their products are the best source of protein.

Okay, so whey protein does have its advantages. It contains a high BV, somewhere between 80 and 100. It also works well if you can’t eat a quality whole foods meal every 3 hours. So, you are better off downing a scoop of whey protein versus fast food. Just remember not all protein supplements are created equal. Stay away from protein bars, which often hide excessive amounts of fats, sugars, and other chemical fillers.

A great alternative to protein supplements is liquid eggs whites. You can buy them in bulk and use them for most anything. They work well for smoothies, omelets, shakes, and more.

Biological Value Chart
Follow this biological value chart for optimal protein absorption:

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