For this assigment, we had to make an article that would attract readers to our topic

Are you wasting your valuable dollars on Protein Powder?

 

Is protein powder really helping you gain muscle after your long grueling workout in the gym? This question has long gripped bodybuilders and nutritionists since the creation of the supplement. Protein powder seems to be a staple of most gym members diet due to the fact that they are marketed as aiding in muscle recovery and growth. It is well stated the proteins, in general, are needed for bodily growth and repair. Muscles are made up of two filaments (actin and myosin) which are both proteins. Proteins are made up of amino acids and if you want to make more of these muscle proteins you need to ingest more amino acids. When you eat protein your body breaks down the protein into amino acids which can be reconnected to form the muscle gaining proteins. But why wouldn’t taking protein powder to be beneficial to muscle growth then? Protein, after all, is what muscle is made of, so it makes sense to assume that taking more would only help you gain even more muscle.

 

Even though common sense makes us believe that protein powder must significantly help us with muscle growth, studies have shown that protein powder may not have the positive effects that we have been told to believe. Studies that have shown a positive correlation between protein powder and muscle growth have been criticized for experimenting on subjects with protein lacking diets. Of course, protein powder would positively impact people who little to no protein sources? The real question is what the effect of this protein supplements on the average person with a balanced diet. A recent study posted in the MEDLINE database found that protein powder may not have a correlation to muscle growth. For this study, adult males completed two hours of resistance exercise training and then consumed protein powder while maintaining a balanced diet. The researchers then measured hormones like growth factor and growth hormone which signify new muscle growth is occurring. The researchers found that the participants in the study did not have elevated levels of these hormones that were correlated to muscle growth.

The researchers were actually surprised about the results that they had gotten from their experiment. The basic knowledge behind muscular growth shows that increasing the amount of protein in your diet can only improve your results. Researchers have found information that could explain the results obtained in this study. Studies have shown that the average person only requires 1 gram of protein per kilo of body weight a day. This means that. if you weigh 80 kilograms (176 pounds) you would have to eat 80 grams of protein. Given the fact that a 100g steak contains 32g of protein and a  100-gram chicken breast contains 28g of protein, reaching this protein goal is usually not a hard task. Once you have reached your daily protein limit excess protein does not have positive benefits to muscular development.

Even though the science behind excess protein makes sense there are still individuals who believe that protein always improves muscular development. A new study published on Pub Med by the US Army Medical Research team may give these individuals the ammunition for their argument. For this study researchers gave adults (ranging in ages from 18-50) protein supplements alone and put them through extensive amounts of resistance training. Their diets were also evaluated to make sure the results were not skewed due to improper nutrition. The same individuals were then given a water-based drink and were not told the difference taking away the placebo effect.

They researchers found that the individuals who participated in this study found that the individuals in the study did not have an increase in lean mass and muscle strength during the initial weeks of resistance training. However the study did find that the individuals who were able to work out for longer amounts of time with heavier weights. The increased time and intensity that the muscles were put through tension could lead to increased muscular development. The researchers did put in a limitations section in their article in which they mentioned a crucial piece of information. They mentioned the fact that their findings are not easily generalized for all consumers who may be considering the use of protein powder.  The individual’s used in this study were untrained adults which meant that they had not been going to the gym frequently.  Since skeletal muscle responses to exercise training and protein supplementation differ between trained and untrained individuals their results  can be labeled as concrete evidence for the positive effects of protein powder.

What do these findings mean for those of us trying to decide if protein powder is a viable option for us? The unfortunate answer to that question is no one is quite sure.  The effects of protein powder on muscular development is still a vague field and a lot more research must be done before any conclusive answer can be found. What we do know is that protein powder continues to be one of the most popular supplements used by athletes taking up 70% percent of the market with an estimated $4.7 billion annual revenue. With all the money that is being made in the protein powder industry it would be nice to see some if it invested in research to get us a clear answer on the effects of the product.

A logical question to ask yourself would be how could companies specializing in selling protein powder be making so money? The answer to this question actually  quite simple if you think about it.  Statistics show that about 16% of the American population (50.2 million people) go  to the gym.  When people go to the gym their  main concern is  usually to try and  build muscle. It makes sense that people would try and take whatever they thought would be necessary to help them maximize their results from the gym. The  protein powder companies go out of their way to label their bottles in a way that would guarantee them the most money. To accomplish this goal they make the words that would attract consumers the most consumers as large as possible without really telling consumers what they were paying for. When looking at protein powder bottles you read labels like muscle  and strength and the reality is no one knows if these powders are actually doing anything. Protein powder is also relatively expensive going for 35 dollars a bottle. The sad thing is  when some individual’s begin  to get bigger and they believe their  success is  due to  the protein powder and not because of the long intense workouts that they had been doing.

In conclusion,  for now, you can probably skip wasting your hardly earned money on protein powder. Until further research can be done into this topic, buying protein powder now is just making the protein powder companies richer. Instead buy more wholesome sources of protein like chicken and steak so you can live a more balanced live.