Do you need a protein supplement as a cyclist?
Protein pancakes, protein brownies, protein smoothies... there's even protein chocolate bars and protein popcorn on the market these days!
Protein plays a key role in muscle growth and repair, it forms enzymes and hormones to keep our bodies functioning normally and performing optimally. It's good stuff and often overlooked by many of the athletes I work with.
A question I am often asked is whether the protein you’re eating from real food good enough or do you need a protein supplement as well as a cyclist?
A while back I watched a BBC documentary called Addicted to Protein which followed the journey of a guy who was using protein supplements each day to help build muscle.
As part of the documentary, they got him to quit taking the protein supplements for 6 weeks and eat naturally protein rich foods instead.
What I found especially interesting, was that even though he gained more muscle from the protein rich food diet, after the trial finished he went back to just using the protein supplements!
Who can benefit from protein supplements?
There are key groups of people who can particularly benefit from protein supplements, but this is on an individual basis.
Protein supplements are quick and convenient, which can be useful for someone who is time poor, doesn't have cooking facilities or a fridge available to keep foods cold.
In my experience as a sports dietitian, it can be really beneficial for vegan athletes, athletes who are losing or trying to making weight, those with extremely high training loads or have very poor appetites to use protein supplements strategically.
It's not a hard and fast rule though and is something as a sports dietitian I would consider on an individual basis looking at a wider context of diet, lifestyle and preferences.
Who doesn't benefit from protein supplements?
If the protein you get from a shake or eat in one single meal is more than the amount your body actually needs to heal, repair or grow muscle or can digest at that time point, it's going to end up being flushed down the loo and wasted or resulting in additional energy.
This is because I have also seen people unnecessarily eating multiple protein bars and supplements each day as a snack or as a supposed ‘healthier’ choice to eating chocolate - resulting in an energy surplus that held them back from their goal of losing weight.
Protein timing matters
The timing of when you eat protein throughout the day is important.
Most people tend to eat much more protein in the evening and fairly little at breakfast or throughout the rest of the day.
If you eat too much at one meal and don't spread it out throughout the day adequately you'll completely miss the benefits and it might mean you are unnecessarily more hungry throughout the day.
I recommend aiming for at least 25-30g of protein in main meals or after training, and 10-15g of protein in snacks throughout the day.
Protein supplements versus protein rich food
Most of the time, it is possible to get protein from whole food sources in a much more satisfying way than through a shake, bar or supplement.
I had a client once who was using an egg-based protein powder because it was lower in calories than eating the eggs whole - except he was starving ALL the time.
When I finally managed to convince him to trial out the whole eggs instead, cooked together into an omelette with a decent serving of spinach, mushrooms and other vege on the side, he found that he was less hungry throughout the day, snacked less and subsequently hit his body composition goals.
Going back to the BBC documentary I found it a bit ironic that he chose to return to the less effective protein supplements.
All because he perceived it to be easier and more convenient to take a powder than eating more nutritious diet that regularly and consistently contained whole sources of protein.
Even though using protein supplements wasn’t getting him the results he wanted, he’d rather stick with a quick fix that wasn’t working, than to change the way he ate and get results.
How to get 25g of protein from real food
Ideally each meal you eat throughout the day should contain at least 25-30g of protein from a whole food source.
You can make tasty smoothies at home naturally with Greek yoghurt or cottage cheese that provide the same amount, if not more protein than most commercial protein supplements.
This is my go-to 'protein' smoothie using ingredients I'd expect to find in your fridge.
To get approx 25g of protein naturally from animal-based food you could eat:
4 eggs
100g tuna
250g cottage cheese
250g Skyr high protein yoghurt
100g beef
100g salmon
100g chicken
100g ham
Plant-based sources of protein like beans, nuts and seeds typically contain higher amounts of carbohydrates, fats and fibre. Read more on plant-based protein.
In my experience it can be more difficult for vegan athletes, to get enough protein from natural sources without adding a lot of extra carbohydrate, fat or fibre to the diet.
I have found that people following an exclusively plant based or vegan diet are the only ones where I find it is almost always necessary to add a protein supplement powder into their daily diet to minimise excess fat or carbohydrate intake.
To get approx 25g of protein naturally from plant-based foods you could eat:
200g tofu
2 cups of cooked beans
2 cups of cooked lentils
130g of mixed nuts
5 Tablespoons of peanut butter
3 cups of soy milk
3 cups of cooked quinoa
A sports dietitians opinion on protein supplements
While there's definitely a place for protein supplements, at the end of the day the clue is in the word - they're a supplement.
Supplements are designed to complement a balanced nutritious diet, not replace it.
Most of the time you can get more protein from real food in a much tastier, more satisfying manner, which would always be my go to recommendation.
Gemma
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