 What's up everybody today's episode is all about protein the stuff you want to consider When getting a protein powder and it's not what they tell you they lie to you That's what they do all the time. We don't by the way Here's the giveaway for today's episode maps anabolic the flagship maps program I'm gonna give it away to one of you viewers Today you got to do this though You got to leave a comment in the first 24 hours that would drop this episode Subscribe to this channel and turn on your notifications do all those things and if we like your comment will notify you and you'll get free Access to maps anabolic also. We're running a sale right now on two other maps programs Maps performance. This is the athlete trainer program. 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We talk about the magical macro nutrient protein Teen it's probably the one I get more questions on protein definitely more than carbs and fats Tons of questions on protein all kinds of questions. What's the best type? When should I take it? You know, how much should I take all that stuff and I get it Because it's well first off. It's an essential macro nutrient meaning you you have to eat protein in your diet In order just to survive same thing with fat carbs are not essential But proteins are very important, but also for athletic performance and muscle building, right? High protein diets have been clearly connected to faster muscle growth better recovery and better performance and in most sports And it's probably one of the most if not the most popular supplement that people would ever take Would you say it's the most under consumed macro nutrient? Average average person probably yeah, just in general right like it's definitely not carbs carbs is definitely not the The most appealing yeah, that's pretty good, too. So I think that a lot of people get plenty of that. I think it's the most Probably under eaten macro nutrient that we have yeah, I would agree I would say I mean because studies are pretty clear that a eating more protein tends to result in More satiety, so you tend to eat less calories now to be clear We're really in a you know in a situation here where everybody eats too much of everything So there's just too many calories overall, but yeah if we were to like reduce calories Then you'd have to bump you'd want to bump protein up right that would help with that But yeah, I think we should tackle protein and the most important things to consider When buying a protein powder and talk about things like the you know the the anabolic window and kind of you Know how important or not important it is and you know things along those lines Yeah, and I think too. There's just a lot of misconceptions in terms of like you talked about the magical macro nutrient I think that people still out there think that you know more Yeah, I mean we all kind of went through that phase of just Trying to get bigger and so you think that you have to have like an enormous amount of protein to be able to make that happen Well, we we talk on the show right about we've all shared many different times You know pivotal moments in our lifting career that like that that one tweak or that one thing you learn that completely Like shifted your your training or your physique Hitting my protein intake was one of the single most important things that ever like came all together for me Do you remember the first time it really made sense? Yeah Well, I mean I remember it was the first time I really started tracking to be honest I I kind of assumed that I ate enough protein. So I was buying protein shakes and bars Before I was even tracking my protein. So there you know as a young kid who started lifting runs around 17 introduced the supplements I took protein powders and and bars like they were made for building muscle, right? You know you just taking those while lifting that's supposed to not really grasping the concept of you know My body needs a certain amount of protein total into yeah Like I wasn't thinking like that So I was buying and eating protein powder and and bars for a long time before I actually tracked and realized Holy shit, even when I have a protein bar or shake every day I'm still grossly under consuming my protein intake and when I actually started to target the right amount It was huge difference. Yeah, I mean I started to I started to pack on muscle relatively quick right after that Yeah, that's just the same thing I did I took I started taking supplements real young I'm I was working real young. So I had money So and I started working out at 14 so by the time 14 and a half or so I would buy supplements and weight gainers and protein powders were always on the list and it was always real tough to gain Right. I was a kind of your classic ectomorph and then there was a summer where I lived with my grandparents because my parents went to Italy for vacation and My grandma I've told the story before but she's you know old-school Italian grandma asked you what you would you want to eat? She'll make me whatever I want. Yeah, right. That was her favorite thing to do is just make me what you want And so I'm like oh steak. Yeah, no, no, I like steak So I had steak breakfast lunch and dinner like she just made it for me all the time And I remember I built so much muscle and strength in that summer And then I started to think like, you know, I think I'm eating high protein What I used to consider high protein would be like, oh, I had a sandwich and had turkey and cheese in it So that's got to have protein or I had a handful of nuts. There's some protein in it But in reality, you know, I was a hundred and probably at the time 165 pounds 160 pounds and I the goal would to be to eat about 160 grams of protein a day I was probably consuming closer to 70. Yeah to be quite honest So when I went back and started really paying attention They said okay, I need 160 grams of protein if I'm eating breakfast lunch and dinner I need to have like 40 grams of protein for each and then add a shake Yeah, and then I'll hit that number once I started doing that it made a huge huge Well, even then too and I bring that up is like a lot of like seeking a lot of protein But what I was actually consuming was the majority of it was carbohydrates and fat and everything else I was putting into the shakes So it wasn't necessarily that I was getting a lot of the quality protein that I needed to Hit my daily targets. It was just I was consuming a whole lot of Everything to try and make that happen. I found this with to be true for my clients too Um, and I think they all fell in the similar trap as I did which is oh, I eat sandwiches or oh, I eat meats And if I don't I make sure I get a protein bar or a shake And so like the way, you know, they are computing it is like, oh, yeah, I'm always eating protein I never don't I never have a day where I don't eat protein. I had some cheese for lunch Right. So and then those are all like anything that had any protein in it You were kind of counting as a protein meal and when I would get them to actually start tracking What we would find out just like what you said Sal is, you know, their target may be 150 to 180 grams of protein And they're eating more like 50 to 70 like And not realizing how many how many things or how many ounces of meat or how many shakes or bars They would need to consume in order to hit that target and then they hit that target consistently Because then the next phase of this for me was okay Now I'm aware that I was grossly under consuming it Now I'm gonna start paying attention and tracking and even when I would I was really paying attention What I found I would do is I'd have a couple good days and then I'd have two three bad days in a row And so it so then your average suck. Yeah, so then my my my overall average again Once I got to a point where I was like, okay, this is gonna be and this is also why this is uh Typically some of our first advice that we give to anybody, right is just focus on protein first Just make sure you're hitting the the right amount and this is you know This is where I see shakes and bars have tremendous value. Although we're always promoting getting your your your Protein from Whole Foods Which is a good goal to have the reality of it is many times you're gonna come short of that And so it helps to have even even if you're the like, um, you know, let's even if you're someone who's kind of You know, let's say you're 120 pound 130 pound woman You know for and by the way Optimal protein intake for your goals is different than uh, the essential amount that you need to survive, right? So you don't need as much protein as we're advocating just to be okay There's nothing wrong with even 60 grams of protein a day But if your goal is to get leaner build more muscle faster recovery Have more satiety. Uh, so if you're if you're cutting calories protein is great for satiety Then the studies are pretty clear that you want to have about 0.7 Grams of protein per body weight or what people tend to do is aim for 1 gram per pound of body weight So 120 130 pound female 100 grams of protein would be plenty for her But even that if you show 120 pound or 130 pound woman You know 30 grams of protein for breakfast lunch and dinner. Yeah, that's three. That's three meals She's eating a six ounce chicken breast. Yeah, or who does that eggs? Would you need to eat right to get 30 grams? Most people I'll have two eggs in the morning, right? That's 12 grams. Yeah, you need more like 8 to 10 Something like that, right? Yeah So a lot of people just don't have that kind of understanding your concept So but if you eat optimal amounts of protein the studies are pretty conclusive That you will get better and faster results. So that's kind of what we're talking about here now protein Is probably one I would say probably one of the first supplements ever sold if I if you go back into supplement history Some of the first supplements ever sold or marketed were either Some kind of a protein powder like a non-fat dry milk type mix Or some kind of an amino acid supplement, which is what proteins are made up of ovaltine weeder. Well, who's first? Oh god, there was even before that. No. Oh, wow. Yeah, there were companies that were even older And they were protein based because even then people kind of understand at least people in the The strength sports understood that protein was important So because it's been around for so long as a supplement the marketing around protein Uh has existed for a long time and a lot of money is poured into the marketing because You can look at protein say well, you know 10 grams is 10 grams is 10 grams And they said no, there's differences, but then they went really far and talked about, you know, how quickly this releases amino acids and Whether or not this is a better one to take at night or in the morning or a post workout or before your workout or And there's lots of marketing surrounding protein, which only confuses people. It really does because What it does is it gets people to focus on the wrong things Um, there are a few things key things you should focus on When it comes to protein powder not necessarily the protein from your food If you can get it all from food, that's ideal. Okay, that's a hundred percent ideal If you'd never had to take a protein powder, that's perfect because your diet's so good But if you're like most of us, it's hard to get the amount of protein that you know would be optimal for your goals You're probably going to throw in some kind of a convenient powder in which case you know a lot of people like Well, what's the best protein powder? Is it the cheapest? It's the one that says is the fastest absorbing or the one that's the slowest absorbing This one says it's more anabolic than this one. Like what's the best type of protein? So what we did is we listed The factors that you should consider When buying a protein powder in order of importance And these are the factors that we've identified over two decades of training people Okay, so when you're when you train people for a long period of time You start to see trends and you start to realize what's really important And what's really not as important and the first thing I have to say That's probably the most definitely the most important factor when considering your protein powder Has nothing to do with all the stuff that they market With the amino acids and how quickly it's really all you know release on stuff That's not nearly as important as this one thing right here, which is how well do you digest? Oh, this protein is a massive factor huge. I mean because we can all remember the Even if it's just coming from like a shake source like a wave protein sometimes, you know for some people You know, they they have like an intolerance So that's a major but they can't Like physically keep that down and digest it well So we have to eliminate that as a possibility right away And I know that there's a lot of different sources of protein that just don't agree with people And so why I go through the pain and suffering of it If it's not working for a lot and a lot of people don't even realize that Yeah, like uh, I mean I was guilty this also It's so accepted they call it protein farts Yeah, I mean and that's it's so by the way if you're listening to this and you don't think you have a dairy intolerance Or you don't think you have any issues with whey at all But when you have like a whey protein if you're Having to take a shit 15 minutes later or if you fart and it's terrible Yeah, yeah after you have that protein shake you're farting uncontrollably all night long This is not just like a normal thing But we have normalized it in the in the you know work out bodybuilding space You know people just call them protein farts like it's like this It's like do when someone when it smells like someone crawled up there and died This is not a normal thing and there's probably a better protein powder for you than the one you're currently using Dude, this took me so long to figure out because I thought this is oh, yeah That's what happens when you eat protein powders you sometimes get diarrhea you sometimes fart really bad and you're so Part of the process right so this is a problem because I don't care how great your protein powder looks on paper If it's affecting your digestion Negatively inflammation goes up stress hormones go up Stress hormones counter the anabolic muscle building hormones You're more bloated less likely to be able to eat healthy which cause also by the way bloat and digestive issues causes weird cravings You may crave other types of foods It's just not a conducive state of being For fitness for muscle building for performance or for fat loss Your protein powder Should be by the way, let's let's break this down for a second protein powder is Protein that's been pre digested and dried. Okay, so it's been put into a powder form Technically it should be easier to digest than if it was in food form Okay, so if the protein powder is harder for you to digest than food It's the wrong powder for you You should drink protein powder and feel like like you drink water It's that that's how well you digest it if it doesn't feel that way You need to find yourself another source of protein because it doesn't matter what that protein is If your digestion is negatively affected it is harming your gains. It is not helping your gains. It's not a It's not a side effect that has no caught no no effects It's there's lots of effects from the side effect There's all kinds of carryover from that and then eating your follow-up meals proceeding that it makes everything difficult Especially, you know, if the goal is to build muscle and to stay in a surplus It's going to make that very difficult and challenging for you if you don't have a good digestible Protein source to begin with now. What are the most common offenders as far as like protein? I was like when you your experience What protein powders do people tend to have the most issues with and which ones are the the most easily digestible? Well, that's a tough one because it's very different. So some people with whey it's so easy to digest and whey has some very incredible study supporting it for gut health Now there's a caveat here if you can't digest dairy very well like me It's terrible for gut health for me whey would be terrible But in some case whey is high in branched amino acids and glutamine which can also help Repair the gut and feed beneficial bacteria And so there's studies that show that whey helps people with gut issues But only if they can digest what uh, dairy well um egg protein right egg protein powders By the way egg protein powders used to be the gold standard before whey Egg protein is incredible. I mean, it's a branch of amino acids in it or high. It's this complete protein, right? It's supposed to be really good Some people digest it really well you talk to other people taking an egg protein powder and it's the worst farts of all time That did not resonate well with me. I tried that for a while. It's just yeah I was suffering and just bloat and gas like all day long. So then there's casein which is a type of Dairy protein also if you can if you can't digest protein, uh, excuse me dairy very well It's not gonna work well for you soy For some people works well for the other people not so much bone broth proteins tend to be the most easily digestible For most people, um, but i'm sure there's someone out there that you know, so it's one of those things that you have There's like a beef isolate now Yeah, there's beef isolate now right which should be pretty easy to digest for for most people Although i've had beef isolates that didn't work very well either So the best the here's where I would say to start start with your known food intolerances And then okay. Oh, so I have an intolerance to egg or I have an intolerance to dairy Probably don't want to get a protein source a protein powder from those sources start there buy a small You know container of it test it out And if you notice gastro issues, okay, I got to move on to another protein once you find one that works for you Uh, that's great But digestibility has got to be on the top and if you have digest any kind of digestive issues from your protein powder You got to dump it and move on to now what's your thought this is a little off topic, but then but selfishly I want to know um So I noticed that I can I can do a whey protein shake so long as that's That's pretty much it for the day But if I have like let's say magic spoon and I have a protein powder and then maybe I do cheese or milk or something Then I have an issue so Would you say that I have an intolerance for that or do I just have a threshold and so So long as I stay within that range. I should be fine Yeah, you have a you have an intolerance and the way intolerances can sometimes work is there's a threshold So like I can have some bread But if I eat too much bread then it's just to bother me or I can have some dairy And so even me with I have a really bad intolerance to dairy I can do a little bit of cheese and be okay not nearly as much as you can definitely as much just Yeah cheese doesn't bother me at all like I have it on a pretty regular basis But I what I've noticed is if all the like cheese magic spoon and a whey protein And let's say like even like a whey bar or something like that that in one day is enough to mess me up But I seem to be able to get away with some so what I try and do is I try and keep a you know I use the organifi vegan protein and then I have the whey and then I just try and oh depend on what you did during Yeah, yeah, then I try and because I like whey better I mean, let's be honest whey tastes better like most whey proteins taste really good So I prefer the whey, but I also know that if I've had other whey or dairy in my diet in the day That that that shake could potentially mess my stomach up Yeah The next thing you should look at is the quality of the protein powder now because the protein powder market is so Huge and it was already big, right? It was already the majority of the supplement market in the 70s 80s Early 90s and then whey protein hit the market and whey was For for many people it was easy to digest. It was very inexpensive It was easy to mix right if you have a good protein whey protein powder You can do it in a shaker cup no clumps or whatever And designer I remember designer protein was one of the first ones to come out to do that It really blew up the market and then you had all these people coming into the market and and protein powders Even today have a really small margin. They're not super profitable because it's so competitive And so what a lot of people do with protein powders is they look at the price because they'll say Well, this says whey that says whey this one is cheaper I'm going to go with that one and they don't pay attention to the quality because they think it's all the same, right? Oh, this is egg protein. That's egg protein. It's the same. This one's cheaper I'm going to go with that one But we have studies now that are pretty clear that show that quality Makes a huge difference. For example, it was a while ago where they they discovered there was a company Which if one company got discovered doing this, but lots of them were doing this When they get their products tested The way you test to see what protein content is in protein powders you test a specific amino acid, right? So you'll test for example, let's say leucine And if there's so much leucine per serving then you extrapolate and say well, there's so many grams of protein Per this powder. Okay, it looks like you have 30 grams of protein per serving Like you say you're all good. Well, what these companies did is they did what's called amino acid spiking So they would put less protein than the label says so says 30 grams, but it's maybe 15 So they could save money Then they throw in some cheap amino acid the note that they knew that was going to get tested So that the machine would then extrapolate. It's got more protein than did that's called amino acid spiking There was a company that got caught doing that They went out of business and other companies have been also seeing doing this as well So that's one way where quality Makes a big difference another way and this was uh when we first started mind pump Do you guys remember that study that came out that tested the heavy metal study? Yeah, dude They tested vegan sources of protein and found them to be well above the threshold of heavy metal Which is toxic and problematic, you know, if you're consuming that so it's it's just one of those things You got to know that quality plays a factor in a lot more ways than uh, you you anticipate going into it Totally the other game and I don't know if you're going to relate this to quality or not But the the serving size or they manipulate that this was like one of the biggest hurdles I always had to deal with with clients is I had a few protein brands back in the days that I liked working with and um, I knew it was good quality I knew it was high protein and so I would recommend to clients and you know At least one out of every 10 clients would come back with you know Some generic brand that they found because they found it for half the price and they'd be like Oh, yeah, I got a protein product. I got this one from cvs So I got this one from this walmart. Yeah walmart with that for you know A quarter of the price without that and then I'd have them bring it in and then I'd flip the jar I don't have to explain to him like yeah, you understand this things only got 12 grams of protein per serving So you got to have two to three times the serving just to equate to one of these servings And then why the bag's so big Yeah, and not only that but then when you do the math at the end of it It's like you literally went out of your way to save like two dollars maybe You know and and on top of that I don't know what how good of quality this protein powder that is doesn't have any sort of third party third party testing behind it So all all in the name of saving three dollars You thought you were saving 30 dollars because that was the difference of the jug But you have to factor in the serving size and the amount of you're what you're paying for the amount of grams of protein In the serving so you got to pay attention to that and some Some of these places will will make you feel like you're getting way more But then the serving size is only 12 grams of protein when your your standard scoop is like 24 to 30 or Yeah, I remember you even you even worked in a place that uh, didn't you help package It was designer and I remember you telling me that they didn't There was no like accurate measure. Yeah. No, we were we were in high school So we were high school kids and we worked at a so back then like a company like design designer Hershey actually went through there too like they they pay a mixing company And so I worked for the mixing company So we did we mixed all kinds of stuff like all different types of powders and stuff And at that time I was working out so I recognized the brand designer when it came But we have a bunch of high school kids responsible for You know one and a half three scoops four scoops, you know saying like we just mixed it all in there What's it really? They're not high accurate. It's a lot and nobody was you know double checking our work. Yeah, it's not a regulated market Um, so there's some good with that you a lot of new products a lot of new Brands or whatever, but I also placed the more responsibility on the consumer Um, I think the most important thing you got to look for is third-party testing for impurities because Although I would be pissed if I knew that what I was taking was 15 grams approaching instead of you know 30 like I thought That wouldn't make me nearly as mad as knowing that I've been developing You know building up toxic levels of heavy metals which can cause All kinds of strange effects in the body immune issues all kinds of autoimmune issues Neurological issues Hormonal issues cancers, and then you don't know that oh, it's protein powder. I've been taking for Seven or eight years every single day after my workout. So look for third-party Testing for is it pure? Are there heavy metals? Are there toxins? Um, because like I said, they did a study Um, and maybe we'll find it. We'll post it up, but they literally tested I don't remember how many brands of vegan proteins Thing was like 10 or 7 almost all of them. It wasn't like one a lot of big name brands Yes, it wasn't like one had too much. It was almost all of them There's other studies not on protein powders, but on other supplements where they went and tested. I forgot what it was like 12 Companies and they and I think like a majority of them had none of what they said they had on nothing at all So, you know keep that in mind when you're so quality makes a big difference And price tells you something about quality usually not everything But usually the more expensive brand there's a reason why it's a little bit more expensive if it's been around But look for that third-party test and it was examine.com does a good job of like kind of rating and reviewing a lot of these brands Just give you insight. That's why it's more expensive. So because it's not regulated Technically these supplement companies don't have to do third-party testing and when they do have to do third-party testing They got to pay an extra fee in order to do that. So that's so right away That's I mean that should be your first if it's the cheapest protein powder on the shelf right away I'd be concerned just because they're more than likely they're they're cutting corners with things like that Yeah, I agree. All right. So the next factor that's important Some of you're gonna probably scoff, but it's definitely important is the flavor Hell, yes, this isn't that look now this is coming from someone who could care less I've been this coming from the bone broth. I've been I've been blending stuff Oh, dude, I've been blending things and drinking things since I was a kid I made chicken breast Smoothies and tuna fish smoothies and weird shit. And I don't care. I'll just swallow it doesn't matter But I for my clients If they didn't like the flavor of whatever protein powder they were taking they wouldn't take it It was just it didn't matter. I don't care. What else was great about it They just didn't take it if you dread drinking your protein powder Yeah Because you stick with that you're just at that point. Yeah, I mean it's it's a valid behavioral points Like if if you're if you're like dreading Taking this this protein and implementing it into your routine It's just one of those things is going to be the first thing to just cut its way out Well, by the way, this is this had a lot to do with why We ended up working with work anify too because we're there We know there's lots of people like sal who can't handle way way typically is your best Like there's not a lot of there's not a lot of way brands that don't have good flavors I'd say like most they've done a pretty good job with yeah, they've done it Especially now by now They're most protein powders that are way based are pretty good. It's hard to find a vegan based protein that tastes usually They taste like Grass and dirt or chalk. Yes. And and that was one of the things I mean I before organify I wouldn't even mess with it I would just tough out the the the way I felt when I would do the way or do my best of not having to use a protein Shake at all. So they were the first ones that I liked that were actually vegan powders Yes now now when it comes to flavors what to pick I'd say generally chocolate is going to be better than the other flavors I think it's the easiest one for them to taste to make taste the best Vanilla would be second vanilla is good because you could blend it with other things Yeah, it's good to mix vanilla with just now my experience with protein powders is this if it's Any other flavor, especially if it's a fruit flavor like strawberry. It's probably gross I've almost never found like a strawberry flavored protein powder that actually tastes pretty good And I like strawberry shakes when I was a kid I would always take a chance And just be like oh, it's gross But chocolate is probably your best bet. I don't know do you guys I'm vanilla. I'm vanilla because then I mix right My favorite thing to do is to get a whether you're doing a way or you're doing like an organified vegan protein but get a Oh vanilla flavor because it goes with just about anything so I can make it a Either like a tardy like strawberry banana type of shake or I can go like a peanut butter chocolate direction And vanilla works great with both of those peanut butter chocolate We're chocolate you're not going to mix chocolate with You know strawberries or blueberries or something like that just doesn't go very well So vanilla for me is my favorite and then I use fruit and stuff to like change You know to mix it up a little bit so I get something different now speaking of mixing it This is actually quite important. I would hear again. This is coming from someone who could care less I would dry scoop protein powder. That's no joke. That's a really hard thing to do by the way But I had uh, you know clients if they had a protein powder that didn't mix well in a shaker cup They wouldn't take it and you know People will tell you nothing worse than drinking protein powder and hitting a clump Of dry powder Not all protein powders mix really well some you have to have a blender which makes it less convenient Remember, I think the the number one factor that makes protein powders valuable is their convenience They they store for a long period of time. You can take them with you anywhere They don't need a refrigerator or anything like that. They don't go bad for a while And then you just throw them in a shaker cup and mix them up Well, if you lose some of the convenience You tend to lose some of the consistency when it comes to uh protein powders The best mixing protein powders tend to be way again This is why it's so popular. I think one of the reasons why they're so popular Vegan protein powders a little bit more difficult although Organifi again not so bad Um egg protein doesn't really mix super well casing typically you need a blender casing I notice when I mix that without a blender it gets out. Yeah, it gets really thick. It's interesting to see to how You know, it's evolved in trying to you know improve that with those little like spongy balls that they put in there It's like shake and mix or like other you know sort of innovations in that direction But at the end of the day there are protein powders that just don't tend to blend well No, not at all and now this next one is uh kind of last But it's it's it's important, but it's last for a reason That's because the other stuff that we just talked about really It really is a stronger determinant and whether or not somebody will use a protein consistently And gain benefit from it. This last one is what people think Is going to be the most important for them and that's the amino acid profile or the score You know, is it how bio available is it this protein has got more loosing than this protein or this one's got more branchy Amino acids this one's got more glutamine. This one's going to be, you know Better for building muscle and a study had to had comparison 15 grams of this protein Spiked protein synthesis 15% more than this one. Here's why that doesn't matter that much. Okay It does matter, but not that much. It doesn't matter that much when your protein intake is really high So when they do studies on protein and they compare them head to head If protein intake is below that threshold that we talked about earlier in the episode, you know that 0.7 To 1 gram per pound of body weight if your protein intake is low Then the amino acid score makes a big difference, right? If you're only eating 60 grams of protein a day Then it makes a difference if is it coming from way or is it coming from Soy for example the way is going to kick the crap out of the soy, right? Animal sources tend to be much better But if your protein intake is high if you're eating a gram of protein per pound of body weight You're getting so much of the amino acids that you need The score doesn't make that big of a difference and then you see that it kind of negates it Well, remember how we started this conversation? I mean that this was this was the most pivotal thing that I ever did was just hit my intake I couldn't even tell you what protein powder or bar I was using at that time I think the most important thing to focus on because you're right. That's this is the marketing side This is what they because it is so competitive This is how protein powders will try and separate themselves from from their peers But the truth is you just hitting your your protein intake every day Like that should be the main focus whether you do it through whole foods or you use a protein shake or not You you check off that box then all this other stuff is splitting hairs. Yeah, totally So now if your protein intake isn't super high Then this starts to make more of a difference, right animal sources are superior to plant sources Mainly because they have a more favorable amino acid profile. They don't lack any essential amino acids So when you look at protein It's made up of amino acids and the essential amino acids are called essential because your body can't make them So if it lacks an essential amino acid, well, then you're limited to how much of that protein you can use based off of that that limiting factor Vegan sources singular vegan sources sometimes don't have very good amino acid profiles This is why if you go with a vegan source of protein Combinations tend to be best. So if you look at the back, you'll see Oh, it's got some p protein. It's got some quinoa protein. It's got some soy. It's got some whatever A combination usually means that there's Complimentary amino acid profiles from each of these different sources Giving you a more complete type of protein with the animal sources. You don't need that, right? I can have just a way or just a or just beef or just casein And I'm going to have a pretty decent amino acid profile and I have to worry too much about combining You know the the different uh types of protein not even even that being said this is still kind of splitting hairs, right? I mean as far as the difference like even let's say we are a low protein. Let's say I my body I'm only consuming 90 grams and you're what 220 pounds. Yeah, right So it's you know half right half of what I should probably be eating and I have the option of a vegan protein or way Yes, it's better to go away. But is it like how detrimental are we talking about? It actually makes a pretty big difference and it's low like that. Yeah when it's low it makes a pretty big difference So you'll see in studies, uh, like they'll show a difference in strength and muscle now Is it like, you know, you know 10 pounds or no, but over the course of a year or two years It does make a difference. So this is why so when I would have clients that were vegan, for example Um, and I would have them, uh, you know supplement I'd have them supplement with them essential amino acids So because some of them had low protein and they didn't they had no interest in bumping their protein up anymore Even if I talked to them like I don't care Sal. I'm getting enough. I feel fine. So let's say hey Why don't you take these essential amino acid pills with your vegan meals? And what that would do is Potentially supplement the amino acids that they may not be getting from the regal source and they got great benefits from that But if the protein is high it really doesn't make Now in terms of like what a lot of people consider as well as like the timing of everything Should I get it like right after my workout should I get first thing in the morning? Like when's the most optimal time to synthesize protein? There is a benefit to taking protein post workout But it's not what you think Okay, so is there this magical anabolic muscle building window where if I take 30 grams of protein post workout It's going to build more muscle than if I took that same 30 grams Later in the day or earlier in the day And they've done made an analysis on this and the answer is no it does not make A difference whether you take it right after or you take it later But I still see a benefit post workout in this sense If we're talking about the average person who tends to struggle getting protein intake in It's a great way to ritualize an additional 30 grams of protein. It's consistent and it's usually Not a mealtime. So it's usually in between lunch and dinner or after dinner or before they eat breakfast So rather than than them having to add more protein to their meals Which can sometimes be hard if I what I would tell clients is hey right after your workout It's really convenient. It's in your gym bag Shake up 30 grams of protein and it just became an additional 30 grams of protein that they would have throughout the day That's where be that would be the benefit that so if you've listened to the show long enough You probably remember me talking about that when we first addressed the anabolic window I shared how I would do this But my intentions were what you just said it would and it would always be when I'm in a bulk when I'm on a cut I'm not really worried about in fact when I'm on a cut I would take advantage of trying not to eat right after a workout and actually string that out longer So I was eating less calories But when I was trying to increase calories and increase my protein intake That helped because right after a workout I could shake it up I could drink it on the drive home by the time I got home. I showered I was already ready for like a big meal and I'd be okay So then I just got that I shuttled that 30 grams of protein in right before I have another 30 to 40 gram protein meal Which helped me hit my protein intake. That's where I see value with timing there That's about that that type of person who's struggling to get there The only other place I see the most were the most value with protein shakes is at the end of the day At the end of the day assessing did I get enough protein in the day making and then making up the difference Yeah, there's this there's this mistake that you know That I made as a kid that many clients have made also with this idea that Taking a protein shake or bar. There's something about it that builds muscle or it's not that at all And it's not you don't just because you're on a routine like oh, I'm starting my workout routine Also, I just start taking a shake or bar. That's kind of a silly way to use it What you should do is first assess Where is my protein intake at what does a normal day look like for me and then go? Oh, wow, I tend to fall around this much I need this much and then again even knowing that My goal for clients always is let's try and get that through Whole Foods But I know and and understand because I've gone through this myself With sometimes it's still tough to do that and then that's where I would pile it on at the end of the night Like oh, wow, I'm still 30 grams short of my my daily intake And so then I'd be mixing up a shake 100% and I see more benefit to people struggling to hit calories and protein than anything else But yeah, you see a lot of the marketing where they're like, um You know this protein digest faster therefore take it post workout This one digest slower take it right before you go to bed I remember when they sold that with casing casing is a slow release protein Take it before bed so your muscles have protein all night long One of the worst times to eat by the way is right before you go to bed Even whether it's a shake or food So that's just out the whatever benefit where there is none by the way But let's just say there was a tiny benefit is gone Because the the the interrupting your sleep It decreases the quality of your sleep and sleep is extremely important To building muscle and burning body fat and all that stuff So forget the the timing and the digest, you know, which one releases I mean, oh acid's faster and this and that and the other no no no The stuff we just listed is literally the most important stuff to pay attention to And still if you can get all your protein from whole natural foods, you're going to be better off 100% Look, if you like our information head over to mind pump free calm and check out our guides We have guides that can help you with almost any fitness or health goal You can also find all of us on social media So justin is on instagram at mind pump justin adam is on instagram at mind pump adam And i'm on twitter at mind pump sal