Should I Drink Protein Shakes?

I get this question pretty frequently, and mostly from people that I interact with that are over the age of 40.

I’m certain that if you’re reading this, you have also thought about this question and have probably purchased and used protein shakes yourself.

I know I certainly have.

For a few years, I spent hundred of dollars each month buying expensive protein powders and made myself shakes every day. I even used the powder to make my own protein bars.

I did it because I genuinely believed that there was no way I could get all the protein that I needed without eating more calories than I needed.

I was clueless about protein and the power of eating the right kinds of food back then.

I was so focused on calories in, calories out that I thought I had to used protein shakes so that I could stay, “under my calorie goal.”

Just eat meat.

The truth is you don’t need to use protein shakes. 

You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars buying protein powders or shakes to replace meals because you think, 

“This is a way for me to get my protein in without going over my calorie goal.”

You need to shift your focus on what you’re eating from primarily carbohydrates to primarily highly digestible, nutrient dense, bioavailable forms of protein, specifically animal protein.

My parents are in their late 70’s and early 80’s right now. 

Neither of them is metabolically healthy after a lifetime of food and lifestyle choices that have driven them both into chronic disease that are specifically diseases of carbohydrate intolerance in one form or another. 

My mother has Alzheimer’s disease and my father had type 2 diabetes and was just diagnosed with end-stage COPD at the beginning of this month, February. He was just put on hospice in the last 2-weeks and was told that, on average, people in his condition live for around 6 months.

It’s been a struggle.

You’re probably wondering what this disaster show has to do with protein shakes. If you are thinking that I’m glad you are and I’m about to tell you how it all ties together.

I visited my parents last week and went on a grocery errand with them.

Literally 90% of the food they bought were straight carbohydrates and processed foods.

They bought very little actual animal protein in any form. What they purchased was either in the form of processed, packaged meals, or sweetened with some form of sugar.

I spent the better part of last week talking to them about how their food choices were impacting both their forms of chronic disease and how what they both had were forms of carbohydrate intolerance.

Given that my dad is in his early 80s and my mom is in her late 70s, I spoke with both about the criticality of eating protein that their bodies could easily digest.

I told them they needed to stop eating carbs and start eating a lot more meat and eggs.

Their initial responses to what I said was typical:

• I just don’t like eating meat.
• Can’t I just eat more beans, nuts, and seeds instead?
• It’s not possible for me to eat that much protein.
• We don’t eat that many carbs.
• Can I just use protein shakes?

What these conversations highlighted for me was that my parents, like many people out there (myself included for a significant portion of my life), really don’t understand what they are eating on a day-to-day basis.

Also, they don’t understand the importance of bioavailability of nutrients, especially protein, and how the body’s ability to get nutrients out of food changes as we age.

Animal protein, specifically red meat, is the most digestible, nutrient dense, and bioavailable food on the planet.

There is no comparison between the nutrients you get from a protein shake, any fruit or vegetable, or vegan-protein source and animal protein.

Nuts, seeds, plants, and grains are not complete sources of protein and are difficult to digest and process by the human body.

Soy is a complete source of protein but honestly, it’s so full of fake estrogens that no one needs to be eating more soy.

Animal protein wins every single time.

I walked through all of that with my parents. 

I even outlined what they would need to eat on a normal day to get the protein that they needed for their age and metabolic condition.

Since they are both over the age of 60, both are metabolically sick, and both have very little actual lean muscle mass, focusing on eating a high protein diet is critical.

Every adult needs to consume 100g of protein a day, at a minimum. And as we age, especially after the age of 40 and then again after the age of 60, that protein minimum increases because our bodies become less efficient at getting what we need from the protein we eat.

Focus on eating real, whole-food sources of animal protein.

A single egg has 6 grams of protein. 4 ounces of lean red meat has between 24-30 grams of protein. 4 ounces of 80/20 ground beef has 21 grams of protein. A 6-ounce portion of wild salmon has 38 grams of protein.

As a point of reference, the palm of your hand is about 4 ounces of meat.

Every single one of those above portions of whole-food sources of animal protein is also a bioavailable source of both complete proteins, all the essential amino acids, and all the essential fatty acids that your body needs to live and thrive.

To get the 30-40 grams of protein that you need at each of 3 meals, you would just need to eat, as an example, 2 eggs (12 grams) and a single, 4-ounce 80/20 beef patty (21 grams). That would give you 33 grams of complete, digestible protein.

At the end of the day, you just must make eating your animal protein your priority at every meal.

We don’t serve sides at our meals anymore. We just focus on eating the protein.

On the very rare occasions that we do eat out, my kids will often ask me,

“Do I have to eat the vegetables?”

My response now is the same every time they ask me.

“Nope, but you need to make sure you eat the meat.”

As a society, we tend to look for the easy way. We look for the short-cut, the quick fix.

There is no quick fix or short-cut when looking at making yourself truly healthy again.

This applies to what you eat and how you live.

You must make the tough decisions now so that your life in the future doesn’t become one expensive, difficult, health choice after another.

Even if you’re out and about, you can order 2, quarter-pound burger patties from a fast-food burger joint, no sauce, no buns, no sides and still get 42 grams of highly digestible, complete animal protein.

We tend to over complicate things and talk ourselves into short-cuts, like drinking a protein shake instead of just eating a whole-food source of animal protein.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Remember, you are loved. Your health and well-being matters. If you are still breathing, God has a plan for you, and you still need to be healthy enough to accomplish it.