Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - What’s the Best Protein Powder for Weight Loss?

Episode Date: January 4, 2021

You’ve probably heard that eating protein is important for losing weight. You’ve also probably heard that protein powder is particularly effective for weight loss. If you snoop around online for weight loss tips, one of the first pieces of advice you’ll find is that you should start sipping protein shakes to slim down. And that raises the question—what’s the best protein powder for weight loss? Well, before we can answer that question, you first need to understand a ground truth about weight loss: no protein powder, shake, or other supplement can make you lose weight on its own. Instead, weight loss is the result of proper diet and training—supplements only amplify your efforts in the kitchen and gym. Now for the good news: protein powder absolutely can help you lose weight if you use it to support your healthy eating habits and training program. And the kind of protein powder you choose can make a difference in your results. So, in this podcast, you’ll learn . . . Why protein is important for weight loss What to look for in the best protein powder for weight loss And more. Let’s get started. Timestamps: 3:54 - Why should I care about my protein intake while I’m cutting? 7:58 - How much protein should I be eating when I’m cutting? 9:07 - How does protein powder fit in? 22:29 - How much protein powder is too much? 24:11 - What is the best protein powder for weight loss? --- Mentioned on The Show: Books by Mike Matthews: legionathletics.com/products/books/ --- Want free workout and meal plans? Download my science-based diet and training templates for men and women: legionathletics.com/text-sign-up/

Hello, Muscle for Lifers. I'm Mike Matthews. Welcome to another episode. And thank you for joining me today to learn more about the art and science of getting more jacked. Now, you probably know how important eating protein is when you are cutting. You probably know that it helps you retain muscle. It helps keep you full so you can stick to your diet better. And it even can accelerate fat loss. There's research to show that a higher protein diet results in more fat loss, even when calories are controlled than a lower protein one. Now you've probably also heard that protein powder is particularly effective for losing weight, at least a certain type of protein powder,

or maybe even a specific product. Because if you snoop around online for weight loss tips, one of the first pieces of advice you're going to find all over the place is that you should start drinking protein shakes. Step one, drink protein shakes. Is that true? And if it is true, what's the best type of protein powder for losing weight and losing fat specifically more effectively? Well, before we can answer that question, you first need to understand a ground truth about weight loss. And that is this, no protein powder, no protein shake, no supplement whatsoever can make you lose weight on its own. I wish it were the case as the owner of a sports nutrition,

of a supplement company. I wish I could say that were the case, but it is not. Weight loss is the result of proper diet and proper training. And supplements are supplementary by definition. They can only amplify the results that come from your efforts in the kitchen and gym. And they can never make as much of a difference as many supplement hucksters would have you believe. Now, the good news is that certain supplements can indeed help and are worth considering if you have the budget and the inclination, and protein powder is one of them. Protein powder can help you lose weight more effectively if you use it to support your healthy eating habits and your

effective training. And the kind of protein powder you choose and even the specific product you use actually can make a difference in your results, although maybe not for the reason that you think. And in this podcast, I'm going to break it all down for you. Also, if you like what I'm doing here on the podcast and elsewhere definitely check out my health and fitness books including the number one best-selling weightlifting books for men and women in the world bigger leaner stronger and thinner leaner stronger as well as the leading flexible dieting cookbook the shredded chef now these books have sold well over 1 million copies and have helped thousands of

people build their best body ever. And you can find them on all major online retailers like Audible, Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, and Google Play, as well as in select Barnes & Noble stores. And I should also mention that you can get any of the audiobooks 100% free when you sign up for an Audible account. And this is a great way to make those pockets of downtime, like commuting, meal prepping, and cleaning more interesting, entertaining, and productive. And so if you want to take Audible up on this offer, and if you want to get one of my audiobooks for free, just go to www.buylegion.com and sign up for your account. So again, if you appreciate my work and if you want to see more of it, and if you want to learn time-proven and evidence-based strategies for

losing fat, building muscle, and getting healthy, and strategies that work for anyone and everyone, regardless of age or circumstances, please do consider picking up one of my best-selling books, Bigger Leaner Stronger for Men, Thinner Leaner Stronger for Women, and The Shredded Chef for my favorite fitness-friendly recipes. All right, let's start this discussion at the top with a quick summary of why you should care about your protein intake when you are cutting and why it is the most important macronutrient, whether you are cutting, maintaining, or lean bulking, but particularly when you're cutting. So research shows that high protein dieting beats low or even lower protein dieting in every meaningful way. And especially when you are restricting your calories to lose weight, because eating adequate protein helps you lose fat and it helps you gain muscle faster. And yes,

you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. If you are relatively new to weightlifting, if you are not, if you are a guy, for example, who has gained your first, let's say 20 ish pounds of muscle, you've already done that. If you're a woman who has gained maybe her first 10 pounds of muscle, then you probably can't lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. You can restrict your calories and eat enough protein to maximize fat loss and muscle retention. So instead of gaining muscle while you lose fat, you're looking to just keep the muscle you have. Studies also show that high protein diets help you recover faster from your workouts. They help you feel fuller. They help you feel more satiated by the food that you eat, which of course then makes you less likely to overeat. It helps you stick to your diet.

And as far as weight loss goes, dietary compliance is the ultimate biohack. That is the one weird trick for losing fat rapidly and safely and effectively. Consistency, just complying to your diet, sticking to your diet, eating the amount of calories that you should be eating more often than not, and hitting your macros more often than not. And obviously, we all make little mistakes here and there, or sometimes it's not even a mistake, but it's just a conscious decision to eat a bit more than we had planned because maybe an opportunity arises that doesn't often arise, or we just feel the need for a bit more food. And we understand that by not being in a calorie deficit one day when we normally would otherwise doesn't really matter.

Okay. So what are we doing then? We are extending our cut by a day. Practically speaking, that's all we've done. If we planned on, let's say being in a three to 500 calorie deficit on one day, and instead we ate around maintenance calories. Okay. So what did we do? We missed out on three to 500 calories of fat loss, which we can make up by eating a bit less than normal the following few days or by just extending our cut one day. So just keep that in mind. If you find yourself at the end of a day feeling bad because you ate more than you planned on eating, don't worry about it. You do not have to try to be perfect. All you have to do is be good enough at the things that matter the most, which is your calories and your protein intake. Just be good enough most of the time. And instead of expecting

perfection, instead of setting a hard deadline for when you are trying to reach a goal, expect just good enough. Let's even put a number to it. Expect that you will be more or less on point with your calories and macros about 80% of the time, and then 20% of the time things are going to happen, and that's totally fine. And as far as when you reach your goals, just understand that it's a moving target. You start with an expectation in mind, and then based on how well you stick to your diet and what happens just in your day-to-day life, those goalposts may move a little bit closer, and now you're a little bit ahead of schedule, or they may move a little bit further away, and now you're a little bit behind schedule, and that is totally fine. It's totally

normal. Everyone goes through that experience. Even the most hardened fitness competitors go through that experience. And so coming back to protein intake, just understand that eating enough protein makes losing fat and gaining or retaining muscle easier across the board, period. How much though? How much protein should you be eating when you're cutting? Well, studies show that you should eat about one to maybe 1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day when you are cutting. And this works out to about 30 to 40% of daily calories for most people. So for example, I weigh 189 pounds, so I'd want to shoot for 190 to maybe 200 grams of protein per day if I were cutting. And if you have a lot of fat to lose, if you are a guy who weighs, let's say 230 pounds or more, if you're a woman who weighs maybe 160 or 170 pounds or more, and the idea of eating one to

1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. Seems a bit daunting. I totally understand. And you don't have to eat that much. In that case, what you can do is just go with 30 to 40% of your daily calories from protein, which will probably put you around a gram or so per pound of lean mass per day. And that's totally fine. Again, if you have quite a bit of fat to lose as you get leaner, though, you're going to want your protein intake to go up relative to body weight. Okay. So now how does protein powder fit into this picture? Does it help you lose weight? Again, no, not by itself. I mentioned that in the intro, but you may not have listened to the intro. So I just want to make that clear. Protein powder is not a weight loss supplement, not any individual type of protein powder,

not any individual protein supplement, period. There is nothing inherent that is going to help you automagically burn more body fat. In fact, you don't need to take any supplements whatsoever to burn fat and to build muscle and get the body you want. The real reason you should consider taking a protein powder when you're cutting is eating enough protein from whole foods alone can be a bit impractical, especially if you are not used to eating that much protein. So I've heard from many women over the years, for example, who have had to go from, let's

say, 40 to 60 grams of protein to 110 to 130 grams per day. And that's a big change. They are not used to eating that much filling food. Remember, protein is the most filling macronutrient. And also many women, for example, don't particularly like to eat a lot of meat and fish. And so again, it can be a bit jarring to try to make that jump. And protein powder can make it a lot easier because of course you can mix a scoop or two of protein with water and drink it down. And you have effectively just eaten a chicken breast's worth of protein and you don't feel full and you didn't have to chew anything and it took, you know, 30 seconds. And this is also true, this point of struggling to get enough protein for people who have a hectic schedule, who are on the go a lot, especially people who travel quite a bit,

because of course that makes it hard to prepare and to buy high protein meals regularly. You actually have to like start planning ahead where you're gonna eat to make sure that you can get enough protein without also blowing your calories up, without also having to eat a bunch of fat or carbs with it. And people do it, you can do it. For example, what I do when I'm traveling,

my general MO is to head to a local grocery store and pick up a couple of simple high-protein, low-calorie foods like low-fat Greek yogurt or Icelandic yogurt skier, as well as deli meat. I'll just get a medley of different hams and turkeys usually, and then throw all that in the little fridge of the hotel room and then have protein on demand, have low-calorie carb, low fat protein on demand. And how I eat that food will depend on what I'm doing. But just to give you an example, my last two trips that I took were to Texas to visit with Mark Ripito and to attend a starting strength seminar. And so in that case, what I did was first thing in the morning for breakfast, I would just have some of the yogurt with some fruit. And then I brought deli meat with me just to have as a snack in the

afternoon. So I put it in the fridge over at Mark's gym and I had maybe 50 grams of protein or so from deli meat to have in the afternoon. Lunch, we would go somewhere locally and eat and I would find something that was relatively low calorie, like a salad, and I would add some chicken to it. And then we would go somewhere for dinner as well, which is where I would eat a larger meal. That's where I'd get a lot of my calories, which is generally just how I like to eat. Not that there's anything particularly special about that. I just prefer to eat my largest meal at dinner as opposed to breakfast or lunch. And then after Texas, I went to Wyoming to ski and I did something very similar. So I would eat about 60 or 70 grams of

protein from Greek yogurt, which was just in the fridge at the hotel room. And then I would go out and ski usually from let's say eight 30 or 9 in the morning to maybe 2 or 3 in the afternoon. And then I would eat maybe another 60 or 70 grams of protein from deli meat. And I wasn't hungry. I just would go get it and eat it to make sure that I'm getting enough protein in every day. Probably the adrenaline I'm guessing is why I wasn't hungry. I probably could have just gone all day without eating and not really noticed it, but I would take a break sometime early in the afternoon to just get in my next serving of protein, which would put me at maybe 130 or 140 grams of protein so far for the day. And also I would eat some fruit. Sometimes in the morning, I throw some blueberries in the

yogurt. Sometimes I would have some fruit also later in the afternoon, have a banana, just some energy, just get in some extra calories so I can go back out and ski. And then at dinner, I would have some fruit also later in the afternoon, have a banana, just some energy, just get in some extra calories so I can go back out and ski. And then at dinner, I would eat a lot. We were going to good restaurants and I didn't pay attention to calories at all. I would guess I was averaging three to 4,000 calories at dinner just because, again, that's how I like to eat. And particularly if I'm going to be active all day, I don't want to eat some big lunch and then go puke it up on the slopes, right?

And that worked really well. It helped me get in enough protein every day, which by the way, my dinners always had some protein. So I would end the day at maybe 170 to 180 grams, which is plenty. I could, of course, eat less and not worry about it, but I like protein. Like if I go to a good restaurant, chances are I'm going to want some form of protein as my main entree, like a steak or some fish, or I had some pork at one place, as well as some appetizers and a good side and a good dessert. That's how I generally like to eat in restaurants. Unless it's an Italian restaurant, then I just go all in on

carbs, right? But anyway, so I was getting in enough protein every day and I was not hungry at all throughout the day when I was skiing and I was able to maximize the dinners, which to me, again, is most pleasurable. I enjoy that more than distributing my calories more evenly throughout the day, which for example, is how my wife prefers to eat. So she prefers to have a bit more for breakfast and she liked to have a bit more for lunch and then have a more moderate dinner. Whereas I was basically saving most of my calories for dinner. I just wanted to come to dinner, having met most of my protein needs and then eating most, if not all of my carbs and fats then.

And in case you're wondering about the outcome in terms of my body composition, by doing it that way, I didn't gain any fat to speak of. I didn't weigh myself before or after. I probably should have just out of curiosity because I wouldn't be surprised if I came back a bit leaner, actually. I didn't weigh myself before or after,

but I wouldn't be surprised if I came back a bit lighter because of how many calories I was burning skiing. I weigh again, 190 pounds or so. I would guess somewhere around five to 700 calories per hour. So by the time I arrived at dinner, I had a big deficit to backfill. And another good sign is I got back in the gym last week. So I was skiing the week before and there was no decline in my performance. My back was a little bit sore the first couple of days, just residual lower back soreness from skiing and my quads a little bit sore from being hammered. It was my first time skiing and I did a pretty good job picking it up and pushing myself, but I was amazed at how much it rocked my quads. They were not used to that amount of time under tension,

but of course my weightlifting did serve me well. The fact that I have strong legs helped a lot, helped with progression and helped avoiding falling and also having pretty good cardio helped a lot, which another interesting little tidbit that I noticed since I've been back is my normal cardio workouts that I do. I normally do 30 minutes of moderate intensity cardio every day. On the weekdays, it's first thing in the morning. On the weekends, it's usually later in the afternoon or before dinner, just kind of whenever I get to it. Those workouts are significantly easier after just five days of skiing, which involved pushing my cardio a lot further than I normally do. Again, I'm normally doing moderate intensity, so I couldn't record a podcast like

this while I'm doing cardio, but I could have a discussion with you. I'm just going to have to catch my breath every few lines or so. Now, when I was skiing, I was regularly reaching the point where I wouldn't have been able to speak in more than maybe a few words at a time. So let's say maybe a seven out of 10 in terms of intensity. And then there were a couple of instances where my lungs were on fire, where I actually felt like I couldn't get enough oxygen in. And funnily, the toughest cardiovascular moment of the trip was actually not during skiing. It was during a trudge from the beginning of a black run back to a blue or double blue because my wife and I were skiing, I think we were skiing down a blue and off to the left somewhere. There was a trail that looked like

it was going to be fun, but then when we got to it, we realized that there was no way that we were going to be able to do this competently. If we go over that hill, it was going to be a very slow and difficult grind down the mountain. I later learned that Jackson Hole is famous for its difficulty and that like blues and double blues at Jackson Hole are the equivalent of blacks elsewhere. And the blacks are some of the most challenging skiing in the entire country, which is one of the reasons why it's so popular, especially with advanced skiers. And so anyway, my wife and I are now at the edge of this black run, debating as to whether we should attempt it or not. And we decide to turn back, to go back to the blue.

And that meant for me, my wife was able to do it with her skis on because she doesn't weigh very much, but I had to take my skis off because we had skied now into an area with deeper snow and my poles were going several feet down into the snow and I was kind of sinking down into the snow. So I take my skis off and now I have to trudge through, again, what is a few feet of snow, probably 300 to 400 yards. And by the end of that, I was beyond gassed. I was gasping for air. You know, you get to that point where you feel like you're suffocating, like you actually can't get enough oxygen to stay alive and your body starts freaking out. I had reached that point. And so anyway, my cardio was challenged on this trip a lot more than it normally is in my day-to-day

routine. And now since I've been back, I noticed right away that my normal cardio routine, so same bike, same resistance setting is markedly easier than it was before the trip, that I had to actually increase the resistance on the bike and consciously pedal harder just to reach that four or so out of 10 intensity level where I could have a conversation, but I'd have to catch my breath here and there. And so the moral of that shaggy dog story is include a bit of high intensity interval training in your cardio routine. If you want to maximize your cardiovascular endurance and your performance, it really makes a difference. And it doesn't take that much to make a difference. For example, if you are doing, let's say one and a half hours of cardio per week, you could make just 30 minutes of that, 20 even actually, high intensity

interval training. And that will not only increase the amount of calories you're burning in your cardio, but it'll also really boost your stamina and make the rest of your cardio that you're doing a bit easier. All right. So that's the end of one of my hallmark tangents that I will often go off on, but I hope you found it helpful. And let's now get back to the topic at hand, which is protein powder, weight loss. So I've already told you that it is not going to inherently help you lose weight faster, but it can help you hit your daily protein target. So let's say again, a gram or so per pound of body weight per day, or around 40% of daily calories. And if you can do that, you are going to experience less hunger. You're going to experience less in the way of cravings.

You are going to enjoy less muscle loss. You are going to stick to your diet better. You're going to recover from your workouts better. And all of that will help you reach your body composition goals faster. Now, if you're wondering, by the way, why I didn't bring protein powder with me on my trips, it's because I don't want to travel with a big jug. I obviously use my own stuff. I use Legion's Whey and I use Legion's Plant Plus, and we don't yet have single serving little sachets, but they're coming. And once we do have them, I will be bringing those whenever I travel. One other option is to put a bunch of powder in a big like one gallon freezer bag. And I've done that before, but fell out of the habit for

whatever reason. And I'm waiting for the single serves and they're on the way. If you like what I'm doing here on the podcast and elsewhere, definitely check out my health and fitness books, including the number one bestselling weightlifting books for men and women in the world, Bigger Leaner Stronger and Thinner Leaner Stronger, as well as the leading flexible dieting cookbook, The Shredded Chef. All right. So if we know that protein powder can help us lose weight more effectively, the question that I often get asked next is how much? How much protein powder is too much

specifically is what many people want to know. Now, one thing to keep in mind when you're trying to lose weight is that whole foods are generally going to be better for dietary compliance. And the main reason for this is they're more filling, of course, than protein powder. And that is going to help you stick to your diet better. Whole foods are also more nutrient dense than supplements, including protein powders and bars. And so therefore, I think it is a good rule of thumb to not get more than about 30 to 40% of your total daily protein needs from powders and bars. So you can get up to 30 to 40% of your daily protein from powders or bars and do fine. Now, that said, there's nothing particularly unhealthy about eating more protein powder than that. There

is nothing particularly harmful about getting, let's say, 50, 60, or even 70% of your daily calories from protein powder. But if you find yourself needing to get more than 30 or 40% of your total protein needs from supplements, it's a red flag that you probably need to put a bit more effort into your meal planning. You might be being a little bit lazy about your meal planning, and that can contribute to dietary mistakes that can lead to increased hunger and increased cravings and inadequate nutrition, which if you are restricting your calories for a long enough period of time, actually can materially impact your wellbeing and your performance in the gym and even your rate of fat loss. All right, with that out of the way, let's move on now to the best protein powder for weight loss.

What is it? It is drum roll, whatever helps you best reach your total daily protein target and whatever best suits your budget and your preferences. That's really it. And I know there are fitness gurus out there and even credentialed experts who will really beat the proverbial drum for one type of protein or one brand of protein or another. But the reality is any high quality protein powder is going to work just fine for the purposes of providing enough protein, which of course is what is going to work just fine for the purposes of providing enough protein, which of course is what is going to assist with the whole weight loss process. You might've also heard that you want to choose a protein powder that has been hydrolyzed or cold processed or ultra or micro filtered, but you just need to know that all of that is really just window dressing.

When I first got into the supplement business, when I first launched Legion, I thought that those things meant something. And then as I got a bit more of the inside baseball and educated myself about how the sausage is made, so to speak, I realized that those are just mostly marketing buzzwords that don't make any difference in terms of bottom line results. So don't pay too much attention to any of the fancy sounding modifiers that are attached to protein powders. Most of it is unnecessary and it's just used to try to convince you to pay more money for the product. That isn't to say though that you should just pick a protein powder willy-nilly or just pick the cheapest one because there are some useful criteria you can use when buying a protein powder

to ensure that you are getting a high quality product that is going to work best for your needs. So for example, one thing that you should look at is the calories in each serving and the protein in each serving. And a good sign, a green flag, is at least 80% of the calories in each serving coming from protein. And the reason why this is important is many protein powder manufacturers cut costs by including cheap filler ingredients in their protein powders. Maltodextrin is common because it tastes good. Cheap amino acids that are rich in nitrogen are common, like glycine, because, well, in the case of glycine, it also tastes good. It's naturally sweet, and it allows the protein, this is the amino spiking you've probably heard of. It allows the protein powder to pass a test that would indicate

that it has, let's say, 25 grams of protein per serving when it actually only has, let's say, 10 grams. How does that work? Well, that test just looks at the nitrogen content of the serving of protein. And if it sees that, oh, it has the amount of nitrogen that would be present in the case of 25 grams of protein, it must have 25 grams of protein. But in reality, maybe it only has 10 grams of protein and the rest of that nitrogen is being provided by glycine, which is way less expensive than let's say whey protein or any type of protein powder. And again, which tastes great, which means you don't have to use as much in the way of flavoring and masking and sweetening, which saves money. So for example, if you take my

product, Whey Plus, which you can check out over at legionathletics.com, it contains 22 grams of protein per serving and 100 calories. So here's that math. You have 22, which is the grams of protein, times four, which is the approximate amount of calories in a gram of protein for 88 calories from protein. And then you have 88 divided by 100, 88%. So therefore, whey plus is 88% protein by serving, which is outstanding. I mean, that is about as good as you're going to get. And in the case of whey plus, the reason why it is so protein rich is it is a 100% whey isolate. So that's a process whereby manufacturers take a whey concentrate and they pull out the lactose and they pull out the fat and they really isolate the protein in the whey. And that means you get more protein by weight and you also get better

digestibility. So with the lactose out, for example, people who are lactose intolerant often can use whey plus without issue, whereas a whey concentrate would upset their stomach. Now, something to keep in mind is that 80% benchmark that I just shared with you is really only viable for animal-based protein powders. And for most people, that means whey or casein. Those are the two most popular. But as far as plant-based protein powders go, those are always going to have a higher percentage of fat, carbs, fiber, and other ingredients mixed in.

So if you want to use a plant-based protein, I'd say a good rule of thumb there is at least 50 to 60% of the calories per serving coming from protein. So for example, I have a plant protein called Plant Plus, and it contains 25 grams of protein and 160 calories per serving. So that means that 63% of the calories in each serving come from protein. And there's really no way to improve upon that because we are working with the highest quality rice and pea protein isolates that we can find. And we are not adding any sugars of any kind, which of course would add calories and carbs or any other ingredients that would add calories and carbs.

It is about as pure plant protein as you can get. It is about as pure plant protein as you can get. Now, another important criterion for choosing the right protein powder for you is, do you like how it tastes and do you digest it well? A good protein powder shouldn't taste like a supplement that you have to choke down. And that's especially true if you're using a plant-based protein powder because many of those are just nasty. No, it should taste creamy. It should be smooth. It should have a nice mouthfeel. It should be refreshing. You should enjoy it when you mix it mixed with water. You shouldn't have to drink calories in the form of milk or a milk substitute just to get the stuff down. It should taste awesome if you're going to do that, but water should be perfectly viable. So if your protein powder tastes kind of plasticky or

synthetic or just off when mixed in water, then you should try something else. You should try mine. And if you don't like mine, we'll just give you your money back. You don't have to send it back to us. You don't have to fill out forms and mail them by carrier pigeon to a P.O. box in the Gobi Desert. No, you just let us know, hey, I didn't really like that. And we give you your money back or we'll send you another one if you want to try something else. But anyway, your protein powder should not only go down well, it should sit well. It shouldn't cause anything in the way of bloating or gassiness or cramping or burping. You should not notice it at all after drinking it. And many people don't understand that. They think that those are just common problems and it's really just part and parcel of eating protein powder, but that's not the case. Some people don't do well with milk proteins,

for example. In some cases, it's not the lactose that is causing the problems. It's actually in the milk protein molecules themselves, but that's pretty rare. For most people who are having problems, having digestion problems with protein powders, it's just because those protein powders are low quality and they contain unnecessary junk and fillers that can cause strange reactions. Or in some cases, there are traces of lactose, even though it's supposed to be a whey isolate. If I were to pursue many of the Chinese suppliers who reach out to me every week, I could cut my protein costs in half probably, and maybe try to tell myself that I'm still receiving a 100% whey isolate. One of those things where, yeah, don't look into it, but it's a 100% whey isolate when

it's not. When it is only partly a whey isolate because there's also whey concentrate in there, or when it is a low quality, poorly produced whey isolate, which of course then partly defeats the whole point. Now I delete all of those emails with prejudice and I continue to pay quite high prices for my whey isolate, which is sourced from small dairy farms in Ireland because of the quality, because it is some of the best whey isolate in the world. There is a top tier level of whey isolates that you can source. There's this stuff that I get from Ireland. There is some whey isolate from the US, which is considered comparable. And then

there is some that comes from New Zealand that is considered also true blue ribbon whey isolate. And I've tried them all and I like the Irish the most and it's not the cheapest, but I just like it the most. And so that's what I chose years ago. And that's what I've stuck with. And one of the clear indicators to me of how good it is, is just how many people I've heard from over the years who have reached out to tell me that it is the first whey protein. And they've tried every whey isolate, every popular whey isolate out there, including hydrolyzed versions as well. And all of those would upset their stomach. And they had basically given up on whey. And they figured that they would give mine a try. Again, because of my money back guarantee, they figured, why not? They'll try it. And if it upsets their stomach,

they'll just let my customer experience team know, and we'll just give them their money back. And lo and behold, no problems. Again, the first whey they've ever used without issue. So if you are one of those people who gave up on whey protein because of digestion problems, try Legion's Whey Plus. See how it works for you. And if it doesn't work, we'll just give you your money back, but chances are you're going to be fine with it. Now, that doesn't mean that you need to use whey protein. Of course, whey is the most popular type of protein supplement out there. And for good reason, it does give you a lot of protein per dollar. It tastes good. And its amino acid profile is great

for us fitness folk. It is uniquely suited to muscle building and recovery, particularly because of how much leucine it has, which is an essential amino acid that stimulates protein synthesis, that stimulates the muscle building process in the body. But another option is casein, which is also developed from milk. If I didn't mention this way, it comes from milk, but casein is as well. It's just a bit of a different type of protein and it digests a bit slower than whey. And that makes it particularly suited to pre-bed use. So if you want to have some protein before bed, which is a good idea, actually, a number of studies have shown that it can increase muscle growth

over time, not because sleeping is catabolic, as some people say, but because if you finish eating at let's say 6 or 7 p.m., let's say that's your last serving of protein, and let's say you go to bed at 10 or 11, that means that your body's muscle building machinery is going to be waiting for amino acids for at least several hours until you eat protein again. And so that's just a lost opportunity to continue repairing and building muscle. That said, if you had some protein, let's say within 30 to 45 minutes of going to bed, and if it were a slower digesting protein, so whey generally takes a couple of hours, two or three hours to digest. And casein, I believe is somewhere around six hours if we're talking about comparable amounts

of protein. So if you had some casein right before you go to bed, then you are going to have amino acids in your blood for most of the night, which means that your body's muscle building machinery, so to speak, can continue working. Now it doesn't have to be casein, of course. Other options are low-fat cottage cheese. That works well, as well as high-protein yogurts like Greek yogurt or skier. Those are the most popular whole food options, at least. Casein, however, is a great supplemental option. Now, it also is great for just general supplementation. Most scientific research shows that both whey and casein are more or less comparable when it comes to muscle building. So whichever one you choose is just a matter of personal preference. For my part, I like casein, but I prefer whey. I prefer

the taste and the mouthfeel of whey. And I also actually even like our plant protein more than casein, but that's just personal preference. Now, if you want to do a plant-based protein powder, I mentioned earlier what I would recommend. I would recommend either rice protein isolate or pea protein isolate, or ideally a blend of rice and pea isolate. And the reason why I like the combination is their amino acid profiles are complementary. And when you mix them together, you actually get something that looks a lot like whey in

terms of its amino acid breakdown. And that's one of the reasons why that combination of rice and pea protein is often referred to as the vegan's whey. And you know, I should mention one benefit I've noticed from plant proteins, at least my own plant plus product, is it tends to be more filling scoop for scoop than whey. And so if you're someone who tends to struggle with hunger when you're cutting, then a plant protein like mine may be able to help a little bit more with that than whey. Alrighty, well, that is more or less everything I wanted to share with you today. So let's just do a quick recap. When you're cutting, you want to eat around one to 1.2

grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. And if that number is very high because are heavy and you have a lot of fat to lose, then you can turn that into 30 or 40% of your daily calories from protein. And you can get quite a bit of that from a protein powder. You don't have to use a protein powder, but if you have the budget and you can get quite a bit of that from a protein powder. You don't have to use a protein powder, but if you have the budget and you don't mind using a protein powder, you're going to find that it's very convenient and it is probably going to help you consistently hit that protein target, which is going to help you lose more fat and gain or retain more muscle. That said, I would recommend cutting off your protein powder intake

at about 40% of your total daily protein. Now, you don't have to eat that much, but I would say try not to eat more than that because if you are getting 60, 70 plus percent of your daily protein from powder, you're probably not doing a very good job meal planning and that can cause other problems. Now, as far as the best protein powder for weight loss, just a few questions to ask yourself. If it is a whey protein or a casein protein or really anything from animals, is it around 80% protein by weight? If it's not, if it is quite a bit lower than that, then I would say find something else that is a low quality whey, casein, beef, whatever protein powder. And in the case of a whey isolate, for example, you should see a number

upward of 90% protein by weight, meaning that about 90% of the calories in each serving come from protein. The next question to ask yourself is, do I like it? Do I like drinking this every day? Do I look forward to drinking it every day? Can I drink it with just water I like it? Do I like drinking this every day? Do I look forward to drinking it every day? Can I drink it with just water and like it? Because that's really what you want. You don't want to have to drink a couple hundred calories per day just to get down your protein shake. No, they should be perfectly enjoyable in water alone. And finally, does the protein powder digest easily? Do you notice any discomfort, any cramping, any bloating, any gassiness? If you do, then you need to try something else.

That powder is not for you. Well, that be it for today's episode, friend. Thanks again for joining me. I hope you learned at least a few things that you can put into practice immediately to achieve your fitness goals faster. And I have a lot more goodies on the way, of course. I have an interview coming with Dr. Mike Israetel on how to find the exercises and the exercise variations

that are going to be the most effective for your body, that are gonna help you gain muscle and strength the fastest. And then I have another installment of Says You coming where I address things that people disagree with me on. So in this case, I'm going to be talking about ideal cardio volume, the validity of the phrase scientifically proven, and then the inclusion of deadlifts in a hypertrophy program. All right. Well, that's it for this episode. I hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting and helpful. And if you did, and you don't mind doing me a favor, please do leave a quick review on iTunes or wherever you're listening to me from in whichever app you're listening to me in, because that not only convinces people that they should check out the show,

it also increases search visibility. And thus, it helps more people find their way to me and learn how to get fitter, leaner, stronger, healthier, and happier as well. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then simply subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any new stuff. And if you didn't like something about the show, please do shoot me an email at mike at muscleforlife.com, just muscle F-O-R life.com and share your thoughts on how I can do this better. I read everything myself and I'm always looking for constructive feedback, even if it is criticism. I'm open to it. And of course,

you can email me if you have positive feedback as well, or if you have questions really relating to anything that you think I could help you with, definitely send me an email. That is the best way to get ahold of me, mikeatmuscleforlife.com. And that's it. Thanks again for listening to this episode, and I hope to hear from you soon.