5 Ways To Add Whey Protein To Protein Shakes
The whey protein shake is the bedrock of many athletic dietary protocols. There is no shortage of protein shake recipes online, and it can be a little confusing at times. How exactly should you go about incorporating whey protein into your diet, and what is the best way to add it to your shakes?
Luckily, how you take it doesn’t matter too much in terms of the whey protein’s effectiveness. When and how you drink or eat it is far, far less important than the total volume of protein you get into your diet each day. However, to be sustainable, a high protein diet does need to be palatable- you need to know what you will be able to regularly ingest without getting sick of it!
Whether you’re using your protein shake for weight loss, hypertrophy, strength gains or simply to bring your numbers up to their recommended daily amount, whey protein can be made to work for you.
Here are five different ways you can go about using whey protein.
Five different ways to enjoy your whey protein
- Banana mocha as a slow energy burner: This is a great use for whey protein if you struggle with energy throughout the day. Mix a chocolate flavored whey protein powder with oats, milk, coffee and a banana. The banana and oats will give you long lasting energy, the coffee will give you an immediate pick-me-up, and the whey protein will lead to great taste and satiation. It will keep you going for hours.
- As a morning smoothie: Whey protein works really well in a morning smoothie. Smoothies taste great and can be very healthy when made with plenty of fruit. However, they aren’t too filling. Enter whey protein: it will turn your smoothie into a far more substantial meal, whilst being enjoyable and incredibly nutritionally beneficial.
- In conjunction with other, mixed protein powders: There is no reason to stick purely to whey. Though whey is a complete protein, and so incredibly useful for hypertrophy and recovery, plant-based powders also have their own merits. Add a scoop of whey with a scoop or pea or soy protein for a lovely, earthy flavor, combined with whatever else takes your fancy.
- Skip the shake entirely: This is a bit of a cheat as we’re skipping the ‘shake’ bit- but it’s just too good an idea to ignore. Use whey protein as an ingredient in your meal prepping. Mix it in with oatmeal for a delicious, low sugar, high protein porridge. Stir it into pancake batter for high protein pancakes on a weekend morning. Mix it with bread dough and bake a fresh batch of high protein rolls. Whey protein powder is far more versatile than you might have imagined.
Whey protein can be used in myriad different ways. It is versatile and tasty, either as a main ingredient, as a sugar replacement, or as just one of a plethora of tasty components. Try some of the above ideas, maybe experiment with some of your own, and enjoy yourself a bit as you endeavor to hit your daily intake goals.
