Some folx feel like using protein powder to get protein levels up is cheating. I disagree. Given that getting enough protein is an important part of steady energy, even mood, and stable blood sugar, it’s often a great option for a boost.

You can check out an older post about getting enough protein if you like but I can comfortably say that the lion’s share of my patients and clients think they are indeed getting enough. But, when they track their food and we look at how much protein they get compared to how much I want them to get they’re shocked, and often resistant.

My approach to individualized care is always- ‘let’s try it and see how you feel’. Almost all the time people feel better from increasing protein. Much better.

The rub though is that not everyone wants to eat meat at every meal. And although there are vegetarian sources of protein (and I’m not opposed to vegetarian diets on principle) most of the vegetarian foods that we think of as protein (such as beans and nuts) are more fat or carbs than protein. You can find specific examples here.

So, for many of my vegetarian patients and clients, or those who simply want a boost to their diets, I suggest protein powder.

When I started my practice twenty years ago there were only a few options for protein powder—soy and whey. And usually they tasted terrible.

Now we have so many different kinds of protein powder that it’s easy to get lost in the weeds trying to figure out what’s what.

My 5 rules for selecting a protein powder:

Rule #1: Don’t buy protein powder with a half naked weightlifter on the bottle.

Rule #2: Avoid protein that has a sweetener that ends in –ol.

Rule #3: Avoid protein powder with a laundry list of ingredients. (more…)