The truth about protein shakes, according to science | Dr Federica Amati

ZOE Science & Nutrition

ZOE

Nutrition, Health & Fitness, Education, Science

4.6 • 4.9K Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2024

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Protein-rich diets have been popular for some time. Everything from chocolate bars to ice cream promises to be ‘high protein’. Influencers and media outlets seem to rave about the weight loss and muscle building potential of eating a lot of protein. But when it’s added as an extra ingredient - sometimes with emulsifiers and sugar - is it really helping our muscles grow? Today, ZOE's Head Nutritionist Dr. Federica Amati reveals the truth about protein bars and shakes, cutting through the marketing noise to find out how useful these products really are. 🥑 Make smarter food choices. Become a member at zoe.com - 10% off with code PODCAST 🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily 30+ *Naturally high in copper which contributes to normal energy yielding metabolism and the normal function of the immune system Follow ZOE on Instagram. Timecodes 00:00 Are protein shakes worth it? 01:30 What is protein? 02:59 The liver's surprising role 03:32 Why do we need protein? 05:01 You probably don’t need more protein 07:30 Can I get enough protein from plants? 09:15 The protein supplement explosion 11:20 Are protein bars ultra processed? 15:30 Does extra protein promote weight loss? 17:33 Should I drink protein shakes? Books by our ZOE Scientists The Food For Life Cookbook Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector Mentioned in today's episode Dietary protein: an essential nutrient for bone health (2005), published in Journal of the American College of Nutrition Amino acids and immune function (2007), published in British Journal of Nutrition A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults (2017), published in British Journal of Sports Medicine Is It Time to Reconsider the U.S. Recommendations for Dietary Protein and Amino Acid Intake? (2023), published in Nutrients The hidden dangers of protein powders (2022), published by Harvard Medical School, Staying Healthy blog Gut microbiota role in dietary protein metabolism and health-related outcomes: The two sides of the coin (2016), published by Trends in Food Science and Technology Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here. Episode transcripts are available here.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Zoe shorts, the bite-size podkarts, where we discuss one topic around science and nutrition.
0:07.0	I'm Jonathan Wolf and today I'm joined by Dr Federica Amati, and today's subject is protein bars and shakes.
0:15.0	That's right Jonathan.
0:18.0	We've had so many questions from our listeners on this one.
0:21.0	Protein-rich diets have been popular for some time and you see influences
0:24.4	in media outlets raving about the weight loss and muscle-building potential of eating
0:28.8	a lot to lots of protein. A lot of people find that reaching these targets can be really hard with food so they boost their intake with protein bars and shakes.
0:38.0	So Federica my question then is, do we really need all that protein and are these bars and shakes actually
0:44.8	healthy for us? We're going to cut right through the marketing noise and find out
0:49.1	whether this stuff is actually good for you. Okay let's shake up some myths and unbar the truth then.
1:00.0	So Federica I'd like to make a quick introduction the listeners who don't feel they really know you yet.
1:04.2	You're a lecturer at Imperial College London and you're the author of best-selling book.
1:08.0	Everybody should know this. And we're fortunate enough to also have you as our head nutritionist here at Zowie and I know you spent a lot of time thinking about this topic.
1:16.0	It feels like the very word protein is so widely used these days that we should all like completely understand what it is but actually each time
1:24.7	it comes up I realize I'm not really sure I do. Federico what is protein?
1:29.8	Okay Dorothy so proteins are really cool and it's just the word though that we use to describe the very complex 3D structures that are made up by different amino acids that all join up in really long chains.
1:43.0	So these long chains of amino acids then fold over themselves
1:47.0	in super complicated ways,
1:49.0	and they form different proteins
1:51.0	when they're this complex 3D structure.
1:53.0	Proteen is found everywhere in the body,
1:56.0	bone, skin, hair, enzymes, immune system cells.
	...

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