Does my protein powder need to come from whey to build muscle?

[Anonymous]

I'm new to working out and using protein powder. Currently I'm using a powder for my shakes derived from brown rice protein. Someone said I need to use whey to effectively build muscle. True? If so, please share what brand you use.

[Anonymous]

I'm not your expert on this but I thought that plant-based proteins are incomplete. The only way to get complete protein is to either combine certain plant proteins so they complete each other (which can be tricky) or use animal protein (such as whey) which are complete already.

[Anonymous]

What kind of exercises are you doing? You may not need to supplement. I work out hard and am trying to build muscle through heavy weightlifting and I don't need to use protein powder every day - I just use it if my regular diet isn't cutting it for some reason. All things being equal, Whey protein is the best, but if for some reason you can't tolerate it, or you don't do dairy for ethical reasons, you just need to find the best thing that works for you.

[Anonymous]

Go for 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight to build muscle. It's easier to get via protein shakes but absolutely possible to do with regular foods like tofu, chicken, Greek yogurt, fish, beans, etc.

To answer your question, brown rice protein is fine. Just look at the serving sizes to see how much protein is in one serving and plan your protein intake throughout the day so your total equals 1g per lb of body weight.

[Anonymous]

As others have already mentioned, Whey protein is best.

I've never actually used any whey protein. I already eat too damned much so further supplementing would have just made me fatter.

What I do instead is focus on eating healthy protein and carbs during family meals. So when we head to McDonalds, I always get the wrap, I'm always ordering steak or fish at a restaurant, etc.

Diet is important, but it's not nearly as important as the exercises. I would say that as long as you are eating enough and *reasonably* healthy - meaning your diet doesn't consist entirely of donuts and pizza or something, then protein shakes, supplements and etc, are going to make a small difference. I recognize that some people chase after those extra 5-10%, and the effect compounds by day/week/month/year, but I chose not to go through that stress and am happy enough with the results. In 12 months of exercising and dieting, I went from 215 down to 185, and muscle mass grew significantly with 16 inch arms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As others have already mentioned, Whey protein is best.

I've never actually used any whey protein. I already eat too damned much so further supplementing would have just made me fatter.

What I do instead is focus on eating healthy protein and carbs during family meals. So when we head to McDonalds, I always get the wrap, I'm always ordering steak or fish at a restaurant, etc.

Diet is important, but it's not nearly as important as the exercises. I would say that as long as you are eating enough and *reasonably* healthy - meaning your diet doesn't consist entirely of donuts and pizza or something, then protein shakes, supplements and etc, are going to make a small difference. I recognize that some people chase after those extra 5-10%, and the effect compounds by day/week/month/year, but I chose not to go through that stress and am happy enough with the results. In 12 months of exercising and dieting, I went from 215 down to 185, and muscle mass grew significantly with 16 inch arms.

Well you wouldn't add a protein shake without taking something out. I don't have protein shakes every day but if I do it tides me over between lunch and dinner or something.