Can I get enough protein of mainly protein powders?

oliver23

New member
I’m a 17 year old who’s 6,4 and weighs 9 stone (or 126 pounds) and I’m skinny asf. I wanna get stronger so I don’t keep getting called lanky and weak but to get fit I need a high protein diet and I’m an extremely fussy eater. Whenever I try and find a good meal for growth in muscles they always say that some stuff is necessary and I just straight up can’t eat them. Then I realised protein powder exists and I kinda hope if I just use enough of that I can get at least a lil bit muscular compared to what I am now. So can I get stronger just off protein powder? Yea I realise now I’m typing this it’s almost definitely gonna be a no and I’m probably gonna look stupid but yea it’s worth a shot ain’t it?
 
@oliver23
I’m an extremely fussy eater.

As a former fussy eater, my recommendation is not to be. Once I started eating like an adult, nutrition became so much easier to stay on top of, and found myself relying less on supplements to meet my nutritional targets.
 
@oliver23 Short answer: yes you can, protein is protein.

But there are plenty of things you can eat that might be more fun or cheaper than protein powder. Beans, all type of meat, quinoa and more
 
@dch Protein is not at all just protein. Lots of different ways they are composed which will either lead to it being a quality protein or one your body can’t make much use of.
That’s why you want to make sure to get some quality protein intake, which is why binging on fast food won’t get you the proteins that your body actually needs.
Sure, protein is better than none but don’t assume that it doesn’t matter what type of protein you assume.
It won’t take much effort to get some scientific explanations and examples which I probably couldn’t give you without missing something important.
 
@dch https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Human_genome_by_functions.svg

No, there are tons of different types.

You wouldn't say fat is fat would you? Different fats are treated different in various parts of metabolism and function optimally in specific ratios to one another, same with protein. Why do you think there are essential and non essential amino acids? Because they are different from one another.

You can say generally that protein is protein, sure, but optimally there are ratios that can be important long term to consider
 
@ladel OP wasn't asking about amino acids. But I recommended quinoa anyways, which contains all the essential amino acids. So maybe I do know not all protein sources are the same 😲. This is a sub for beginners. They don't care about amino acids, they just want easy solutions to their problems. Usually when given something more complicated to do they just go "No, I can't do that because..."

Also saying "protein is protein" is a meme
 
@laiju1989 There are tasty protein bars on the market now, we’ve come a long way from the disgusting Powerbar bricks from the 1990’s. I’ve improved my health by using protein bars to satisfy my sweet tooth instead of candy bars. Lately I’ve been getting Fulfil, Barebells, and Quest Heros.

But nobody’s forcing you to eat them if you don’t like them.
 
@oliver23 I used to have a similar body to you and protein powder has helped me a lot.

I shit if I eat too much milk or cheese so I had to use vegan protein powder. I just combined that with tofu and soybeans. Straight up just mix a scoop with warm water and drink it.

I’m not jacked by any means but I went from 6’ 130 lbs in my first year of college to 169 lbs now (roughly 5-6 years).
 
@oliver23 Between now and your early twenties you will fill out naturally you don’t need to blow your hard earned on supplements just eat reasonable amounts of meat chicken and fish along with protein rich legumes and grains and all will be well. Stay off the Maccas and soft drinks too.
 
@dawn16 Agreed. This is important. OP doesn’t need to buy vshred or liverking or anyone’s special mix of expensive supplements. Mr Picky Eater just needs to eat real foods.
 
@oliver23 First off, you just need to eat more in general. You're incredibly thin, especially for (I assume) a man. You can eat tons of protein but if you don't just eat more calories, you aren't going to make much progress.

Do you not like meat? Usually the fussy eaters at least like chicken! Regardless, for your overall benefit in life.... start trying more foods cooked in different ways and work through your fussy eater status. You don't need to like every food, but nothing is more embarrassing than being with someone who acts like a toddler when it comes to food. You need to be able to eat a healthy, rounded diet that consists of majority whole foods (meat, veg, fruits, eggs, grains, etc) and avoid ultra processed foods (aka, anything coming pre-packaged/ready to eat like bread, pasta, cereal, chips, crackers, sweets, sodas, etc).

You don't need to make the change overnight, but you do need to work on eating better and eating more.

As for your question... you can get most of your protein from protein powder, but I'd argue you shouldn't because you're missing out on all the other nutrients that come from other protein sources.

Also... have you tried protein powder before??? Personally, I'd MUCH rather have a chunk of chicken than a protein shake. It's tolerable, but (for me) whey has that tangy bitterness like you might get from plain yoghurt even when it's full of sweeteners and flavors. Vegan protein is much more grainy and while I like 1 flavor blended up in a thick fruit smoothie, the other flavor I have is much harder to drink or even eat in a protein pudding (aka, adding as little water as possible so it's just a pudding consistency). I may be the oddball with the flavor thing here, but a glass of chocolate whey isn't like drinking a creamy glass of chocolate milk.
 
@oliver23 In isolation, yeah you can get enough, but a few things to keep in mind:
1. You're losing a lot of the micronutrients of eating whole foods.
2. Protein supplements are really expensive and I'd say only using supplements isn't sustainable.

My suggestion would be to find foods that you enjoy eating and try to add protein to them. With enough trial and error, you can come up with some solid recipes. There are also plenty of resources out there to help you find meals that you'll like.
 
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