Whey Protein Substitute

[bridgette26]

For all of my high school years I drank whey protein and got significant mass and strength gains. I was the heaviest I've ever been and pound-for-pound stronger than I've ever been.

I realized I was allergic to whey and it gives me bad acne (verified again 2 months ago @22 y/o), so I stopped drinking it during college. Initially I replaced it with nothing and lost a ton of weight and strength, but for the past 2 years I've been drinking pea protein and adding a couple of extra chicken breasts per day to my usual diet.

The issue is that pea protein + increased chicken consumption is clearly not cutting it. I am maybe at 80% of the strength and weight I used to be and have completely plateaued no matter how much effort I put in.

Does anyone have any nutritional recommendations? I have no monetary limitations in terms of types of protein powders and foods to try. Only limitations really is that I have are I don't have time to meal prep, I can't drink whey, and can only consume dairy in moderation.

Thanks!

Update: went with hella orgain pea protein and collagen. I found egg whites to be nasty.

All in all, I gotta take like 3+ dumps a day w/ the occasional urgent bathroom run, but I have no acne and have put on tons of muscle and a lot of strength.

 

[sbrodhagen]

@bridgette26 Try egg white protein.

But speaking candidly, if you get enough protein in the rest of your diet from other high quality protein sources it shouldn't matter.

But I get it.

I used to eat chicken 3-4 meals a day with eggs, cottage cheese/greek yogurt/Skyr

1-2 protein shakes can make it seem more manageable.

 

[bridgette26]

@sbrodhagen Update, I tried it, tasted hella mid for me. Idk it would clump up weird, get extremely sticky and taste pretty awful. Maybe I was doing it wrong.

 

[sbrodhagen]

@bridgette26 Might have to use a blender

 

[bridgette26]

@sbrodhagen Would you consider non-whey protein powders high quality? I don't know much about lower-level nutrition, but I heard many plant based proteins aren't sufficient. I heard beef bone broth protein is good, but you only get like 15-20g/day from it.

Edit: I'm kind of slow and thought you recommended egg whites for protein. I'll definitely check out egg white protein powder.

 

[sbrodhagen]

@bridgette26 I know some bodybuilders that buy liquid pasteurized egg whites and throw it into shakes but yes, the protein powder should be a lot more convenient.

Yeah, the beef protein powders I heard is mainly gelatin, while great to digest not really the best for muscle building.

 

[buttercup0311]

@bridgette26 Eggs are extremely high quality. Slightly slower digesting than whey but not an issue at all really

 

[syntychie]

@bridgette26 Bone broth isn't great for muscle building, it's essentially collagen

 

[cheung]

@syntychie Great for your knees and elbows though

 

[rajeduraj]

@bridgette26 Plant proteins are incomplete chains because the lack certain amino acids like leucine. Stay away from them. Focus on meats, dairy and eggs. I like to buy egg whites from target or Walmart(they come in a milk carton) and just cook or drink those. Ground beef and chicken are also very effective.

 

[buttercup0311]

@rajeduraj Specifically pea and soy are complete, hence their use as protein powder. Hemp seed is as well I believe.

 

[rajeduraj]

@buttercup0311 And soy also is missing methionine. And pea protein is complete but only has a small amount of methionine and cysteine. So basically plant protein is shit.

 

[buttercup0311]

@rajeduraj Soy and pea are nutritionally limted by methionine. Cystein is non essential your body can make it if you get enough essentials.

Whey is nutritionally limited by its histidine content, but I bet you wouldn't say it's "shit."