Protein shakes, either you love them or you hate them. Most of us tend to associate protein shakes with gym-goers and bodybuilding. However, protein shakes can be for anyone, if you know how to use them right.
Can you drink protein shakes if you are not working out? Will it make you lose weight or gain weight if you drink protein shakes without working out?
It is time to have all your questions answered about drinking protein shakes! Keep reading to find out all you need to know!
Can You Drink Protein Shakes Without Working Out?
Technically, yes you can. Realistically, no rule stops you from drinking protein shakes without working out.
Yet, it is not always a good idea, as there is such a thing as too much protein. Protein, like other macronutrients contains calories, and calories, when not used lead to fat gain.
Since you aren’t working out, you don’t build muscle tone, and instead, this turns into fat.
Including excess protein in your diet when it is not being used by your body effectively can end up causing you to have less energy. Too much protein can also prevent continued muscle growth.
What Will Happen If You Drink Protein Shakes Without Working Out?
Truthfully, it depends on your personal situation. If you drink protein shakes without working out but still consume a vast majority of macro and micronutrients in your daily meals, then it is possible that regular protein shake consumption could lead to weight gain.
However, if you were to manage your diet in a way that is geared towards weight loss, then it is likely that you will still end up losing weight.
There are four things that will contribute to what will happen if you consume protein shakes without working out. These factors include the following:
- The recipe for your protein shake, as determines the nutritional factors.
- What else do you eat per day? Your overall diet, including proteins, fats, carbs, and calories will play a big role.
- If you usually do or do not exercise, and the type of exercise you may do on a typical day.
- How often do you consume a protein shake without working out?
If you eat a high-protein diet normally and then introduce a protein shake, you will have an excess of the protein which can lead to the protein turning to fat.
Perhaps you usually exercise. Or, if you have a highly exerting job, you may not gain fat from extra protein due to the calories you burn.
But note, that if you consume protein shakes without working out regularly this is more likely to contribute to weight gain than once in a while.
Do Protein Shakes Make You Lose Weight Without Working Out?
No, not on their own. If you consume protein shakes, without working out or changing your current diet, instead of losing weight you will most likely gain weight.
The reason behind this is simply that protein, when unused in the body will turn into fat as stated by the Mayo Clinic Health System.
Excess protein will usually be stored as fat, while excess amino acids will be excreted, this can cause weight gain if it occurs over time.
That being said, a protein shake may be able to help you lose weight, even if you do not exercise.
But, this would require you to eat fewer calories than you typically consume, essentially bringing you to a calorific deficit. Therefore, this type of weight loss is less about the protein shake and more about careful dietary monitoring and understanding.
What Do Protein Shakes Do?
Protein shakes are there to help facilitate your muscle protein synthesis, or in layman’s terms, to aid in the process of muscle growth and repair.
All of our muscles are permanently in a state of breaking down and rebuilding depending on what activities we do.
Protein shakes will usually be made with a protein powder, but some homemade ones are made with whole foods.
The protein powder type can be multi or single ingredients. Powders can be sweetened, unsweetened, flavored, or unflavored.
A majority of protein powders that are used in protein shakes will contain minerals and vitamins such as zinc, iron, vitamin B12, and niacin.
Your average protein shake will contain a single scoop of protein powder and then milk or water. These usually have 200-300 calories and around 25-30 grams of protein each.
Protein shakes use protein to help your body to repair. As, when you work out you do microscopic damage to the muscle fibers in your body.
This then signals your body to get amino acids to your muscles so that they can be rebuilt into proteins that can help you to repair, according to the ‘Marathon Hand Book’.
Provided that your body has the resources needed, your muscle fibers are repaired and strengthened with new proteins that are made. These come from the things you consume as proteins will be broken down to create amino acids.
This is exactly why you will often hear fitness experts say that you need to have a caloric surplus of about 10% to 20% of what you actually need.
Having this surplus will actually help you to generate more significant hypertrophy/ muscular growth.
FAQs:
How Much Protein Should I Drink On Rest Days?
Typically, you should get around 0.3 to 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight on your rest days. You need to calculate this based on your age, gender, and goals, according to the Miami Herald.
Can You Just Drink Protein Shakes And Not Eat?
If you were to replace meals with protein shakes you can lose weight as it lowers your daily calories. However, do not do this for long periods of time, since it could cause deficiencies in other minerals and vitamins.
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