Want to Add Protein Powder to Your Coffee? Read This First
Adding protein powder to coffee is a common practice among health and fitness enthusiasts. Avid drinkers often cite great health benefits, such as improved workout performance and weight loss. If you want to add protein powder to your coffee, but you’re not a big fan of the taste, you might be looking for concrete reasons to adapt your taste buds.
In this article, we discuss the benefits, the possible drawbacks, and how to enjoy your protein coffee.
Benefits of protein coffee
The primary reason fitness enthusiasts drink protein coffee is to improve their workout performance. This is possible thanks to the caffeine in coffee and the protein in the powder.
Caffeine is a stimulant. It can improve your muscles’ resistance to fatigue when you consume it within an hour before working out. Similarly, protein helps muscles recover faster and become stronger from exercise. When these two ingredients are combined, you can get more out of your workout.
Another popular reason for ingesting protein coffee is to boost weight loss. Weight loss is possible because protein is known for reducing hunger and promoting feelings of fullness. Drinking coffee also helps reduce your desire to eat for a brief period. Because of these benefits, drinking protein coffee in the morning may keep you satisfied longer, which naturally decreases the number of calories you eat later in the day.
Protein may also slightly boost your metabolism. This is because the body typically uses more calories to digest protein compared to fats or carbs. Proper protein intake is also said to be the key to maintaining muscle mass while losing body fat.
If you’re not meeting your daily protein needs, drinking protein coffee helps increase your protein intake. Furthermore, if you want to build muscle or increase strength, it’s best to consume protein throughout the day, instead of ingesting a large amount in one meal. Spreading out your protein consumption is crucial for muscle-building purposes because your body may only be able to use around 0.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight at a time.
To calculate your recommended protein intake per meal, multiply your weight in pounds by 0.2. If you ingest beyond the recommended amount of protein per meal, your body uses the excess protein for energy or excretes it through your urine.
In this case, drinking your protein coffee in the morning helps you better spread out your protein intake.
Possible drawbacks
When purchasing your protein powder, be mindful of artificial sweeteners, added sugars, and other additives. Many protein powders are laden with these, which can destabilize your blood sugar levels.
Because of these, most health professionals recommend getting your protein from whole foods, which are superior to protein powders. Protein-rich foods include almonds, broccoli, chicken breast, cottage cheese, eggs, Greek yogurt, lean beef, milk, oats, and tuna. The best thing about whole foods is that it also gives you much-needed vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial nutrients that cannot be found in protein powders.
How to enjoy your protein coffee
If you prefer to get some protein with your coffee, keep in mind the following tips.
Protein powders are prone to clumping, especially when added to hot coffee. Instead of putting one whole scoop of protein powder in one go, add only a little powder at a time. Make sure to keep stirring continuously.
You can also use a blender, but make sure the mixer is glass and allows steam to escape. This helps protect your blender from cracking. If you prefer to drink iced coffee, put protein powder in your cool or cold coffee, and mix well using a shaker bottle.
Whichever way you prefer to drink your protein coffee, it certainly is a convenient way to increase your daily protein intake, especially if you regularly skip breakfast. But remember to balance it out with whole, nutritious foods throughout the day.
