Protein drinks

justwantedtosay

I thought that being old, almost vegetarian and not fond of nuts might mean I was short of protein and was tempted by an end of line offer on a 'protein hot chocolate' powder until I looked a bit closer. I've seen the same thing at up to £20, so £2 a serving to give 20g of protein, but found that two mugs of bog standard cocoa would provide the same amount of protein for under 50p. I'm guessing the protein from milk is as good as that from whey powder, so that looks like a win to me. Or you could just have a couple of glasses of milk! (There were no other 'active'/beneficial ingredients in the protein powder.)

Saver73

Interesting ...
I eat a mostly vegetarian diet, and dairy particularly milk is a good protein source.
Perhaps surprisingly too bananas are a good protein source and good for energy levels.
In autumn / winter I like porridge and banana.

justwantedtosay

Saver73 said:

Interesting ...
I eat a mostly vegetarian diet, and dairy particularly milk is a good protein source.
Perhaps surprisingly too bananas are a good protein source and good for energy levels.
In autumn / winter I like porridge and banana.

Me too with the banana porridge, and a handful of sultanas too. I think there's more protein in the oats than in the banana though, and even more in the milk if you make your porridge with that rather than water.

Saver73

...and saves money in comparison to the "protein" products!

justwantedtosay

Saver73 said:

...and saves money in comparison to the "protein" products!

My point precisely! If you had two mugs of cocoa every day instead one mug of the protein drink at £20 a tub you'd save save well over £500 a year.
BTW, I was really surprised to find that skimmed milk has more protein than semi-skimmed or full fat. I'd always assumed that the protein would be largely in the cream.

singhini

Milk protein contains all the essential amino acids, just like whey. The only real advantage of a whey powder is convenience or if someone wants extra protein without the volume of liquid or calories from milk fat/carbs. But nutritionally, you’re not missing out by sticking with regular milk-based cocoa (which you have identified might be a  cheaper option).

i stopped counting calories and protein and instead focus on fibre. 

QrizB

justwantedtosay said:

BTW, I was really surprised to find that skimmed milk has more protein than semi-skimmed or full fat. I'd always assumed that the protein would be largely in the cream.

Per the info on tesco.com they're all essentially the same at 3.5 or 3.6g per 100ml.

avidusmortis

There seems to be lots of supermarket products these days shouting "PROTEIN" when it's the same thing as it's always been, but then they put the price up or it's full of sugar. I think just increasing the amount of white meat you eat like chicken is probably the most cost effective way to go, but I have in the past used protein shakes. There's a protein powder price comparison tool that tells you the best price per g of protein, but agree with the comments above about milk - and would add some eggs too!

justwantedtosay

QrizB said:essentially the same at 3.5 or 3.6g per 100ml.

Sainsbury's has lower figures but full fat is still slightly lower - I didn't say it was much difference, just that it was the opposite of what I'd have expected. They also say that single cream is 3.5% protein and double cream is 1.5%, which equally as unintuitive to me.

justwantedtosay

avidusmortis said:

think just increasing the amount of white meat you eat like chicken ...

I did say I'm almost vegetarian, so that's not the answer for me. 

Aunais

Do you eat lentils and other pulses? I'm vegetarian - no meat or fish for over 50 years - but I get plenty of protein from pulses plus some nuts and seeds.