Protein shakes are by all means worth your money. Period. Let me explain why.
Protein is, in my mind, an athletes best friend. Adding a high protein diet can stimulate fat losses, increase LBM dramatically, create a positive nitrogen balance (what every bodybuilder wants), switch your body over to a state of feeding off of fat instead of muscle, and can hoard off nasty catabolic effects. According to Dr. John Berardi, you only NEED around 60 grams of protein a day. The buck does not stop here, however. He goes on to explain how there is a MAJOR difference between need and optimization. Think of it as a person who has only enough money to get buy, and a person who has enough money to not only get by, but add in luxurious extras and perks to his life. One guy lives in a rather nice apartment, drives an okay car, and has a little spending money left over. The other guy lives in a mansion, drives a viper, and takes luxurious vacations frequently to Cancun. Big difference between what you "NEED", and what you can to do "OPTIMIZE" (Dr. John Berardi). The body is the same way. By taking lean protein every couple of hours you are keeping a positive nitrogen balance, dramatically increasing protein synthesis, and decreasing protein breakdown and catabolic effects. With a higher lean protein intake combined with fewer simple sugar carbs it is possible to burn fat and increase lbm at the same instance.
Nutritionists are right, in a sense, that a lot of the protein could, in theory, go to waste. However, this would be the case IF you ran out of amino acids to help break the protein down. Good protein mixes usually have a good amount of amino acids mixed in to help breakdown the protein. However, a good protein blend can be rather expensive. I usually take in around 100g of protein from supplements per day, and about 200 from natural foods such as fish, nuts, cheese, cottage cheese, lean beef, chicken, and skim milk. You don't want to get the cheapest, but you also at the same time do not want the most expensive protein powder on the market (unless, of course, you can afford it.) Im my opinion, the best protein formula on the market right now is Grow! by biotest. I like Amplify, Optimum nutrition's ON!, of course Biotest Grow!, and Designers. These are all pretty affordable and have some taste to them.
Can protein add on the pounds like the supplement companies offer? Well, no, not in the sense that they TELL you. They will usually say "take our product, our protein is better than the competitor's", blah blah blah. They have to do this, how else would they sell their product?
To take in excessive amounts of protein to have the true, beneficial effects of a high protein diet and increase protein synthesis and decrease protein breakdown, you probably do need a protein supplement of some sort. By simply taking a protein powder and eating like a bird you will not be doing yourself a favor. However, by adding in the supplement 2-3 times daily with about 100g, couple it with a good diet and solid training program, then yes, you will most certainly add mass to your frame. Don't look for all the bells and whistles. Look for a good whey/casein blend. If you can afford it, pick up both a slow and fast acting protein. Whey protein will shootup your synthesis levels for a couple hours and casein will slow the rate of protein breakdown.
You will be suprised at the difference a high protein diet will have on both your performance and your appearance.
