I’ve been there. I would buy different protein brands thinking they were superior for building muscle. I would drink casein shakes before bed to prevent my muscles from breaking down overnight. Trust me, I’ve been there.
Milk is made up of 2 different proteins: whey and casein. Casein is the main protein in milk. Whey is the byproduct you get when cheese is made (hence curds and whey). If you’ve ever eaten yogurt and gotten that weird liquid on top, that’s actually whey (drink up!) Whey used to be considered garbage until companies realized they could repurpose it and sell it as a supplement. And it has since absolutely exploded.
When it comes to supplements, we’re conditioned to think a certain way. We’re told what protein to “take” and when to “take it” (for the record, we don’t take protein. We consume it). Science supports these claims. Popular fitness figures support these claims. So they must be true.
But let’s look at the food we eat. You might eat chicken, eggs, protein bars, whatever. At the end of the day, if you count macros, you consider it all simply protein. End of story. So why do we place so much importance on the type of protein when it’s in powder form?
The truth is, the type of protein you consume has such a minimal effect on your physique or performance. I promise, you’re going to notice zero difference if you drink a whey protein shake before bed vs a casein protein shake. Or if you drink no shake at all.
If you’re stressing about buying the “right” protein to drink at the “right” time, you need to get back to focusing on the basics. If you are consuming enough protein in your diet, you don’t need to worry about supplements. I drank protein shakes for years. It was hard to give them up because I was so conditioned to believe I needed them. But once I did, I never looked back. To be clear, I do buy protein for use in recipes and occasionally drinks. I have nothing against the supplements themselves, but I am against our reliance on them as a main protein source.
