Are all protein powders same?
The answer is BIG NO.
There are multiple kinds of protein powders are available in the market. Which one to choose among the available ones?
Not everyone can have every kind of protein powders. Because it depends on your capability to digest the same.
I have made a table of most popular protein powder kinds available and look at the table and see which protein powder is suitable to you.
If you don’t want to take the trouble of reading the small font, I’ll explain the salient features of the table just underneath.
As you can see from the above table not all protein powders are equal and don’t give same benefits because of the differences in their innate constitution.
Although all protein powders contain all the essential amino acids each of them is unique on its own for the boosted specific amino acids in it.
For instance, whey protein is known for the presence of higher amounts of leucine, isoleucine and valine. These amino acids are known for aiding the building muscles. As can be expected its preferred by the competitive sports persons.
Whereas casein is known to contain higher amounts of glutamine and tryptophan. Further it’s known to help stabilize your mood because of the serotonin production from the tryptophan essential amino acid. It’s the reason every nutritionist or psychotherapist suggests you, have a cup of milk for better sleep.
Soy protein found to have higher amounts of glutamine and arginine and they are useful for the immune function and cardiovascular health respectively. Although soy has many phytochemicals which are useful in its anti-inflammatory properties, but its genetically modified organism (GMO) tag pulls it down while recommending it.
Whereas pea protein powder has no such tags such as animal derived unlike whey and casein, GMO tag like soy protein but for those who have legume allergies they need to watch out for any adverse reactions.
Rice bran protein powder is the least studied of all of them and hence no known complaints about it. However, it’s being plant derived and no known allergic reactions it may be preferable for many a people.
A combination of plant protein powders is commercially available to derive the benefits from the combined protein powders. For example, it’s often seen pea protein and rice bran protein combinations in commercially sold plant protein packages.
Since my interest is to drive your attention towards the protein powder usage for attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) persons, we will spare few lines to discuss the suitability of various protein powders for those populations.
If you have studied the above table, by this time you would be knowing the answer for the following question,
‘Which protein powder is best for ADHD persons?’
Because many ADHD people are usually sensitive to proteins such as whey, casein, soy, and gluten (not included in the above list) they can’t enjoy the food items containing them. They may enjoy while eating them but the after affects are not very enjoyable for them and their care givers. So, they altogether avoid them, or they are made to avoid by their care givers.
Further, it’s important to make sure that the shake you are making also should be free from any food allergens in them from the other ingredients in the shake.
As for my son I give him combined pea protein and rice bran protein powder, or their individual powders. I buy unflavored varieties and mix the other flavoring agents such as dark chocolate powder myself to make sure the protein powders are not mixed with any unknown products.
I usually give him the shake made with yogurt as he can’t tolerate dairy and soy as well. I have not tried myself whey protein powder till today but will give a try and will see how he behaves afterwards.
Yes, of course, you can also try non-dairy milks such as almond and other plant-based milks for making the shakes.
Currently, my son enjoys the pea protein powder, rice bran protein powder or their combination powder without any complaint.
I observed him sleep better when given with other supplements which I will mention in my coming posts.
The dosage may be taken as suggested in the product label but beware the general appetite will go down if consumed as suggested because of their slow digestion.
I usually give my son half the recommended amount.
The dosage solely depends on the individual and you may try couple of variations before finding the optimal dose in your case.
In conclusion whey, casein, and soy protein powders are not usually recommended for persons with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Pea protein powder and rice bran protein powder are derived from plants and have no known severe problems reported by these people.
As always there may be individual response variations and need to experiment yourself to know which protein powder is best for yourself.
Have any of you tried any of the above powders?
If so, what are your observations?
Please comment.
Cheers until the next post
Vara
P.S.: Any ADHD persons out there please list your preferences. Thank you.
