Yo,
So if you’re familiar with protein powder and don’t believe the wide myths that surround it, you’ll know that it can be a great asset to muscle growth if used correctly. However, the fitness space is unfortunately plagued with a multitude of myths, one of which we will be going into today.
The question from which this myth comes from is “Can protein powder make you fat?”
Some people actually do believe that protein powder can make you fat, which is a scary thing to believe and it would make sense why people would avoid purchasing it.
To be clear, protein powder alone cannot make you “fat”. I understand that the term “fat” is subjective and depends on the person, so I will bear this in mind.
However, becoming “fat” will depend on many factors, such as bad habits and lack of knowledge.
The hope for this post is to not only expand your knowledge on protein powder and weight gain, but hopefully change your perception towards this supplement.
Let’s get into it
Weight gain does NOT ALWAYS equate to fat
Before we get to this point, let’s cover two different people. Person A and Person B.
Person A consumes two to three meals a day. All of these meals contain an appropriate amount of calories, contain many nutrients and are high in protein. On top of this, Person A has one protein shake a day. Moreover, this person does weight lifting and cardio three times a week.
Now onto Person B, they have four meals a day, with many snacks in between. The calories are high and the nutrition is not so good. Protein is not too high either. Moreover, this person does not have a protein shake and does weight lifting once a week.
So, who do you think is more likely to be “fat”? It’s safe to assume that it is the second person.
As you can see, the state of becoming “fat” is a combination of a multitude of factors. Even if you have a slight belief that protein powder does make you ‘fat’, I bet you would still find it hard to believe that person A would be fat because of the other behaviours.
Anyway, this is something to bear in mind and we will explore this more Later.
Weight gain is not always fat gain. This is very important to remember.
Let’s go over the concept of caloric surplus.
A caloric surplus is when you are consuming more calories than your body burns, resulting in the excess calories equating to a form of weight gain. This weight gain can be Muscle or Fat.
When individuals enter a bulk, they have the goal of gaining weight which is ultimately muscle. Now to be in a caloric surplus, you need to be consuming foods that have enough calories to maintain the surplus.
Let’s draw this back to protein powder. Protein powder and its various types contain their own caloric amount. Yes, it is not a whole food, but it still contains its own nutrient and caloric portfolio.
In a way, protein powder is just like any other food (it is not a whole food, as whole foods are superior, but we can draw similarities). It has its own calories, protein, carbs, fats and more.
Now that we know that protein powder is like any other food, does it really make sense to say that protein powder alone makes you fat? To me, certainly not.
Moreover, let’s go into the concept of a caloric deficit. This is when you are consuming fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its weight, resulting in weight loss. This weight loss will be muscle or fat. Therefore, if you’re in a caloric deficit and consuming protein powder, as long as you are in the deficit, you cannot become “fat” with protein powder due to your caloric consumption.
With a caloric surplus, the weight gain will be muscle or fat, so how do we ensure that the majority of it is muscle? Well, it comes down to a few things. Let’s look at the diet component.
You must ensure that the surplus is not too big. At most, eating 500 calories above your maintenance calories is good in my opinion. Your body cannot utilise such a large surplus (say 1000) to build 100% muscle. Our body has limits and consuming such a large surplus does not accelerate or boost the gains.
You must ensure that you are consuming enough protein. Protein is essential to muscle growth and there is a reason that our parents always said “Remember to finish your chicken, beef, lamb (etc) so you get big and strong”. Protein is required to maintain and build muscle, period. There is no way around it. So if you are not eating enough protein, whilst your surplus is massive, then it only makes sense that fat gain will occur.
So to repeat, weight gain does not always equate to fat. Regardless of if you consume protein powder or not, it’s ultimately a small factor as to if you’ll become ‘fat’ since your diet as a whole is so important.
Resistance Training
Don’t think about this next question too much, it’s not a trick question.
If a person is training hard in the gym week in and week out and they’re also consuming protein powder, do you think that will make them fat? Let’s say you do believe it makes you fat, does that even sound like a person who would be fat? Interesting to ponder about.
Resistance training is important for muscle growth. This can encompass body weight exercises, using a form of external weight (dumbells, barbells, kettlebells etc) and more.
With resistance training, your muscles experience mechanical stress and tension. This causes micro tears within the muscle and subsequently soreness. As a result, the body initiates the healing process to make the muscles bigger and stronger.
However, this muscle repair and growth requires two things. Rest and protein.
Enter protein powder.
Protein powder can provide the essential amino acids to actually repair and build that muscle. In this case, we have protein powder promoting muscle gain.
However, if you did not engage in any form of resistance training and still consumed protein powder, the likelihood of fat gain is increased. Not because of protein powder alone, but because of the overall caloric surplus and the surplus not being used for anything.
A small variable
Protein powder is a small variable in fat gain. To become “fat” is a result of many poor habits, factors and behaviours.
Protein powder will not be the sole reason for fat gain and if used correctly, can actually promote muscle gain.
Understanding
So we now know that protein powder is a minor factor to the process of becoming fat. To become ‘fat’ will be a result of the following:
Diet: This is probably the biggest factor. If you’re eating in too high of a surplus, not consuming enough nutrients and eating a low amount of protein, the likelihood of fat gain is significantly increased. Keep in mind, this takes weeks and weeks of consistency.
Sleep: This is a fairly unknown factor. If you’re sleep-deprived, research has shown that this can increase your desire for foods that are higher in calories. Moreover, if we are sleep deprived, our energy levels are lower and this results to us burning fewer calories in a day. So not only do we have a desire for foods that are higher in calories, but our lower energy means that we’re burning fewer calories. Essentially, we eat more food but burn less. What do you think happens to the energy that isn’t used? Think about that.
Training: (We went through this above)
Also, protein is very filling guys. When you consume protein, it causes the release of hormones that contribute to the feeling of fullness and satisfaction. Since protein powder is a concentration of protein, consuming this supplement would make you feel full and reduce your desire to eat foods that are excessively high in calories (therefore avoiding the surplus).
Moreover, the majority of the calories in protein powder come from the protein itself, meaning that this supplement is quite low in calories.
To Wrap Up…
Well, that’s it, I hope you were able to learn something about what it takes to actually become ‘fat’. Protein powder alone cannot cause you to become fat and it’s necessary to develop an understanding of calories so you can decrease the likelihood of entering that state.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.
Remember that you’re in control of your body, you only need to learn more about it.
