Everyone wants a healthy and fit body. To achieve it our body requires essential nutrients. Out of the many, protein is an important macronutrient which helps to build muscle and repair tissues in the body. Sufficient intake of protein is essential for metabolic activities. Often it is found that the diet of vegetarians and vegans lack enough quantity of protein due to the limited sources. It becomes, however, important for them to take protein powder as a nutritional supplement to fulfill the dietary requirements of the body.

Protein Powder As A Nutritional Supplement

Protein Powders are the best option for those who want to enrich protein intake. Eating protein-rich foods and taking supplements helps you feel full for longer. It reduces the hunger pangs which helps the person to maintain a healthy weight. In addition, protein is essential for muscle growth and the supplements significantly improve muscle size and strength. The daily intake of protein recommended for people aged 19 years and over is 46 g for women and 56 g for men. Out of these, people who do not meet these amount are vegans and vegetarians. Protein powder offers an easy solution to the problem faced by them.

Sources of Protein Powder

There are different types of protein powder such as:

Whey: It is one of the most popular protein supplement that contains all of the amino acids required by the human body.
Soy: It contains all the essential amino acids and is an excellent alternative to whey or casein.
Casein: It is rich in glutamine which speeds up muscle recovery after exercise. Since it comes from dairy and so it’s not good for vegans or those with milk allergies.
Pea: It is a high-quality alternative to soy- and dairy-based proteins containing a good source of the amino acid arginine.
Hemp: It is a type of protein that contains essential fatty acid and is good for vegans or those with dairy or soy allergies.

Role of Protein Supplements in Your Diet

Proper intake of protein in your diet helps you improve your fitness and lose weight. It promotes fat burning process and increases your metabolism. The supplements can be taken as a meal replacement to keep protein amount high.

Choosing a Good Protein Powder For Your Body

Nowadays, there are many protein powders available in the market. However, choosing the best protein powder can be tricky. You can pick up the one which has:

• Good macronutrient profile
• No artificial ingredients
• Have Good taste
• Easily Soluble
• Available at Reasonable Price

The choice of protein powder usually depends on dietary goals, budget, and personal preferences. However, you can look for the best one with a few features:

• Protein with 9 amino acids.
• That digests slowly
• Suitable for vegans

Before checking different types of protein powder that can be the best fit for your body, let’s check out:

What’s the difference between normal protein and protein powder for a vegan?

Though vegan protein is good containing all the essential muscle-building components needed. However, when compared with normal protein powder nutrients are less. Those who eat a vegan or vegetarian diet can get all of the same amino acids in the right amount. Vegan protein isn’t complete as they don’t contain optimal levels of all the essential amino acids to support protein synthesis in your body. To compensate the protein and amino acid level, you can take a large size of Vegan Protein powder. These are just as effective which helps you to build muscle.

Here are Our Top Picks for Protein Powder

 1. Profoods Soy Protein Isolate 90% Powder

Composition:90 grams of protein per 100 grams with less than 1 gram of fat.

Features:

• Vegan-friendly protein source
• Increase dietary protein intake
• Good alternative to dairy proteins
• 100% Pure Soy Protein Isolate
• Good for vegans

Available at Amazon

How to take: Add 30g of Soy protein isolate in a shaker and add 450ml water in it. Shake it well and drink.

2.Unived Daily Supergreens 

Composition: Blend of Organic Wheat Grass, Organic Alfalfa, Organic Barley Grass, and Spinach

Antioxidant Blend of Pomegranate, Carrot, Beetroot, Tomato, Maca, Acerola, Amla and Fiber from Flaxseeds

Features:

• Maintain your pH level
• Alkalize your system
• Provide a daily dose of nutrients

Available at Amazon

3.Nouriza Whey & Casein

Composition: Each serving provides 9.6g of protein which is derived from a protein blend of Whey, Soy, and Casein. Contains No Added Sugar and is 100% trans fats free. Enriched with 27 vitamins and minerals for stronger immunity and energy.

Features:

• High-quality proteins including Whey, Soy, and Micellar casein
• Contains naturally occurring Essential Amino Acids and Branched-chain amino acids
• Helps to bridge the nutritional gap

Available at Amazon

4. Novkafit Vegan Protein & Rice Protein Isolate 

Composition:24 g of high-quality Pea & Rice Protein Isolates per serving

4.2 g of BCAAs (Branched-Chain Amino Acids) per serving

95% Pea Protein Isolate sourced from yellow peas

5% Rice Protein Isolate

Features:

• 100% Plant-Based: lactose, gluten, soy & dairy-free.
• Easily Digested
• Good for Lean Muscle Gain
• Zero artificial sweeteners
• Assists post-workout recovery
• Maintenance of muscle mass
• Improves immune function.

Available at Amazon

When to take: It can be consumed any time in the day as a snack or as a post-workout recovery supplement.

5. Myfitfuel Plant Pea Protein Isolate

Composition: 30.3gm protein on “Dry basis”

28gm protein on “As is the basis” in Unflavored variant

5000mg BCAA’s

4600mg Glutamine

10.8gm Essential Amino Acids in every scoop

Features:

• Easy to Digest, Lactose-free, Soy-free, and Gluten free.
• Ultra-pure Lab tested protein & ideal for lean growth.
• No Dairy Whiteners, No Skim Milk Powder, No Sugar, No Color, No Artificial Flavor or Preservatives added.
• The best source of vegan plant-based vegetable Protein It helps in increasing Lean muscle growth.
• It provides more amount of protein in every scoop as its pure isolated.
• It helps to increase the overall muscle tissue for better muscle recovery and growth.
• 100% Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Aspartame Free, No Sugar Added, No Artificial color added, No Artificial Flavors added.

Available at Amazon

How to use protein powder?

You can add protein powder to a fruit smoothie or simply take it with water. Before taking it, you can check the nutritional needs of your body and if not getting enough protein from your diet you can consider protein powder as a supplement.

Points to Remember

• Make sure to check before buying protein powder it may contain heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and arsenic. Always choose a product from a reputable supplier.
• Excessive consumption of protein can damage the kidneys and liver affecting the calcium balance of the body. It can also lead to a reduced intake of other beneficial foods which are important to sustain gut bacteria.
• Though research suggests to take it after workouts you can choose the best timing which suits your body before or after the workout.
• Taking protein supplements with meals is beneficial for weight management and helps to reduce fat mass. Having it after exercise improves protein synthesis in people who are following a reduced-calorie diet.

Bottom line

Vegetarians and Vegan Protein powders are a good choice for vegetarians, vegans, lactose intolerant and those who don’t want animal source proteins. Different protein sources provide a different quality of protein which serves as the best nutritional supplement for an active lifestyle. Though the quality and quantity of essential amino acids vary, so it is important to know about the best sources available in the market.

Hope this article has given you some insight to make informed choices about what will be best for you.