I've noticed some heavy print and online advertising — including at this blog — for protein waters. They're generally touted for body builders who want to bulk up and endurance athletes like bicyclists who want to shorten recovery time.
In a recent article, the LA Times examines four brands — Accelerade, Isopure, Kellogg's Special K 2 O, and Stacker 2 Protein Water.
Nancy Clark, the sports nutrionist, says it's easy to add extra protein to your diet, even for endurance athletes and body builders, without resorting to buying water with protein added.
Average need
The average person needs .8 grams per kilograms of body weight. Since most of us aren't using the metric system yet, she says multiply your weight (in pounds) times 0.4. That tells you how many grams of protein you need daily.
For a 150 pound person, it's about 54 grams, or 7 or 8 ounces of fish, meat or poultry (1 ounce equals 7 ounces).
Body builders needs about 1 gram per kilogram of body weight to bulk up. That's a quart of skim milk, two cans of tuna, and a half pound of meat at dinner.
4 brands vary
For those who want to go the bottled protein route, be sure to check the labels. The protein and carb values vary widely, as do other ingredients like sodium and potassium.
Accelerade: 20 oz., 180 calories, 9 grams protein, 36 grams carbs …
Isopure: 20 oz., 160 calories, 40 grams protein, 0 grams carbs…
Kelloggs Special 2 K O: 16 oz., 50 calories, 5 grams protein, 14 grams carbs …
Stacker Pure: 44 oz., 80 calories, 20 protein, 0 grams carbs.
As for taste, I can only report on one brand. I bought a bottle over the summer. If you'd like to try some, drop by the house. I think I still have half-a-bottle in the back of the fridge.
Recent Comments