Is It Bad To Drink A Protein Shake Every Day?
The simple answer to this is no. Unless in rare circumstances, it really won’t hurt to have a protein shake daily. In fact, it’s likely better for you to have one each day, especially if you’re active.
Even on rest days, your muscles are still recovering and repairing themselves from the previous session. The BCAA’s that protein shakes are packed full of in fact are best to have on consecutive days as it helps to saturate your cells with these nutrients!
On Rare Occasion Though, Too Much Protein Can Lead To Some Problems!
There are some cases in which you should avoid having a protein shake every day. If losing weight or having a low body fat % is your goal, it’s recommended to exceed your daily protein intake requirements by much. Like anything, protein is an energy source and if not used, excess protein will metabolize most of those calories into sugar and then fats.
To add to that, too high of protein intake will stress your kidneys as it tries to remove nitrogen waste from your blood. This is especially true when in conjunction with high amounts of creatine supplementation, since the kidneys are also responsible for filtering excess creatine from your urine. Too much, and the risk of kidney stones increases!
A study with endurance athletes shows that chronic dehydration may occur as well in cases of protein overconsumption. If you’re prone to IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), both dehydration and protein overload are strong triggers which may cause an episode of IBS to arise.
Of course, the trope of eating too many beans causes you to pass gas is true to an extent too! The excess protein has a hard time being digested and a large amount of nitrogen gas is produced, leading to, well, farting!
In Most Cases Though
It’s unlikely that a protein shake or two each day will lead to any of these problems, but it’s important to check your diet and ensure you’re not getting too much! In fact, in most cases it’s better to have a little more protein rather than too little as you can run into a protein deficiency which can lead to catabolism/muscle loss! If you are not sure which protein is the best, read this article.
If you’re trying to gain mass and get stronger muscles, it’s better to have a protein shake each day, especially if on a special diet which restricts the kinds of food you can eat. To add to that, most high quality protein powders are loaded a bunch of extra vitamins and supplements which aren’t easy to get from most foods!