Maintaining a healthy diet is optimal when wanting to build muscle and/or get in shape. Protein has to be a huge staple in one’s diet to help rebuild muscle and provide enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals. One of the biggest arguments in the fitness community is whether or not protein supplements like powders, pills, and bars are preferable to whole foods. Frankly, whole foods are better because the human body uses and absorbs more of the protein, they provide more vitamins and nutrients, and the digestive system was not made to digest powders, pills, and bars.

Comparing the body to a car when trying to get in shape and/or build muscle is an easy way to understand a healthy diet. When someone goes to the gas station, they want the best natural clean gas they can find to provide for their car. It is the same when feeding the human body; the correct foods are needed to run and be active at the best of one’s ability. One might look at the nutrition facts of a whole food product compared to a protein powder and notice that the protein powder includes more grams of protein per serving than the whole food product. To really determine how much of the protein provided in a product is actually being absorbed in the body, it is necessary to look at the BV value.

Wikipedia states that, “Biological value (BV) is a measure of the proportion of absorbed protein from a food which becomes incorporated into the proteins of the organism’s body. It captures how readily the digested protein can be used in protein synthesis in the cells of the organism. Proteins are the major source of nitrogen in food.”

“High biological value proteins are provided by animal sources of protein, such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, cheese and yogurt. Low biological value proteins are found in plants, legumes, grains, nuts, seeds and vegetables.”

Protein isn’t always the most important thing when trying to build muscle and/or get in shape. One has to be conscious about what kinds of vitamins and nutrients there are in the product.

“It is generally best to get your vitamins (as well as minerals) naturally from foods or, in the case of vitamin D, controlled sun exposure.  For example, recent research on the mineral calcium suggests that it is safest to get your calcium from foods that are naturally rich in calcium than from supplements. Older women who get high amounts of calcium from supplements seem to have a higher risk of kidney stones, strokes, and even a greater risk of dying over periods of time. A small increased risk of death has also been seen in studies of people taking supplements containing vitamin A and beta-carotene compared to those who did not,” as reported by ConsumerLab.com.

It seems that it is best to implement a more well rounded diet containing different kinds of whole foods to provide a variety of natural vitamins and nutrients.

Like every other animal in the planet, humans were evolutionarily built to survive and adapt to their surroundings and what they eat. Therefore, it is hard to believe humans consume protein powder and health pills. Yes, the body can digest the supplements, but not as well and natural as it does with whole foods.

“In the health and fitness field, whey protein is often referred to as ‘Gas and Blast’ due to the unfortunate effects of causing more bloat, digestive distress, and gassiness,” The Model Health Show stated.

Frankly, whole foods are better because your body uses and absorbs more of the protein, they provide more vitamins and nutrients, and the digestive system can more easily process whole foods than powders, pills and bars.