Many people are surprised when they hear that protein powder won’t help you burn fat or even bulk up your muscles for that matter. With all the marketing that goes into these supplements, it’s easy to believe that they will have a meaningful impact on the efforts of the everyday person. However, most nutritionists, dietitians, doctors and personal trainers who aren’t working on commission will typically recommend a properly balanced diet of whole foods instead of powdered products.

Why Protein Powder Won’t Help You Burn Fat

To start, one of the important things to remember about why protein powder won’t help you burn fat is that this simply isn’t how a calorie deficit works.  It’s not how the body uses its energy resources. After all, you wouldn’t eat a steak and expect the pounds to somehow come away. Steaks contain lots of protein!  The same can be said about these powdered products.  That said, there is more to it than just macronutrient content.

To start, the supplement market simply isn’t regulated in the same way as the drug market.  Therefore, it can be difficult to compare one product to another, as they don’t necessarily deliver the same quality, even with similar ingredients on their formula list.

Consuming Nutrients in Food is Nearly Always Preferable

Unless you are on a particularly specialized diet that demands a higher calorie load and exceptionally careful macronutrient balance, there shouldn’t be any reason that you cannot obtain all the protein you need from food.  Moreover, there are many reasons that this is preferably to protein powder when you want to burn fat.

Among the reasons food is a better option than protein powder to burn fat include the following:

• Satisfies hunger – Based on the number of calories you’ll eat, a meal or snack containing quality protein will satisfy hunger far more effectively than it would in powder form for the same calorie load.
• Unwanted ingredients – Because protein powders are notorious for tasting awful on their own, they are often loaded with sugars, artificial flavors and sweeteners, anti-caking ingredients and other substances that you could skip if you just ate an egg or a chicken breast instead.
• Nutrition – While supplements may give you the proteins you’re seeking, they aren’t packed with a range of other vitamins, minerals and nutrients you’d get if you ate healthy ingredients instead. Moreover, not all proteins are created equal, and some are more complete than others. Therefore, not all powders will give you the result you’re seeking.