Animal Protein VS Plant Protein. Which is Better?

Now before getting into the debate between animal protein vs plant protein, let’s just see why proteins are important. Your body uses protein to build and repair tissues. You also use protein to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals. Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood. In short, everyone needs proteins in order to stay fit, whether you build muscles or not. About 20% of the human body is made up of protein. Because your body doesn’t store protein, it’s important to get enough from your diet each day. You can get protein from many food sources, including plants and animals.

So coming to our main topic which type of proteins are better for you, is it the one derived from an animal(non-veg) diet or a plant-based diet(veg).In order to get a brief knowledge about these two let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of consuming proteins from these two sources.

Animal-Based Proteins

Every bodybuilder deliberately increases meat consumption in order to gain a lot of proteins. Do their efforts bore any fruit? Let’s look at the advantage of animal-based proteins-

Advantages of Animal-Based Proteins

#1-They are complete

Our body generally requires 20 different kinds of amino acids out of which 11 are prepared by our bodies itself (  non-essential amino acids). The other 9 are obtained through our diet(essential amino acids. Animal proteins, such as meat, eggs, and milk, are complete proteins, meaning they provide all of the essential amino acids our body needs. Animal products provide the highest-quality protein sources. On the contrary, plant protein sources, such as beans, lentils, and nuts are considered to be incomplete, as they lack one or more of the essential amino acids that your body needs.

#2- Few nutrients are more abundant in Animal-based Proteins

So animal-based proteins contain several nutrients that are often lacking in plant-based proteins. These nutrients can be very helpful for muscle-building and body tuning. This include-Vitamin-B12, VitaminD, DHA, Hema-iron, Zinc.

#3- Certain animal protein sources are linked to a reduced risk of heart disease, improved cholesterol levels, weight loss, and increased muscle mass.

Disadvantages of Animal-Based Proteins

Now coming to disadvantages, animal-based proteins have the following disadvantages-

#1-Some Types of Meat May Cause Diseases

Most of vegetarians avoid meat because they feel that meat is associated with diseases. At a very tiny part, this is true.  Several studies have linked red meat consumption to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and early death. Further studies have shown that eating more processed red meat may actually increase the risk of dying from heart disease. Processed meats include smoked meat, sausage, hot dogs, salami, bacon, and canned meat.

This is one of the main reasons that made many athletes Kendrick Farris and celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger are going completely vegan. A vegan diet has proven to improve performance. So now let’s have a look at the advantages of plant-based proteins-

# Advantages of Plant-Based Proteins

#1-By consuming a variety of plant-based diets you can achieve all 9 essential amino acids.

Certain plants can be excellent sources of protein, often with fewer calories and fewer potentially harmful effects than animal products. Some plant proteins, such as quinoa, are complete proteins—which means they contain all 9 essential amino acids that we need. Others are missing some amino acids, so it is important to eat a variety of foods to get all 9.

#2- Protection Against Weight Gain

#3- Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

#4- Lower Risk of Heart Disease

Disadvantages of Plant-Based Proteins

Now coming to disadvantages there are no notable disadvantages for plant-based proteins.

#Conclusion

As you can see advantages of plant-based proteins clearly outway those of animal-based proteins. However, this doesn’t mean you have to go completely vegan. Most of the harmful effects of animal-based proteins come from red meat and processed meat. For optimal health, the evidence supports a diet that is low in processed meat, rich in plant protein, with some animal sources such as grass-fed meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy. As you can see if you want more proteins then animal-based food or meat consumption is not the way to go as people usually suggest.

So what about whey-protein?As we all know that whey protein is derived from milk which is an animal-based protein. Many fitness enthusiasts invest a lot in whey protein and it often works well. But the real question is can it beat a plant-based protein powder? As we have seen plant-based proteins are away ahead of animal-based proteins contrary to what often people believe. So the real question comes-Is Plant-Based Protein Powder Good for you? and can it beat the regular and well-known whey protein?

Plant-based Protein Powder V/S Whey Protein Powder

#Whey-Protien

Whey is a kind of protein that is packed with branched-chain amino acids such as leucine, isoleucine, and valine and as such are the building blocks of muscle.

So let’s have a look at the advantages and disadvantages of whey protein powder-

#Advantages of Whey Protein Powder

#1- Whey Protein Promotes Muscle Growth

#2- Whey Protein May Lower Blood Pressure

#3- Whey Protein May Help Treat Type 2 Diabetes

#4- Whey Protein May Enhance the Body’s Antioxidant Defenses

#5- Whey Protein Can Help You Lose Weight

Whey protein has an equal number of disadvantages as of advantages

# Disadvantages of Whey Protein Powder

Taking too much protein is useless. The body can only utilize a limited amount of protein at a given time. Even though taken in proper quantities there are still a few disadvantages of taking whey protein powder. A few of them are mentioned below-

#1- It May Cause Digestive Issues

#2- It may be high in added sugars and calories. Some protein powders have little added sugar, and others have a lot (as much as 23 grams per scoop)

#3- Reduced appetite

#4- Some people believe that there are risks from nutritionally refined foods such as these, because, although they contain a lot of nutrients, the balance is heavily tipped towards protein

#5-May cause Fatigue, Nausea, and Headache for a few

#6- People with dairy allergies or trouble digesting lactose [milk sugar] can experience gastrointestinal discomfort if they use a milk-based protein powder,

As you can see most of the problems associated with whey protein are related to digestion. As whey protein is something artificial that our body needs to absorb. So if it all you wanna try out a whey protein it’s always best to go for a hydrolysate version of whey protein. WPH is considered to be the “predigested” form of whey protein as it has already undergone partial hydrolysis – a process necessary for the body to absorb protein. WPH doesn’t require as much digestion as the other forms of whey protein.

#Plant Based Protein Powder

#Advantages of Plant-Based Protein Powder

#1-Its Hypoallergenic-That means it doesn’t cause any digestive issues

#2- Metabolism Booster

#3- Offer a lot of extra vitamins and minerals to your diet.

#4-Fewer Side Effects  

#5- No Growth Hormones or Antibiotics

#6-Plant protein sources build muscle and aid recovery as well or better than whey, but they can also improve our health, deliver a broader range of beneficial nutrients, and are much better for the environment.

#Disadvantages of Plant-based Protein Powders

#1- Plant-based protein powders can be gritty in texture and difficult to mix smoothly.

#2- Some plant-based proteins are high in carbohydrates—not ideal for anyone following a low-carb diet.

#3-  Plant proteins are often incomplete proteins, and therefore should be consumed in combination in order to serve as a complete protein.

Here are a few trustable organic plant protein powders available in the market

#Final Conclusion

Without making this any longer let us see what’s best for us after analyzing all the pros and cons of Plant-based protein and Animal-based protein diet. At the same time deciding which protein powder to choose(whey or plant-based)

#Diet

Although there are some notable cons of meat consumption and milk, you need not go completely vegan. Reducing meat consumption and avoiding red meat and processed meat will keep you fit and healthy and at the same time giving you all the 9 essential amino acids for protein in your body. If you are lactose intolerant then you can switch to soy milk or almond milk. If you are lactose intolerant then you can switch to soy milk or almond milk.

#Protien Powder

As you can see the advantages of plant-based protein powders are very high compared to the usual whey protein powder. If you are working out and consuming whey protein but still not seeing any results then it’s better to switch to a Plant-based Protein powder. And if you can afford both, you can use a plant-protein powder one day, and whey protein the next day making your body unbeatable.