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I have never drank any protein shakes in my life. I've been going for about a year in the gym (3-4 times per week) and I am thinking about starting to drink a protein shake after my workout.

I'm an adult in robust health; never had any major health issues.

Should I consult a doctor before start taking protein, or can I just buy and start drinking without any fear?

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  • Read the label. If you don't have any allergies to any of the stuff on there, you have nothing to worry about. It's extracted from food you've been eating all along anyway. Mostly milk.
    – Alec
    May 11, 2015 at 16:10
  • My friend recently asked me the same question -- but since he has had kidney stones, he should avoid. So keep in mind, apart from allergies, consider other prior health history.
    – tumultous_rooster
    May 13, 2015 at 13:25

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That depends on if you have any known food allergies. Most protein shakes are whey based, which means you might have problems if you can't drink milk.

You'll also find some other potential allergens in other protein shakes, such as eggs, or nuts (usually extract for flavoring).

The biggest takeaway is this:

If you have no food allergies, protein drinks are safe.

They are, however usually more expensive than getting your protein from regular food. 1-2 servings after a work out is plenty.

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If you are not lactose intolerant you will be fine with standard whey protein concentrate, it is the cheapest and most popular protein out there, look for good quality brands and about 80% of protein. In case you are lactose intolerant whey isolate is the best to go protein

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No like the guys above said, if you have no allergies and health problems then protein shakes is completely OK to drink.

But is important to add that you shouldn't over drink any kind of supplementation because too much protein, and especially the vitamins and minerals that is added to most of proteins shakes is bad for you health and can even kill you.

You likely need about 1 gram per pound or 2,2 grams per kg of lean body mass.

For most people, this amounts to 40 to 70 grams of protein a day. Rarely does a person need more protein than this—the exception would be those who are aggressively exercising (or competing) and pregnant women, who should have about 25 percent more.

See hypervitaminoses.

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  • I think you need to check your math here, 1g/pound, 70 grams means the average person weighs 70 pounds :) 140 grams should be the right number.
    – Mårten
    Jun 15, 2015 at 5:50
  • If you only count lean mass your number is wrong, the studies done to figure out optimal hypertrophy landed above 2 g/kg or 1 g/lb which seems to be what you are referring to, but that's per kg or pound of total mass, not lean mass.
    – Mårten
    Jun 15, 2015 at 6:01
  • @Marten i'm not american so i don't use pounds...i tried to do a conversion to grams/kg to grams/pound...but i think its right... Have you put you account that you only count the lean mass? Fat don't count, so lets say you weight 80kg with 20kg of lean mass, you need 44 grams of protein daily( 20 x 2.2) i will edit to add g/kg and g/pounds too
    – Freedo
    Jun 15, 2015 at 6:01
  • @Mårten see authoritynutrition.com/how-much-protein-per-day my favorite site for nutrition science based facts, and they say " If you’re carrying a lot of body fat, then it is a good idea to use either your lean mass or your goal weight, instead of total body weight, because it’s mostly your lean mass that determines the amount of protein you need. " Fat don't need protein after all
    – Freedo
    Jun 15, 2015 at 6:03
  • @Freedom: If I weigh 80kg with 20kg of lean mass, my body fat percentage is 75% and I'm probably dead. At 20% body fat (realistic), I have 64kg of lean mass and should eat 64~141g.
    – user8119
    Jun 15, 2015 at 8:09

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