Protein supplements, do we need them??

When going to the wight room, there is a big chance of finding many people filling up a bottle with some kind powder before or after training. That powder can change in color or it can come from different types of cans or containers, but they mostly, have the same purpose: Gaining muscle!

People may have different reason of why they exercise such as general health, getting that "beach body" etc. But in my experience as a wellness student, from what I have seen the most, its guys wanting to get bigger and bigger by using different kinds of supplements. Some of the ones I know say that supplements accelerate the process of getting stronger and gaining more muscle. 

Therefore,  before criticizing this substances we need to know what are the most popular ones that some people use:

Creatine

Beta Alanine

Whey Protein

Branch Chain Amino Acids

popular protein supplements

 if we compare these supplements with real food (supplements with real food) we see that supplements make nutrition easier by lowering in costs and they are easier to get. But on the other side these supplements can develop some stomach bloating in some people and are hard to combine with other foods. Real food makes nutrition more like a satisfaction action rather than only taking nutrients. Food such as eggs, cheese, and specially beef could have more protein than any of the top 5 shakes. 

“..supplements that provide essential nutrients may be a short-term option when food intake or food choices are restricted due to travel or other factors” and that they should be “used in accordance with current evidence under the guidance of a well-informed professional". This was the statement of  the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Even though  such organization may have considered to accept the use of supplements, I believe that it is important to highlight the part when they said "due to travel and other factors" . It may be true that Athletes can encounter some difficulties related to their competition and practices that can make their nutrition and training plan be affected, but I think it is the Job of the professionals surrounding those athletes to create a plan with sufficient organization that provides the athlete easy access to nutrition. Hence, my opinion is that it is not a matter of thinking than protein supplements are better than real food or that food is better than these substances. I think it is a matter of professionally creating a plan that does not requires the need of supplements.

For people that are only looking only for general health and gaining muscle: I have found another statement from the IOC (muscle diet , you may translate the web page) which  says that in order to gain muscle, no more than 2 grams per Kilogram of protein is an efficient amount for gaining muscle, so don't be to worried about getting big so fast.