Morning Protein Shake? Sounds like a good idea.

Kris 2

If you went out and asked those who work out what the best times to have a protein shake are, the #1 answer would be post-workout. We’re not going to argue with that, but many don’t realize the importance of having one immediately upon waking. There are multiple reasons to have a morning shake:

1) Your body has been in a fasted state for a long time (on average per individual, 8 hours).

If there’s any time your body is craving to get some much needed replenishment for all the repairing that’s going on after your hard workouts the day before, it’s after being deprived of any protein for the whole night. A scoop will do wonders and will set you on a fast course for quicker repair and growth. For those cutting down, you can make an argument that it’s even more important, as you need the extra protein as is to maintain the muscle and let the body keep its focus on dropping body fat. As a result, regardless of your fitness objectives, a morning shake is ideal.

2) Breakfast (with preparation and start of digestion) will not begin to aid your body for at least another hour after you wake up.

Think about it, you wake up, wash up, make some breakfast, and by the time you start eating you’re still not going to be feeding your body as the food will take a while to start digesting and being absorbed. With a shake (egg protein/whey) you can even delay your breakfast as you take care of some other things (showering, etc.) because it’s fast digesting and will be quickly absorbed. You can make it the night before so it’s ready to go, or quickly make a morning shake upon waking to start off your day.

A protein shake right after waking provides your body with some much needed amino acids. By the time you’ll be eating your breakfast these building blocks in whey will already be full blast in action. It’s recommended you mix it with water, because milk contains the other type of protein (casein) which is slow digesting and fats (which are also slow digesting) and this will impede the fast acting digestion of whey. However, if you really can’t stomach it with water, use milk. It’ll still be digested faster than the amount of time it’ll take for you to make breakfast and digest some solid food. If you use protein powder, have a morning shake. After all, that’s what they were made for, right? Good Luck!