# Talk to Me About Those Big Tubs of Protein Powder **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 28, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810 "2014-08-28T23:30:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/1 "2014-08-28T23:30:00Z")
I work in a big box retailer now and the section I most commonly work in sells (among many, many other things) those big tubs of protein powder. [Example](http://www.walmart.com/ip/30649831?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227020625653&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=52920896231&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=84841347191&veh=sem), [example](http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=358952&catid=326487&aid=338666&aparam=358952&kpid=358952&CAWELAID=120142990000023601&CAGPSPN=pla&kpid=358952), [example.](http://eas.com/products/powder) Now, I know that body builders eat stuff like that, but I’d say they’re a minority of the folks purchasing this stuff. Granted, some of the male, 98 pound weaklings buying it could be larval body builders who have not yet metamorphosed into Arnolds and Hulks, but there are a surprising number of old ladies and skinny men and so forth are also buying this stuff. They can’t all be purchasing for the body builder in their life. So… is this recommended for old people? Folks with wasting conditions? Recovering anorexics? The advertising definitely seems slanted towards gym rats but that’s not the bulk of the customers. Or is my store an outlier? Also, curious to hear from body-builders how effective this stuff is, and how much is typically consumed in a day/how long it takes you to go through one of these tubs. Ditto for anyone taking them for some other reason. It certainly does move off the shelf in a brisk manner. We’re also expanding our line so it’s not all whey-based, we have non-dairy and vegan protein powders, too, although they aren’t the cheapest choices. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/2 "2014-08-28T23:48:56Z")
I buy some from Kroger and walmart which I mix in with a green smoothie. In part because it makes it more filling but there are potential health benefits to whey. > **[Whey protein: Health benefits, side effects, and dangers](https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/263371)** > > What is whey protein? Can it help a person to build muscle, lower cholesterol, or burn fat? Researchers continue to discover potentially therapeutic properties of whey protein. We discuss the types and the full range of possible benefits. We also... I have no idea how thorough the research on the health benefits are though. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/3 "2014-08-28T23:52:12Z")
I’d think context is important - getting sufficient protein in your diet is, after all, unquestionably healthy. It just puzzles me how many sorts of people are buying this. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/4 "2014-08-29T00:50:02Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Also, curious to hear from body-builders how effective this stuff is, and how much is typically consumed in a day/how long it takes you to go through one of these tubs. Ditto for anyone taking them for some other reason. I think there is a market for older people (say 60+) for the powders. For me, I buy a 6 pound bag at Cosco and it lasts me about a month and a half. I mix it with my oatmeal and have a shake occasionally for lunch. I do it for extra calories and protein… It also makes the oatmeal taste better… Edit: I forgot to mention I’m more into powerlifting than bodybuilding. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/5 "2014-08-29T00:55:32Z")
I always have some around. It’s good for dieters for smoothies as a meal and to add to bakery. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/6 "2014-08-29T01:05:45Z")
My mom keeps one of those big tubs around. She adds it to fruit smoothies to give them extra staying power, for reasons of weight control. ---
**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/7 "2014-08-29T01:25:23Z")
I have a whey and fiber shake every morning for breakfast, and I also buy it for my mother and grandmother to up the protein in their diets. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/8 "2014-08-29T01:51:42Z")
You don’t have to be a bodybuilder to want to preserve muscle. I do a fair amount of weightlifting but like **Meatros** am more into power/Oly lifting. Still, I aim for about 100g protein per day, and some days that’s challenging without protein powder, especially as I’m keeping calories to 1350. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/9 "2014-08-29T02:38:53Z")
Cheaper does **not** necessarily mean “better deal”. It depends on the ingredients; specifically the exact type of protein being used as well as the prominence of “filler” ingredients like collagen, maltodextrin, etc. Generally speaking, look for whey protein isolate over whey protein concentrate. And of course, protein powder shouldn’t have a bunch of sugar in it. At least not quality protein. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/10 "2014-08-29T04:27:19Z")
There’s definitely a market for cyclists using protein powder in their post ride smoothies. That might explain the skinny men. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/11 "2014-08-29T05:36:14Z")
The market for protein powders (and other sports nutrition supplements) is divvied up into body builders, athletes, recreational users (fitness hobbiests and week-end warriors), and the fastest growing group - the lifestyle user. These are mostly people who feel that using a sports nutrition product will be healthy just because athletes use it. They are the current [drivers of growth](http://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/issues/2012-05/view_features/the-next-chapter-in-sports-nutrition/). > [@](#): > > … Three channels accounted for nearly all of the growth in the category: Mass Market Retail: The largest market was also the fastest growing, with 2011 retail sales up 15%, to $16 billion … While performance athletes play a key role in sports nutrition, they are believed to account for only about 5% of total industry sales, according to NBJ, and hence a brand’s growth can’t rely on this population alone. Enter the mainstream consumer. If performance athletes are at the bull’s-eye of the sports nutrition industry, the everyday consumer is the thick outer ring, while the sports hobbyist audience is somewhere in between. With these populations, sports nutrition products can play a very different role, focused less on performance and more on everyday health and active lifestyle. The everyday consumer, called a “lifestyle user” by Datamonitor, is not necessarily interested in sports at all yet desires an elevated level of nutrition for general health and wellness reasons. The recreational/sports hobbyist user overlaps with both these groups, using sports nutrition products for both lifestyle reasons and to support aspirational athletic endeavors. For both populations, reasons for product usage include enhancing physical and mental performance, increasing energy levels, boosting protein consumption and staying in shape, to name a few. Given the magnitude of the opportunity this customer set presents to the sports nutrition industry, it cannot be ignored, though a name change for the category might be in order … ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/12 "2014-08-29T05:47:18Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > There’s definitely a market for cyclists using protein powder in their post ride smoothies. That might explain the skinny men. Also of course they may be bodybuilders who just aren’t big yet. Even with the best training and advice, it takes months before someone who formerly looked skinny will instead appear muscular, especially in regular clothes (not a muscle vest). And that’s with the best advice / technique. For the rest, there are plenty of people that after months of working out gain just a little muscle definition but aren’t appreciably bigger (sadly including myself in this group). ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/13 "2014-08-29T06:33:11Z")
Lots of old people simply don’t get enough calories and protein. Both of my parents have/had medical conditions that made it unpleasant for them to eat sufficiently. Adding protein powder to a bowl of oatmeal of a milkshake made it much easier for them to get whatever protein and calories they could as easily as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/14 "2014-08-29T09:04:35Z")
Yeah, I do get some amusement when a frail little old lady with a dowager’s hump asks me to help her get a tub of AMAZING RIPPED PECS MANLY MAN PROTEIN POWDER down from a shelf but arguably she needs it more than the weekend warriors. My dad is getting to that age where keeping muscle and bodyweight is getting difficult simply because nothing, including digestion, works as well as it used to. I hadn’t thought of using it for smoothies but now that it’s been mentioned that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the replies. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/15 "2014-08-29T09:53:59Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > My mom keeps one of those big tubs around. She adds it to fruit smoothies to give them extra staying power, for reasons of weight control. Yep. This is what I do as well. I’m doing low carb but, unfortunately for me, can’t eat eggs, which would otherwise be my go-to protein food, especially for my first meal. A smoothie containing protein is an acceptable alternative. ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/16 "2014-08-29T12:24:30Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I work in a big box retailer now and the section I most commonly work in sells (among many, many other things) those big tubs of protein powder. > > Now, I know that body builders eat stuff like that, but I’d say they’re a minority of the folks purchasing this stuff. Granted, some of the male, 98 pound weaklings buying it could be larval body builders who have not yet metamorphosed into Arnolds and Hulks, but there are a surprising number of old ladies and skinny men and so forth are also buying this stuff. They can’t all be purchasing for the body builder in their life. > > So… is this recommended for old people? Folks with wasting conditions? Recovering anorexics? The advertising definitely seems slanted towards gym rats but that’s not the bulk of the customers. Or is my store an outlier? > > Also, curious to hear from body-builders how effective this stuff is, and how much is typically consumed in a day/how long it takes you to go through one of these tubs. Ditto for anyone taking them for some other reason. > > It certainly does move off the shelf in a brisk manner. We’re also expanding our line so it’s not all whey-based, we have non-dairy and vegan protein powders, too, although they aren’t the cheapest choices. I’d say they can be pretty effective, if you’re purchasing the right ones (not just quality, but also for what your goal is), doing the hard work (exercise), eating/balancing your diet, and hydrating properly (a few of them require lots of H2O). I’ve used them to put on some good mass, but only after I balanced it with an overall routine. Of course, there are people who think taking _just_ a supplement is enough, for a desired goal. In these cases, I’d say it’s largely a waste of money. They’re best used as part of an overall lifestyle, not a shortcut. ---
**Author:** ![AnthonyElite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@AnthonyElite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnthonyElite)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/17 "2014-08-29T13:14:05Z")
Weightlifter checking in - I’m not a body builder, but I HAVE put on 20 pounds in the past 3 months from lifting. I take it immediately after every workout with creatine and sugar. I notice that it quickly flips me into recovery mode. It is hard to describe, but I go from that - oh shit life is hard feeling that I get after a workout to - yeaaaaah life is good. I’ve noticed that I recover more quickly when taking protein powder. IF I didn’t eat meat/dairy I would certainly be supplementing with whey on a meal by meal basis. There are just some amino acids you can’t get without a quality source. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/18 "2014-08-29T16:59:36Z")
I’m an ovo-lacto vegetarian who’s eating lots of lean protein as part of a weight loss and muscle gain (via weightlifting) program. Eating as much protein as I should (both for building muscle and filling me up) is really tough without supplementing with whey protein drinks, so I’ve been buying the Optimum Nutrition Gold kind. And I can vouch that the mocha cappuccino flavor is pretty damned yummy. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/19 "2014-08-29T22:55:39Z")
Protein in smoothies is getting to be a big thing now and lots of people are getting into the fruit/veggie smoothie thing in a big way. I would suspect that’s where a lot of the non-workout buyers are coming from. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810/20 "2014-08-30T03:18:16Z")
My breakfast every morning consists of: - skim milk - high-fiber cereal - one scoop of protein powder (100% whey) - coffee …and a nearby toilet. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talk-to-me-about-those-big-tubs-of-protein-powder/696810.md?page=2)