2020-04-14

A different whey to get your protein supplements

The harder you train - especially as you age - the harder it is to recover so you can keep going the next day. When I started training more regularly and more rigorously for my first obstacle course run I decided to go “hippie” and try all-natural, vegan, organic powders. Three years later, I’m still at it.

I decided to go “hippie” (for lack of a better word for the German “öko”… sorry…) because I not only wanted to build muscle, but also to keep my inflammation down (reducing the aforementioned recovery time) and try to get more phytochemicals and micronutrients. That’s when I went to my local health food store (shout out to Reformhaus Goll!) and asked for some advice.

Change it up
One of the first things they told me was that a mix is important and that I should change the mix each time. This would prevent my body from adapting and getting too used to a one-sided diet.

Long story short (too late): that’s what I do.

The picture is of my mix from a few weeks ago: hemp protein (small), almond protein (middle) and lupine (big). Each one brings with it different extras like amino acids (lupine), magnesium (hemp) and calcium (almond) as well as a bunch of plant-based protein. All from Raab VitalFood.

Why plant-based?
For as much as whey protein etc. can be stigmatized by some portions of society as being reserved for muscle-heads, that is not my opinion. I don’t care who takes that stuff. I just went for this because I feel it is a healthier alternative and would be more well-rounded. And the eco-friendly vegan stuff is not without a certain stigma, either…

They work for me. I notice improvement in my recovery, muscle mass and honestly, my times in the runs have always been good. Last year, I finished almost first in my group of 100 runners on a 19-kilometre run and my recovery was really not that bad.

Disclaimer
I don’t know what I am talking about. This depicts what works for me and should not be taken as any kind of truth. Go, find your own whey (see what I did there :-) ?)