Protein shake in the fridge??

somebaldyfela

Is it ok to have protein shakes made and stored in the fridge??

EileenG

I've a feeling it won't taste great, but nutritionally it should be ok.

somebaldyfela

No they taste better to me!but a mate of mine whos a pretty experienced lifter said they should be taken within 5 minutes of being made

EileenG

That's true too. After lifting, take a whey shake as soon as possible. You want to get the stuff down while your muscles are desperate for protein after being abused in the gym. But if you work out at home, you could make it up first, and have it ready to chug as soon as you are done.

somebaldyfela

Ok thanks a mil

Hanley

The protein will degrade over time, the longer it's left in solution, the quicker the degradation, hence the recommendation from your friend. That being said, it's not gonna happen in five mins. They'll probably be ok for an hour or two. But if you are worried about it, why not just leave a glasss of water in the fridge and add it the powder when you're ready to drink?

EileenG

Can you explain how this works? Why should the protein in a shake degrade, when a piece of chicken breast will still have just as much protein after sitting in the fridge for hours or even days?

Hanley

EileenG wrote: »

Can you explain how this works? Why should the protein in a shake degrade, when a piece of chicken breast will still have just as much protein after sitting in the fridge for hours or even days?

I can't explain it, but I would imagine the hydrogen and oxygen molecules in the water and the carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen molecules in the protein form some sort of chemical reaction when mixed which changes the quality of the protein. Presumably it's a slow enough reaction, which would explain why it's ok to leave it for a short amount of time.

If you want a more detailed explanation you'll have to do your own research I'm afraid, but that's my bodged together never did chemistry past the LC understanding of it!

EileenG

Still seems to me that at worst, you are still left with the basic amino acids that make up the whey, so it should still have value. I've often heard, but never seen any proof, that whey should be made up and drunk quickly. No-one has ever said why happens if you don't.

Hanley

EileenG wrote: »

Still seems to me that at worst, you are still left with the basic amino acids that make up the whey, so it should still have value. I've often heard, but never seen any proof, that whey should be made up and drunk quickly. No-one has ever said why happens if you don't.

I THINK there may be an argument that as well as the above, protein+liquid=bacteria's playground, not too sure on that tbh but it did stick in my mind when I tried to find out why its was bad some time ago.

TiM_rEAPeR

If you eat a whole piece of chicken straight after a workout if would take a while 2-3 hours to digest and absorb into your blood - muscles, henceforth the reason people generally use shakes, which (in some chemical procedure that im not scientifically educated on) can be digested and absorbed instantly.

I reckon that the reason the protein MAY degrade is the same reason it was engineered to be absorbed fast. Its feck'n powder!

Bodhan

As said above, keep the water in the fridge and add the protine to it as required.

g'em

EileenG wrote: »

No-one has ever said why happens if you don't.

Because it stinks the longer it's left in solution

Bacterial growth can also be a factor, but if it's left in the fridge that should minimise anything untoward growing there. Degradation will occur, but that'll just be the protein unravelling and the amino acids will still stay perfectly in tact - you'd need to boil the protein or add acid for aa structure to be really disturbed. Both whey and casein proteins are found naturally in solution in milk anyway, so adding water (or milk) won't do any harm, and pre-mixing overnight won't have any noteworthy ill-effects.

rubadub

g'em wrote: »

Because it stinks the longer it's left in solution

Yes, there was a thread ages ago on this and that ended up being the main reason. I had a bottle with some I found with a tiny bit in the end, the smell was horrendous.

Some would find cold shakes nicer. I have a mini blender and put ice in with the protein, it gets crushed up and you have an ice cold milkshake, much nicer IMO.

flywheel

am i missing something here, it's never thaken me more than a minute to mix a protein shake. what's the exact benefit of pre-mixing and storing... i don't see much time saving... is there some other reason?

somebaldyfela

DubWireless wrote: »

am i missing something here, it's never thaken me more than a minute to mix a protein shake. what's the exact benefit of pre-mixing and storing... i don't see much time saving... is there some other reason?

Tastes nicer cold,but point taken i can just add cold water:o