Pack’em with Protein

Homemade protein powder

After being bombarded by health magazines about having the correct macro-nutrient intake, I have been curiously tracking my carb/fat/protein intake to see how my diet rates. Dry topic, I know, but I was curious and it was a welcome change from years of counting calories!!

Interestingly, I found that my supposedly healthy diet was very low in protein despite having included meat in my diet in recent months – something that I avoided for the past 10 years! Arghhh!! We all know that protein fills us up and I know I have a voracious appetite so I added eggs… and more meat…. and I still wasn’t getting enough!! ARRGHHHH!!

I turned to the protein powder aisle in the Health food shop and was overwhelmed with rows & rows of “Muscle Builder”, “Protein MAX”, “Super Duper Testosterone Protein” supplements marketed to super fit, super lean muscle men & women weight trainers…hmmmm, that’s NOT me!! So many choices, such a big market – do people really buy that stuff?

The biggest thing that struck me was the ingredient list and nutritional data on these supplements. Apart from protein and amino acids, they are full of sugar, soy, dairy, & gluten and food additives! Is this real food? Is this what I have to take when real food doesn’t provide me with enough protein?

So against my better (real food) judgement, I did some research and experimenting. I looked at protein powders, how they are made, which ones are better, purer, more effective and came up with this.

Protein powders are not real food, they are derived from food but are so far processed, they really resemble chemicals – like sugar. The parent foods chemical component is extracted to be used as a medicine – akin to aspirin from willowbark. Protein powder is made from milk (whey & casein), eggs (albumin) and vegetables (soy) among other things.

These protein powders, are of course, very useful. But not with added sugars and chemicals and many are allergenic to lots of people. So I decided to experiment with my own blend – I’m not sure whether it will suit me to take this as a supplement but I am curious to give it a try.

This blend is not completely dairy free. It uses whey protein isolate which is the actual protein molecule stripped out of the whey. It can be filtered enough to be virtually lactose free, carbohydrate free, fat-free, and cholesterol free. Whereas, whey protein concentrate still has all of the allergenic properties of milk.

Egg white is the most unadulterated, hypo-allergenic and concentrated form of protein and I use it alot in my green smoothies and baking. I use pea protein instead of soy to add a vegetable component. I use konjac (glucomanan) to thicken and give a better mouth feel. You could also use guar or xanthum gum.

5 parts egg white protein

2 parts pea protein isolate (or rice protein)

3 parts whey protein isolate

2 parts erythritol or xylitol

.25 part glucomannan

1 drop of vanilla oil

a big pinch salt

Mill the sweetener, salt & oil for 10 seconds on SP 9. Add the remaining ingredients and blend for 5 seconds on SP 6. Repeat on REVERSE. Use a piece of folded kitchen paper between the lid & MC so that dust does not fly everywhere!

This basic mix can be blended with water, milk or nut milk to make a shake. It can also be used instead of flour to bake with. Personally I prefer a chocolate flavoured powder to have as a drink.

To 1 basic protein mix recipe add:

1 part chia seeds

1 part linseeds

4 parts raw cacao

4 parts coconut milk powder

2 parts natvia or xylitol

big pinch cinnamon

 

Mill the seeds and an extra pinch salt for 10 seconds on SP 9. Add the rest of ingredients and mix.