Protein baby!

Walk into any health food store, and you’ll see them. Tub after tub of protein powder, lined up and ready for you to add into your shake, your smoothie or even your muffins and cookies and pancakes.

Back in the early fitness days, protein powder was something that was reserved for the big, burly, weight-lifting men in the gym. But now, women are cottoning on to the benefits of adding protein to their workout routine. Namely, using it to build and repair muscle, as well as making themselves feel fuller and more satisfied.

The result? Women are starting to buy up big on protein, and companies are scrambling to keep up with the demand. Many have released women-specific products just to appeal to the fitness market – even Michelle Bridges just released her own protein powder, aimed specifically at women.

Recently, a survey of over 2000 gym-goers found that the great majority of female gym users use supplements, and that the most popular of the supplements are whey-protein products – the type of protein which comes from dairy products and contains amino acids that can be used by the body for building muscle.

These women have been dubbed “Protein Princesses”.

According to the Daily Mail, they’re usually in their 20s, and work out four to five times a week in order to burn fat and get their bodies toned and lean.

But is protein powder really necessary when you’re doing a workout? After all, I’ve never bothered with it (I’ve already got enough to think about with the gym, I can’t add a protein drinky thingy into the mix) and I seem to be doing okay.

But as I see more and more women leaving the gym with those giveaway plastic tumblers in their hands, I started to wonder whether I was missing out by skipping past the tubs of powdery goodness on the shelves of the health food stores.

I asked two different experts to give me their opinions.

Here’s what Nicole Senior, an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist, had to say:

And here’s the opinion of health and wellness expert Kirsty Welsh:

Are you a protein fan?