Question: Do protien shakes make you better at sports?

Ali Hill answered on 21 Jun 2018:

As always, this is complicated! But basically, no.

Protein shakes are useful because they give you protein which your muscles need to grow. But they don’t have anything in them that you can’t get from food. Most people have enough protein in their diet to not need them. Added to which, some sports aren’t about getting bigger muscles, so they’re not always useful.

Being good at sports isn’t just about protein (or how much muscle you have), it’s about whether you’ve had enough to drink and whether you’ve got enough energy, which you mostly get from carbohydrates. So it’s not as simple as if you take a protein shake you’ll be better at sports. They can also be quite expensive, and don’t usually do anything that chocolate milk doesn’t do (and I know which I’d rather have!).