By Recently, society has entered a health kick. From yoga to vegan diets to “getting fit”, everybody has jumped on some sort of health wagon. With this sudden surge of interest in being healthy, there are also plenty of questions that come along with. People are always asking what the best way to do something is or what the best option is in order to reach a certain goal.
Among these many questions is the topic of protein. How much protein should you eat? What kind of protein should you eat? When should you eat it? What should you do while you eat it? The questions are endless. One in particular, however, is the question regarding the use of protein at night before you go to bed.
Should you use protein at night? Does it actually help you? The answer is both yes and no. There are many myths concerning the use of protein before bed that make this question as complicated as it is. The bottom line, however, is that it does help you. It just depends on how you’re expecting it to help.
So What is the Benefit?
Separate from all the myths and falsified statements, using protein at night really does benefit you. So how does it help? Using protein before you go to bed is primarily great for building muscle. Keep reading to find out how.
Building Muscle the Easy Way! (While You Sleep)
Depending on what time you’ve eaten dinner, your food is done processing through your system by around midnight. After that, your body isn’t getting any more nutrients until you wake up and eat breakfast. You can add even more time to that if you’re someone who likes to skip the most important meal of the day.
This is incredibly bad for consistent muscle growth. In order for your muscles to grow, they need both the materials and a stimulus. If your body stops processing your last meal at around midnight and you’re asleep for at least seven to eight hours or more after that, you won’t have the materials or a stimulus for the majority of your sleep.
Luckily, eating protein before bed will give your body both the materials and a stimulus all in one. Eating the protein itself is considered to be the stimulus, much like exercising is. After that, amino acids are obtained from the protein, and these are the materials necessary for muscles to be built.
The amino acids are the real heroes here. Without them, eating protein wouldn’t do anything for muscle growth. With the amount of time you spend asleep, you’re missing out on a lot of growth time without this.
What Protein Should You Eat Then?
If you’re looking for the best nighttime protein powder, the answer is kind of complicated. Many people say whey powder is the best way to go for nighttime protein use, but this is wrong. While it’s not a terrible choice, you could be getting better results with casein powder. Whey protein is digested and absorbed very quickly, while casein powder is absorbed much slower (at 6 grams per hour, to be exact).
Because of this, casein powder is the best nighttime protein powder because it keeps amino acids in your system longer, helping you build muscle for the entire night rather than just a small portion of your sleep. After all, if we’re trying to take advantage of your unused muscle building time during sleep, we might as well take advantage of all of it!
If you’re looking for the best casein protein method to take before you go to bed, there are multiple ways you go do it. The simplest and best casein protein method by far would be to use a powder (the best nighttime protein powder, to be exact). Other ways to digest the best casein protein before bed would be to use cottage cheese or Greek yogurt, both foods that are rich in casein.
You should consume around thirty to forty grams of casein before going to bed in order to fully maximize the effects. Eating more protein won’t necessarily double or triple your results, as research shows that increasing the amount of protein you consume only increases muscle growth by a small percentage.
