Moonchild wrote:
In general, no - if you were working out it would be absorbed as muscle easier, but since you wouldn't be, it would turn into fat, but much LESS efficiently than other things. Most actual gaining would come from the carbs in the protein powder (simple sugars help the body absorb protein after a workout) but obviously you can easily get those from much cheaper sources that don't taste like crap.
Pudgers McLovin wrote: Would the powder be absorbed as fat easier for some reason?
In general, no - if you were working out it would be absorbed as muscle easier, but since you wouldn't be, it would turn into fat, but much LESS efficiently than other things. Most actual gaining would come from the carbs in the protein powder (simple sugars help the body absorb protein after a workout) but obviously you can easily get those from much cheaper sources that don't taste like crap.
Moonchild hit the nail on the head with that one. I'll just add some supplementary info for anyone interested. How many calories isn't as important as to where they are coming from. Your body can live off of either carbohydrates or proteins, so essentially you are either on a carb based diet, a protein based diet, or somewhere in-between. Like Moonchild said, proteins don't get absorbed as fat as well as carbs do. One of the primary reasons behind this is an insulin response triggered when blood sugar spikes. This causes excess sugar to be stored as fat as quickly as possible because too much sugar running through your veins will kill you. However, your body becomes resistant insulin and has to produce more each time you trigger an insulin response to gain the same effect. Eventually, your body can't produce enough insulin anymore and you become diabetic. Other health problems can occur from a carb based diet such as clogged arteries. So when you eat that double cheeseburger at Mc. D's, it's not so much all the saturated fats that are doing the damage, but the bun, the fries, the ketchup, and all of that sugary soda.
Essentially what I'm getting at is this: Protein, fats (with the exception of partially hydregenated oils i.e. trans fats), etc = more difficult, but healthier gain
Carbs (sugars) = fast, easy gain but at greater risks of health problems in the long run.
Ok, I'm done. hahaha.
12 years