By Laura Forsyth
Protein is crucial when it comes to muscle building, however, a survey highlighted a lack of understanding of its role and value when consumed as part of a fitness regime.
A YouGov survey, commissioned by Graham’s Family Dairy found that 37 per cent of UK adults who exercise believe wrongly that one of protein’s key roles is to provide energy.
Meanwhile, only 12 per cent of all UK adults were consuming food at the optimum time after taking part in physical activity.
More surprisingly, the poll revealed that only 30 per cent of UK adults who exercise actually know how much protein is in a medium-sized egg, 18 per cent of people know how much is in a standard yoghurt and just nine per cent of people know how much is in a medium chicken breast.
Whilst high-protein products have seen a significant rise in popularity – with one-third of UK adults using high-protein food and drink products, consumers lack knowledge of its place in a healthy and active diet. That’s why the family-run dairy has launched a 30-day challenge aimed at highlighting the benefits of consuming protein to aid in exercise recovery.
Andrew Shepherd, performance nutrition lead at Loughborough University, which supported the survey, commented on the findings.
“The emphasis and growth in popularity of protein over the last few years has seen a rapid increase in the amount consumed. The results in this survey show that despite this, we still don’t have a clear understanding of the amount in different foods, the timing to consume or the type of foods.
“From the survey we’re seeing a large number of people consuming protein a long time after finishing their workout (one to four hours), but we know that consuming it immediately post (within 30 minutes) can support the recovery and adaptation from exercise.
“Incorporating sources after workouts, which are easily available, easily digestible and contain more than 20g of protein can help you to recover from exercise.”
In November, Graham’s Family Dairy revealed that for the first time on record, sales of protein and Skyr products had overtaken sales of conventional milk in major supermarkets, while sales of protein pouches increased by 800 per cent since the previous year, illustrating the growing demand for protein-rich dairy products.
Robert Graham, Graham’s Family Dairy managing director, added: “Being a keen runner and gym-goer I know the importance of a balanced diet. Since we started developing our innovative protein range in 2018 I’ve made a point of understanding the role protein plays and how it can help us to recover from exercise more effectively.
“More people are incorporating these products into their diets – we have seen protein product sales grow by 67 per cent over the last year – and we want to encourage everyone to consider their post-exercise intake.”
