We’ve all heard that protein shakes are a good addition to our diets, especially when working out regularly. However, there are a few mistakes we make along the way, not knowing what type of protein to consume, wrong timing, overconsumption, but here is the biggest mistake you’re making with protein shakes.

Protein shakes are so common that you can find aisles of it in pharmacies, at every large supermarket and all over the internet. It can be difficult navigating the options and selecting the one that will “work best” for us. With various brands, flavours and celebrity endorsements, we all have a reason why we choose the shake we choose, even if it’s just because our mate recommended it. They all use language that captures us, whether it be gendered or targeted to weight loss or muscle gain.

Regardless of what the reason is for our purchase and consuming of the protein shakes, they can have great benefit in allowing us to feel fuller for longer and have more energy to burn. However, there is a mistake many of us make when we consume the protein shakes.

We simply consume it purely as a shake.

We take the protein (in powder form) and blend it with water and consuming it purely as advertised, as a shake. Although, we can use the protein powder in many different ways as a supplement to our diets, for the same purposes as it would have in shake form.

We can add it to other beverages such as smoothies, or drink it with milk. While that does seem quite obvious, many people consume it purely using the directions on the packaging, even though most protein shake powders can be blended with milks, fruits and other smoothie elements.

The powder can also be used on foods such as oatmeal, cereal, icecream/yoghurt and even pancakes. Adding the protein powder to meals reduces the need to consume the protein powder as a beverage, especially if we aren’t the biggest fans of the taste, no matter what the flavour.

We can also create protein snacks with the powder such as sweets in the form of brownies, coconut balls and ice blocks.