At TWC most of us are women on the go – we like food that’s quick, tasty and nutritious – but doesn’t take hours of preparation. After all, those hours could be well spent on the bike.
We also know that protein is a very important part of the recovery process and the more of it we consume, the more quickly those achey legs will start to feel normal again between rides. Therefore, when we noticed MyProtein offered a protein pancake mix that takes just minutes to prepare and contains around 22g of protein to 4g of carbohydrate, we were pretty excited.
Why do we need extra protein?
Protein intake, as we discussed with nutritionist Joseph Agu last week, is essential to muscle protein synthesis – the process of muscles recovering and becoming stronger after exercise. Athletes need more protein than most people because they damage and need to repair their muscles more regularly. Upping your intake can also help to prevent an athlete from dropping muscle mass if they’re in the process of losing weight.
You can get your protein from sources such as eggs, cheese, meat and dairy – but by going for a protein product you isolate the protein, so you can concentrate on ensuring you get what you need, without by-products that you might not. Just don’t forget you still need carbohydrates to fuel your ride and that fats are still important and have their place.
Protein Pancake Mixture
It’s not uncommon for nutrition brands to attempt to turn perfectly good food-stuffs into high protein versions – we’ve seen protein popcorn, protein bread, and even protein coffee in the past. More often than not the outcome is destruction of a food that once held fond memories and us shouting: “just stick to the shakes with banana and blueberry, for all our sakes!” Protein pancakes, however – we’d yet to try.
There are four flavours available in this mixture – Chocolate, Golden Syrup, Maple Syrup and unflavored. We went for Golden Syrup, which contains 31 per cent protein blend from whey and egg whites. Whey protein is the best quality as it contains a high dose of an amino acid called leucine which helps trigger synthesis. It’s also fast acting so gets into your blood stream quickly. There’s also 13 per cent ground oats, plus flavouring, raising agent (sodium bicarbonate) and sweeteners.
The nutritional information is given per 1.5 scoops, though we found we used two scoops to make two pancakes (one each unless you’re feeling greedy!) which works out at 127 calories with 22g protein and 6g carbs.
So – how did the cooking process go?
