I’m really not a fan of highly processed soy products, so don’t think too highly of soy milk. Therefore, tend to recommend either almond milk or coconut milk as bases for creamy shakes.

But the milk in a shake issue is mostly a matter of digestibility – if you have no difficulties digesting dairy products and aren’t trying to lose large amounts of weight (regular milk is quite a bit higher in calories than almond milk or water), then it can be added to shakes no problem.

If stimulating MPS (muscle protein synthesis) is your sole goal, then you are correct in thinking that 25-30 g of protein will induce a maximal response for protein synthesis (anything above this level doesn’t change the speed of laying down new proteins). Extending this line of thinking, then a maximal daily consumption might look like 180 g, ~6 servings of 30 grams.

But let’s not forget that protein can be used for other things nutritionally than just stimulating the formation of new muscle tissue and not everyone eats every 3 hours.

Protein (as a macronutrient) carries the greatest potential for satiety, as well as induces a much larger TEF (thermic effect of food). Both of which lead to the observation (both anecdotally as well as research backed) that people eating higher protein diets tend to lose greater amounts of fat than do people on lower protein diets.

For example, casein protein (the slow digested milk protein) has been shown to release into circulation up to 8 hours after ingestion. In contrast, whey clear the digestive tract within 3 hours. More whole food proteins probably fall between these two levels.

Therefore, if promoting greater satiety is the focus (which it is for the vast majority of North Americans trying to alter body composition), then going with a larger serving of protein (to suppress hunger and allow AA’s to release into the blood stream for 5-6 hours) makes a greater deal of sense than trying to spike AA levels through frequent feedings, using a quick acting protein source like whey.

Hope this clears up the issue somewhat. Nutrient interactions are always complex, so there’s no cut and dry answer. Deciding diet appropriateness is always dependent on how often someone is eating, what types of foods they are eating and what their primary goals are.

First off great post I must add. It’s always nice to try new shake recipes as I am a big shake maker myself. I was wondering though, I looked at the nutritional info for the shake and I noticed the protein content at 43g. From my experience and research in nutrition, 30g of protein is the upper limit of what we should be ingesting in every meal. After that, everything else gets stored or is expelled. What are your thoughts on that?