Drinking a protein shake is an effective way to boost your protein intake.

In this blog post, I share with you an easy protein shake recipe with banana, greek yogurt and chia seeds. You can make this protein shake for muscle gain and post-workout recovery.

You’d be happy to know that this protein shake contains no milk or protein powder.

It is thick, creamy and low in calories. If you want to build some muscles, this banana protein shake will help you do just that. But first, I’ll explain the role protein plays in muscle growth.

What Is Protein?

Protein is an essential nutrient in the building of muscle mass and contributes to the optimal function of your body.

Protein is the building blocks of your body. Protein makes up your bones, muscles, organs, hair, skin and nails. Besides water, most of your body is made up of protein.

Protein is part of a nutrient group called Macronutrients. It is made up of carbohydrate, fat and protein. When you exercise, protein is the nutrient responsible for repairing damaged muscle fibres and at the same time initiating muscle growth.

Your body needs protein to maintain and repair tissues. It’s important to prioritise getting enough quality protein daily from your diet.

It can be difficult to get enough quality protein from your diet daily. This is why this banana protein shake without protein powder should be utilised alongside a good based diet.

Now that is out of the way, lets talk about the types of protein you should focus on eating because some proteins are more important than others when it comes to muscle growth.

Related Article: Want to create a Calorie Deficit for Weight Loss? Use our Smart Calorie Calculator

Types Of Protein

There are two types of protein, complete and incomplete protein.

Complete protein is a food that contains all 9 essential amino acids your body can’t produce by itself. An incomplete protein is a food that is missing one or more essential amino acids.

There are 20 amino acids that bond together to form a protein. 9 of those amino acids are classed as essential while 11 are non essential.

The 9 essential amino acids are Valine, Leusine, Isoleusine, Lysine, Histidine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Tryptophan.

While, the 11 non essential amino acids are Alanine, Arginine, Asparaginee, Aspartic acid, Cysteine, Glutamic acid, Glutamine, Glycine, Proline, Serine, Tyrosine. source

Your body can produce the 11 non essential amino acids but it can’t produce the 9 essential amino acids by itself. Hence, it’s good to get it from your diet.

Other food sources of complete protein include: quinoa, chia seeds, meat, fish, eggs. Most animal foods are sources of complete proteins while there’s one or more essential amino acids missing from most plant foods.

If you want to eat a complete protein diet, you don’t need to focus on eating a specific food. If you eat a varied diet with lots of protein sources from plant and animals, you’ll get an adequate supply of high quality protein over a 24-hour period.

For example, if you eat rice and beans together, that’s a complete protein diet. Also, this banana protein shake is a source of complete protein, even though it has no protein powder or milk.

Health Benefits Of This Banana Protein Shake

This banana protein shake provides a lot of health benefits. It is loaded with essential nutrients for muscle gain and ideal for the optimal function of your body.

• Complete Protein: The main protein source of this banana protein shake is chia seeds. Chia seeds is a source of complete protein, which means it provides you with all 9 essential amino acids your body can’t produce by itself.

• Nutrient Dense: This protein shake uses wholesome ingredients. It contains banana, chia seeds and greek yogurt. These foods are very rich in anti-oxidant nutrients and micronutrients needed for post-workout recovery.

• Muscle growth: This protein shake is a source of high quality protein and contains essential micronutrients that aids muscle growth. Are bananas good for muscle growth? Yes they absolutely are. Bananas contain some important nutrients that makes your muscle grow such as potassium.

For muscle growth, protein isn’t all you need. For protein to work well in your body, you need certain enzymes and micronutrients to break it down.

The potassium content in bananas helps muscle tissue growth and without potassium, the energy released during metabolism cannot be used by the muscles.

• Low Calories: Most protein shakes are high in calories, especially when you use a protein powder and too many ingredients. This banana protein shake contains less than 250 calories, in part because it has no protein powder.

• Pre-workout or Post-workout: This protein shake contains a fair amount of good carbohydrates and high quality protein.

You have the option of making it as a pre-workout or post-workout drink. It will help you refill and refuel after your workout even though it doesn’t contain milk or protein powder.

Can You Build Muscle Without Protein Powder?

Protein powders help you boost your protein intake and contribute to muscle growth. But without using protein powder in your shake, you can still build some muscle.

This banana protein shake is without protein powder but it uses chia seeds as it’s main source of high quality protein.

Seeds like chia seeds and hemp seeds are a great source of high quality protein to use in place of protein powder. Another reason to use either chia seed or hemp seed in your shake is because they’re both complete protein sources.

Even though 1 scoop of normal protein powder will contain more protein than 1-2tbsp of chia seeds or hemp seeds, you don’t need that much protein in your shake to build muscle.

As long as you consume more protein from your food throughout the day, you’ll be just fine.

Related Article: 5 Smart Ways to Build Muscle Fast in 2023

Banana Protein Shake Ingredients

• 1medium Banana: Banana is used to sweeten this protein shake. It provides essential minerals like potassium and magnesium. Banana is also a source of good carbs and contains anti-inflammatory properties for reducing inflammation.

• 1tbsp Chia Seeds: Chia seeds adds more fibre and protein to help fill you up as you drink this protein shake. Even though only 1tbsp of chia seeds is used in this banana protein shake, it still provides a huge 3g of high quality protein.

• 125g Greek Yogurt: Greek yogurt adds thickness and increases the protein content of this protein shake. Since this protein shake is without protein powder, greek yogurt is a great substitute.

• 100ml Water: Water helps the ingredients to mix well and blend together so you can easily digest this banana protein shake.

This is an ad – Do you want to lose weight? Reach out to me, I’d love to help!

This post contains affiliate links to products on amazon. This means I will make a small commission if you purchase through the links of products listed in the post. These products are recommended because I personally use and trust them.

When to drink protein shakes for muscle gain

The best time to drink a protein shake is an hour after your workout out in order to quickly supply your muscles with much needed protein for faster recovery.

Some people think it doesn’t matter what time of the day you drink protein shake for muscle gain but in my experience, the best time is after your work out.

You don’t have to carry a protein shaker bottle with you to the gym either. As long as you get home and make yourself a good chocolate protein shake within hours after working out.

Can you drink protein shakes without working out

You can absolutely drink this protein shake without working out because it is still a clever way to eat more whole foods and increase your protein intake.

Because this protein shake doesn’t use whey protein powder or milk, it makes it suitable to be enjoyed as part of your daily meals before or after your workout, or even when you don’t work out.

Conclusion

Even though this protein shake is without protein powder, it’s still a great way to recover after your workout.

Protein is vital for reducing doms (delayed onset muscle soreness) and recovery time. Try to make this protein shake within 2hours after your workout to quickly begin the process of repairing your broken down muscles.

Will you make this banana protein shake after your workout?

You May Also Like

• Want to create a Calorie Deficit for Weight Loss? Use our Smart Calorie Calculator.
• Oatmeal Banana Smoothie For Breakfast
• Chia Pudding Meal Prep For Weight Loss
• Vanilla Strawberry Protein Shake For Muscle Gain