I’ve been doing strength exercises now for three years and I’ve noticed that my body responds incredibly well to whey protein. Taking whey protein powder after workouts has significantly increased my strength, which was stagnating and poor before that. Initially I used to bake low-carb peanut-whey protein bars, but then I moved on to mixing whey with quark, which is a kind of Yoghurt-like cottage cheese with a very high amount of protein, and beeries.
For a very long time now, I have been eliminating highly and ultra processed foods from my shopping list, buying as much whole and fermented foods as possible, to prepare food myself and to stay healthy. The last thing left to replace was whey protein powder. Most powders contain a lot of additives and while these may make the powder sweet, they are also not necessarily the healthiest in the long-term.
I tried replacing whey protein powders with Ricotta. It is an Italian cheese made out of whey and is one of the few dairy products that is made out of the non-caseous part of milk, which is typically discarded during the cheese making process. It is not really a cheese for it is made out of whey protein, unlike cheese which is made of casein. The 250g package of ricotta for example contains roughly 25g of mostly whey protein and is comparable to about 30g of whey protein powder, which is the standard dose after exercise. It’s got a very neutral, slightly sweet taste and feels like cream. The only disadvantages of Ricotta are that it is not found in every supermarket and it is more expensive overall.
There’s a lot of post-workout snacks that can be made with it. I’m mixing 250g of ricotta with 250g of quark, a banana, beeries and chia seeds. I love the snack, eating it after sports keeps me motivated, and provides me with the protein that my muscles respond really well to. By adding eggs and shredded almonds to the mixture, it is even possible to turn it into protein cheesecake.
