How to Find the Best Protein Powder for Picky Eater Weight Gain
📌 Overview and Key Takeaways
This is a Certified Nutrition Coach’s guide to choosing the best protein powder to help a picky eater gain weight.
Discover how to meet your protein needs as a picky eater.
Protein Powder for Picky Eater Weight Gain
Is Protein Powder Good for Picky Eaters?
Protein powder can be a helpful tool for picky eaters, but it should only be consumed as part of a balanced diet, not as a replacement for other high protein foods.
A picky eater is someone who refuses to eat certain foods or even entire food groups.
Parents and caregivers of picky eaters often worry that their children are not getting the calories and nutrients they need to grow and develop.
In most cases, however, picky eaters still meet their nutritional needs (Am J Clin Nutr, 2016).
Picky eating can contribute to poor growth and nutritional gaps in children (Front Pediatr, 2018).
So if you are concerned that your child is not growing well or is not getting enough nutrients, consult a pediatrician right away.
It is worth mentioning that although picky eating is most common in young children, it can also affect adults and older adults.
Older adults may eat a narrower range of foods, and some research suggests that this food selectivity might be linked to a higher risk of malnutrition (AACE, 2013).
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Research suggests that oral nutritional supplements, such as protein powder, might help support catch-up growth in young children with picky eating behaviors (Nutrients, 2021).
Research also suggests that protein supplementation might help improve muscle mass and lower the risk of sarcopenia (the age-related loss of muscle) in older adults (Nutrients, 2022)
Keep in mind that protein powder should not replace other sources of dietary protein.
Whenever possible, picky eaters should try to meet their protein needs by eating high protein foods eggs and fish.
The convenience and versatility of protein powder is hard to beat, however.
You can mix it with just milk or water, or add it to smoothies, oatmeal, and other recipes.
Unflavored protein powder is particularly useful as it can be added to safe foods, such as mac and cheese.
Protein shakes are also a great option for picky eaters because they can have an appealing taste and texture.
They are also easy to customize, which means you can adjust the flavor and consistency to fit your preferences.
If you are struggling to get a picky eater to drink a protein shake, try the following:
- Mix it with milk. If you are making a homemade protein shake, use milk instead of water. Milk improves the texture and helps cover the bitter aftertaste of some sugar substitutes.
- Use a blender. If your protein shake is too gritty, use a good blender, Electric Mixer, or Shaker Bottle (with a whisk).
- Add ice or frozen fruit. If your protein shake is too watery, add ice cubes or a frozen banana.
- Add cocoa powder. If your protein shake is too sweet, try adding something bitter, like unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Try a recipe. If you cannot make your protein shake taste good despite your best efforts, find another use for your protein powder. Mixing it into oatmeal or adding it to baked goods are two great options. Check out these high protein recipes for inspiration.
It is also important to note that not all protein powders are well suited for picky eaters.
- Some protein powders are made with protein concentrates and isolates, which can taste chalky.
- Some protein powders are made with sugar substitutes like sucralose and stevia. Stevia, for example, can activate bitter taste receptors in addition to sweet taste receptors, and people differ in how strongly they taste this bitterness (Genes Nutr, 2014).
- Some protein powders are flavored with artificial or “natural” flavorings, which can have an unnatural, chemical aftertaste.
For the best results, choose a protein powder that is: 1) made from whole food protein sources like egg whites or almonds, 2) sweetened with real sugar or a natural sugar substitute like monk fruit, and 3) flavored with real foods like cocoa and vanilla.
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Can Protein Powder Help Picky Eaters Gain Weight?
Yes, protein powder can help a picky eater gain weight by making it easier to eat more calories and more protein each day.
To gain weight, a picky eater simply needs to eat more calories than he or she burns.
If you would like a picky eater to not only gain weight but also build muscle, then he or she also needs to eat enough protein.
Muscle growth happens when muscle protein synthesis (the building of new muscle protein) is greater than muscle protein breakdown.
Eating enough dietary protein helps support this balance.
What Is the Best Protein Powder for Picky Eater Weight Gain?
Not all protein powders are created equal.
Any type of protein powder (egg white, pea, whey, and so on) can help a picky eater meet his or her daily protein needs.
In other words, as long as you are eating a balanced diet, there is usually no clear advantage to choosing one type of protein powder over another.
Ingredients do matter, however.
Many protein powders are made with ingredients that might contribute to uncomfortable side effects and even long-term gut health problems.
The top offenders include food additives, dairy-based proteins, and protein concentrates and isolates.
🚫 Avoid Food Additives
Regularly eating emulsifiers, thickeners, artificial sweeteners and other ultra-processed additives might upset your stomach.
Some research also suggests that certain additives might alter the makeup and function of your gut microbiome – the community of microbes living in your digestive tract (North Clin Istanb, 2020).
These shifts, known as gut dysbiosis, have been associated with several chronic conditions, including allergies, asthma, and obesity (Microb Ecol Health Dis, 2015).
That said, more research is needed to fully understand these relationships.
⚠️ Here is a list of common food additives found in protein shakes and powders:
- acacia fiber
- acacia gum
- acesulfame potassium
- artificial flavors
- ascorbic acid
- aspartame
- calcium carbonate
- carrageenan
- cellulose gum
- dextrin
- dicalcium phosphate
- dipotassium phosphate
- erythritol
- gellan gum
- guar gum
- gum arabic
- inulin
- locust bean gum
- maltitol
- maltodextrin
- mono- and diglycerides
- ‘natural’ flavors
- rice bran extract
- rice dextrin
- rice hulls
- rosemary extract
- silica
- silicon dioxide
- sodium alginate
- soluble corn fiber
- sorbitol
- soy lecithin
- sucralose
- sunflower lecithin
- tocopherols
- tricalcium phosphate
- xanthan gum
- xylitol
- zinc oxide
As a rule of thumb, if you cannot find it in nature or make it at home, it is probably a food additive.
🚫 Avoid Dairy-Based Proteins
Dairy-based proteins like whey and casein, although not a problem for everyone, can cause digestive issues too.
This is usually because they contain lactose – a sugar many individuals with sensitive guts cannot fully digest.
But you might be sensitive to dairy-based proteins even if you are not lactose intolerant.
For starters, the digestion of some caseins releases a bioactive peptide that has been linked to digestive issues (Adv Nutr, 2017).
Casein also forms a gel-like substance in your stomach that slows down digestion (Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 2023).
For sensitive individuals, particularly true for those with cow’s milk protein allergy or intolerance, slower digestion can contribute to bloating, constipation, and other side effects.
🚫 Avoid Protein Concentrates and Isolates
You might also want to avoid protein concentrates and isolates.
Most protein shakes and powders are made from one or both of these ultra-processed protein sources, which have been mechanically and/or chemically stripped of everything but the protein.
This includes the enzymes, fiber, and other natural digestive aids that help you break them down.
You therefore do not digest them in the same way that you do whole foods, which could affect your gut health.
For example, one study shows that regularly consuming protein concentrates and isolates might disrupt your gut microbiome (Nutrients, 2018).
Another study shows that it could cause the formation of toxic byproducts in your gut (Mol Nutr Food Res, 2024).
Although further research is needed, individuals with sensitive stomachs can play it safe by choosing protein shakes and powders made from minimally-processed protein sources like egg whites and almonds.
They are more gut-friendly.
Order Samples to see for yourself.
Sources
- The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Am J Clin Nutr). Macro- and micronutrient intakes in picky eaters: a cause for concern? 2016.
- Frontiers in Pediatrics (Front Pediatr). Association of Picky Eating with Growth, Nutritional Status, Development, Physical Activity, and Health in Preschool Children. 2018.
- American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE). Clinical Practice Guidelines for Healthy Eating for the Prevention and Treatment of Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases in Adults: Cosponsored by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists/The American College of Endocrinology and the Obesity Society. 2013.
- Nutrients (Nutrients). Oral Nutritional Supplementation Improves Growth in Children at Malnutrition Risk and with Picky Eating Behaviors. 2021.
- Nutrients (Nutrients). Effects of Protein Supplementation on Lean Body Mass, Muscle Strength, and Physical Performance in Nonfrail Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. 2022.
- Genes & Nutrition (Genes Nutr). Genetic signature of differential sensitivity to stevioside in the Italian population. 2014.
- Northern Clinics of Istanbul (North Clin Istanb). Food additives and microbiota. 2020.
- Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease (Microb Ecol Health Dis). Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota in disease. 2015.
- Advances in Nutrition | Journal (Adv Nutr). Systematic Review of the Gastrointestinal Effects of A1 Compared with A2 β-Casein. 2017.
- Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr). Milk proteins: Processing, gastric coagulation, amino acid availability and muscle protein synthesis. 2023.
- Nutrients (Nutrients). Effect of a Protein Supplement on the Gut Microbiota of Endurance Athletes: A Randomized, Controlled, Double-Blind Pilot Study. 2018.
- Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (Mol Nutr Food Res). In
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