How to Find the Best Protein Powder for Weight Gain for Diabetics

📌 Overview and Key Takeaways

This is a Nutrition Coach’s guide on how to find the best protein powder for weight gain for diabetics.

Discover how to safely meet your protein needs while managing diabetes.

Last Updated Jul 21, 2026

Author and Medical Reviewer

Jack, CNC

Jack is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Nutrition Coach.

Jack’s Story | Jack on LinkedIn | Jack in Forbes 30 Under 30

Disclaimer: This communication is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for personalized medical advice.

Protein Powder for Weight Gain for Diabetics

Is Protein Powder Good for Diabetics?

Protein powder can be a useful tool for people with diabetes who struggle to meet their daily protein needs.

You should try to meet your protein needs by eating foods like eggs and fish.

But if you struggle to do so, perhaps due to dietary or lifestyle restrictions, then adding protein powder to your diet might be a good idea.

You can mix it with just milk or water, or add it to smoothies, oatmeal, and other recipes.

Can Protein Powder Help With Diabetic Weight Gain?

Protein powder can be a helpful tool for weight gain in people with diabetes, as it provides a convenient way to increase both calorie and protein intake.

Weight gain fundamentally requires consuming more calories than you burn – a concept known as a caloric surplus.

The convenience and versatility of protein powder can make achieving a caloric surplus easier.

Adequate protein intake is equally important if your goal is not only to gain weight, but also to build muscle.

Muscle growth occurs only when muscle protein synthesis – the process by which your body constructs new muscle tissue – exceeds the rate of muscle protein breakdown.

Dietary protein supplies the amino acids that drive this process, and without enough of it, your body cannot build or maintain muscle effectively.

Again, the convenience and versatility of protein powder can make hitting your daily protein targets easier.

That said, not all protein powders are created equal.

What Is the Best Protein Powder for Diabetes and Weight Gain?

Any type of protein powder – egg white, pea, whey, etc. – can help you meet your total daily protein needs.

In other words, as long as you eat a balanced diet with protein from a variety of sources, there is no clear advantage to using one type of protein powder over another.

Ingredients do matter, however.

First of all, people with diabetes should avoid protein powders with a lot of added sugars, as added sugars can cause blood glucose to spike.

Diabetics should also avoid ingredients that might contribute to gut health problems.

Among these ingredients are food additives and protein concentrates and isolates.

🚫 Avoid Food Additives

Regularly eating emulsifiers, thickeners, artificial sweeteners, and other ultra-processed additives might alter the makeup and function of your gut microbiome (North Clin Istanb, 2020).

These changes, known as gut dysbiosis, have been linked to the development of type 2 diabetes and the reduced efficacy of diabetes medications (World J Methodol, 2022).

Although more research is needed to clarify these relationships, the current research points to multiple interconnected mechanisms involving inflammation, intestinal barrier disruption, and altered microbial metabolite production.

⚠️ Here is a list of the most 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 an ingredient in nature or make it at home, it is probably a food additive.

🚫 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 might 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, you can play it safe by choosing protein shakes and powders made from minimally-processed protein sources like egg whites and almonds.

They might be more gut-friendly.

Order Samples to see for yourself.

Sources

1. Northern Clinics of Istanbul (North Clin Istanb). Food additives and microbiota. 2020.
2. World Journal of Methodology (World J Methodol). Gut microbiota interactions with anti-diabetic medications and pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus. 2022.
3. The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine (Yale J Biol Med). Gain weight by “going diet?” Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings: Neuroscience 2010. 2010.
4. Nutrients (Nutrients). Effect of a Protein Supplement on the Gut Microbiota of Endurance Athletes: A Randomized, Controlled, Double-Blind Pilot Study. 2018.
5. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (Mol Nutr Food Res). In Vitro Fermentation of Animal and Plant Protein Isolates by the Human Gut Microbiota Under High and Low Carbohydrate Conditions. 2024.

Editorial Guidelines

---

This article was written by a Certified Nutrition Coach and reviewed by a Registered Dietitian. We rely on peer-reviewed research and trusted medical sources, and regularly update our content to ensure accuracy and clarity.