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

📌 Overview and Key Takeaways

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

Discover how to safely use protein powder to gain weight.

Last Updated
Jul 21, 2026

Author and Medical Reviewer

Written by Jack, CNC

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

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for personalized medical advice. Consult a licensed healthcare professional before making changes to your diet.

Can Protein Powder Help Girls Gain Weight?

Yes, protein powder can help girls gain weight when added to the diet properly.

Although protein powder is often marketed for weight loss, it can also support healthy weight gain.

This is because protein powder makes it easy to add calories to your diet.

Protein powder can be easily added to smoothies, oatmeal, and other recipes to help you achieve a caloric surplus – consume more calories than you burn.

If your goal includes building muscle along with gaining weight, protein itself is important.

Muscle growth happens when muscle protein synthesis (building new muscle) exceeds muscle protein breakdown, and protein intake plays a key role in this balance (Nutrients, 2018).

Adding protein powder to your diet can therefore support both healthy weight gain and muscle growth.

Which Protein Powder Is Best for Weight Gain for Girls?

Not all protein powders are created equal.

If you eat a balanced diet with protein from various sources, the specific type of protein powder (whey, pea, egg white, etc.) matters less than its quality and ingredients.

Ingredients might actually matter significantly for weight gain success.

Certain ingredients commonly found in protein powders might interfere with your body’s ability to gain weight effectively.

The most problematic ones include food additives and protein concentrates and isolates.

🚫 Avoid Food Additives

The regular consumption of emulsifiers, thickeners, artificial sweeteners, and other ultra-processed additives might alter the composition and function of your gut microbiome – the community of microorganisms living in your digestive system (North Clin Istanb, 2020).

These changes, called gut dysbiosis, might reduce your ability to digest and absorb nutrients from food (Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol, 2016).

This could make gaining weight more difficult, even when eating enough calories.

In fact, gut dysbiosis has been causally linked to growth faltering in underweight and malnourished children (Pediatrics, 2017).

⚠️ Here is a list of the most common food additives 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 general rule, if you cannot find an ingredient in nature or make it in your kitchen, it is likely 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 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 might 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 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. Best Practice & Research. Clinical Gastroenterology (Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol). Microbial perturbations and modulation in conditions associated with malnutrition and malabsorption. 2016.
3. Pediatrics (Pediatrics). Promotion of Healthy Weight-Control Practices in Young Athletes. 2017.
4. Nutrients (Nutrients). Protein Considerations for Optimising Skeletal Muscle Mass in Healthy Young and Older Adults. 2018.
5. Nutrients (Nutrients). Effect of a Protein Supplement on the Gut Microbiota of Endurance Athletes: A Randomized, Controlled, Double-Blind Pilot Study. 2018.
6. 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

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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.