{"id":2200165,"date":"2026-10-15T00:00:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T21:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2200165"},"modified":"2026-10-15T00:00:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T21:00:35","slug":"im-12-and-want-to-try-protein-powder-should-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2200165","title":{"rendered":"I’m 12 and want to try protein powder – should I?"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/8554\/live\/d1f10220-c26e-11f1-bc2e-018d645d8d21.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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\"BBCBBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Louis, Otis and Ben all have differing opinions on whether teens should use protein powder<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Twelve-year-old Ben is desperate to try protein powder but there’s one hurdle: me, his mum. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I’ve asked about 20 times and you just keep saying no!”, he says, claiming it would make him “fitter and bigger” and that his male friends use it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In recent years, there’s been an explosion of products marketed as “high protein”, including milk, yoghurt, breads, cereals, bars and powders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Social media is flooded with adverts for various supplements, including protein powder. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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As a health journalist, I’m sceptical and think at Ben’s age he must be getting enough protein through his diet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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So, do experts think it’s safe for pre-teens and teenagers or is a big, juicy steak just as good?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"The<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In recent years, there has been an explosion of products marketed as “high protein”…<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"The<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
… however, protein is found in lots of everyday foods, including meat, fish, eggs, dairy, bread, grains and pulses<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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My sport-obsessed son, who already eats a healthy balanced diet, asks me about protein powder on a regular basis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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His friend Louis, 12, has been using protein powder once or twice a week for nearly a year, after a workout and on top of whole foods. His parents are aware of this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I think it’s helped, it gives me more energy and it’s helped me grow, probably,” he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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ButBen’s other friend Otis, who is 13, is not keen on the idea and feels there is pressure on young people to take protein supplements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“They might just start using them without thinking about the consequences or what effects it may have on them.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Why do we need protein?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Proteins break down into amino acids that help the body grow and repair.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But your body can’t make all the amino acids it needs on its own, so you need to get more – known as essential amino acids – through your diet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For an adult with a healthy weight, the recommended daily amount of protein you should be eating is 0.75 grams per kg of body weight, according to the NHS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A good rule of thumb is that the amount of protein you have for each meal should fit into the palm of your hand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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If you exercise a lot, and when you get older, you need more protein so you could have up to 2 grams per kg of body weight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But do teens really need it if they’re eating well?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Do you really need protein powder to build muscle?<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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For teenage boys and girls “you can get all the protein that you need from food alone”, says registered dietitian Nichola Ludlam-Raine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It is important that teenage girls, especially, get enough iron and calcium, so Ludlam-Raine says not to become overly focused on protein at the expense of other nutrients.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Protein shakes, powders or bars can be useful for some, including high-level athletes and those who have certain allergies, but they should not replace a healthy diet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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There can also be some unwanted side effects from using protein powders such as bloating, gas, cramps, and diarrhoea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Those with pre-existing health conditions should not use it unless they have been told they can by their doctor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ludlam-Raine points out that the protein powder market is not as tightly regulated as medicines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Of course, you can get reputable companies who do third-party testing and make sure that what you see on the label is what is in the inside, but that’s not always the case,” she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“And ultimately you can’t just have a shake and your biceps grow.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Some protein powders contain high amounts of added sugar, artificial ingredients, and hidden stimulants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Dr Ramnik Mathur is a consultant paediatrician from Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He explains that we need micronutrients like zinc, calcium and magnesium, which are found in whole foods.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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So, if meals are replaced with protein shakes, those nutrients are lost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Experts suggest spreading out protein across the day and aiming for 20-25g per meal. If you’re keen to up your intake, try some of these recipes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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During puberty when children have growth spurts, they do need more protein because their body is growing rapidly, building new muscle and bone mass.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But Mathur says there are risks to eating too much protein.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“If you look at social media, they’ll say you need to eat a lot of protein, but your body can handle only so much.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He explains that if you eat too much, it has to be excreted by the kidneys and liver which can become overloaded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mathur explains: “We had a child here at the hospital where I work – he was taking so much protein that his kidneys just stopped working and he actually passed away.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The key takeaway from Mathur: “If a 12-year-old child is eating a healthy balanced diet then they shouldn’t need any more protein.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ludlam-Raine’s advice is to get teens to improve their diet first before taking any protein powder, especially regularly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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If they still want to use it, speak to a registered dietitian or nutritionist first.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Now off I go to tell my son the answer is still no – and the experts say the same.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cm158555dq1go”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/8554\/live\/d1f10220-c26e-11f1-bc2e-018d645d8d21.jpg”] BBC Louis, Otis and Ben all have differing opinions on whether teens should use protein powder Twelve-year-old Ben is desperate to try protein powder but there’s one hurdle: me, his mum. “I’ve asked about 20 times and you just keep saying no!”, he says, claiming it would make him “fitter and bigger” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2200165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2200165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2200165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2200165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2200165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}