[imagesource: Planted]

If you stand within 50 metres of a gym front door, and cup your ears, there’s a decent chance you’ll hear a faint whisper of “protes and oats, boet” carried on the wind.

You gotta get those gains, after all, and that tank top isn’t going to fill itself.

The world is full of weird and wonderful advice on how to get jacked, or give your body the boost it needs to operate at peak performance, and social media is no different.

One trend that has risen dramatically in popularity, especially on TikTok, is “proffee”. Congrats if you guessed this involves combining coffee and a protein shake, with the most common concoction featuring protein powder and the morning brew.

But, and this is a big but, is it healthy? Huff Post spoke with a number of registered dieticians to get their takes:

Breaking down the drink’s core components, there are two beneficial ingredients: coffee, which is full of antioxidants, and a protein powder or shake, which provides energy and supports muscle repair.

Protein powders and shakes can run the gamut: Some are simple plant or dairy-based protein blends, while others are a carnival funhouse of flavors, add-ins such as powdered greens and nootropics, and coloring, which means that consumers need to get label savvy.

According to dietitian Amanda Frankeny, people should go for a protein powder that has been third-party tested for purity and quality.

It’s not just the protein powder that needs to tick the boxes, either, because the quality of the coffee plays an important role.

Below via Today:

For example, coffee (fair trade organic is even better) with no added sweeteners and a half scoop of a high quality protein powder can be a good option for upping your morning protein game…

If you want to add protein to your coffee, first make sure your coffee is healthy then add a high quality powder…

Do your homework, people.

Nail down a powder you can trust, and do the same for your coffee.

Many brands will say they’re ‘organic’ or ‘fair trade’, but find one that really walks the talk.

Terbodore Coffee Roasters, for example, has teamed up with producers in the beautiful Mt Elgon region of Uganda, to produce tropical, vibrant flavours, whilst also giving back to the community.

In the Mutambu Commune, in Burundi, buyers work with the surrounding community to restore coffee production after years of neglect due to war and insecurity, planting tens of thousands of new trees in the past four years.

The result is the SELECT Burundi Rugembe Hill, a medium-roast blend with notes of berries and caramel.

Terbodore has also made changes to ensure their packaging is 100% plant-based and recyclable, and their coffee pods are also 100% biodegradable, biobased, and guaranteed to degrade in 14 to 16 weeks, whereas the average pod can take up to 300 years to degrade.

That’s you sorted on the coffee front, so back to the protein. Studies show that more than half of Americans are consuming double their recommended daily protein intake, and that will also be true for many South Africans.

The dieticians consulted recommend that you first work out what your average intake is, and what it should be (tools like this are handy), before chucking some powder in your cuppa.

This is why I steer well clear of TikTok whenever possible.

[sources:huffpost&today]