Top 10 Homemade Protein Shakes

Top 10 Homemade Protein Shakes

Basics of Homemade Protein Shakes

Protein shakes are the most popular supplement for those wanting to lose fat and gain muscle. In today’s lifestyle it is difficult for most people who simply don’t have the time to constantly buy and prepare different types of meat or other protein dishes which is where the homemade protein shakes come in handy.

The protein shakes come as a powder which you can then mix with either milk or water, though they generally taste far nicer when mixed with milk. It’s also advised that you purchase a good blender in order to prevent the powder from ‘clumping’, so floating around the milk as lumps rather than mixing.

The homemade protein shakes don’t have to be just simple protein powder mixed in with milk. You can add various fruits, vegetables and other interesting ingredients to give yourself the variety.

These 10 recipes are the tastiest and give you just enough variety to rotate them from day to day and meal to meal. There are more choices for Whey Protein Shake Recipes in my other hub.

Best Homemade Protein Shakes to Suit Every Meal

For great tasting homemade protein shakes use a good quality whey protein powder.

1. Meal Replacement Oatmeal Shake – For Breakfast

• 1 cup dry measure oatmeal, cooked in water and cooled
• 2 scoops vanilla protein powder
• 3 dashes cinnamon
• 1/8 c sugar free maple syrup or brown sugar to taste
• 1 tbsp chopped almonds
• 12 oz. water or low-fat milk
• Add all Ingredients to blender and blend it and pour into cup.

2. Low-Carb Pina Colada Protein Shake – For Dessert

• 2 scoops vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 tsp sugar-free pineapple-orange drink mix
• 1/4 tsp rum extract
• 1/4 tsp coconut extract (or 2 tbsp shredded coconut)
• 1 packet artificial sweetener
• 8 oz. water (or low-fat milk)
• 3-6 ice cubes
• Add all Ingredients to blender, whip, and serve.

3. Low Fat Peaches and Cream – Refreshing Lunch

• 8 oz. pure water
• 1 ripe peach
• 2 tbs. low fat sour cream
• 8 drops liquid artificial sweetener
• 1.5 oz protein powder

4. Quick Protein Starter – For Muscle Mass

• 3 Fresh juiced oranges
• 6 drops liquid artificial sweetener
• 1 oz. protein powder

5. High Energy Combo – Morning Time

• 10 oz pure water
• 10 strawberries (Fresh or Frozen)
• 1 tbs. flax seed oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 heaping scoop (1 oz) of protein powder
• Artificial sweetener to taste (optional)
• 2-3 ice cubes

6. Weight Booster – Any Meal

• 14 oz. pure water
• 2 bananas or 2 scoops YAM Power
• 3 tbs. peanut butter
• 6 drops liquid artificial sweetener
• 2 oz. protein powder

7. Super Mineral - Morning Fresh

• 10 oz. pure water
• 1 oz. liquid ionic plant source minerals
• 1 packet knox gelatine
• 1 tbs. flax seed oil
• 1 heaping scoop (1 oz) of protein powder
• Artificial sweetener or to taste (optional)

8. Super Slimmer Trimmer – Lunch Treat

• 8 oz. pure water
• 1 tbs. flax seed oil
• 1/2 ripe peach (peeled)
• 6 frozen strawberries
• 1 heaping scoop (1 oz) of protein powder
• Artificial sweetener to taste (optional)

9. High Protein Fruity Shake – After Workout

• 1 banana (cut in pieces and frozen)
• 4-6 whole hulled strawberries frozen
• 1/2 cup low fat yogurt
• 1 cup orange or pineapple juice
• 2 scoops vanilla protein powder

10. Mango Bliss – Sunny Break

• 2-3 scoops vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 to 1 cup mango pieces frozen or fresh
• 1 cup Brown Cow Vanilla cream top yogurt
• 1 Tbsp Flax seed oil
• 6-8 oz water

7 Tips for Homemade Protein Shakes

• Have a good quality protein powder handy
• For thicker texture use full cream milk
• Frozen berries and fruits give a thicker texture
• Frozen fruit based protein shakes should be consumed within minutes of blending
• Vanilla flavored protein powder goes well with almost every protein shake
• Plant based protein powders are lighter on your stomach
• Avoid carbs for night time protein shakes

Whatever your choice of Homemade Protein Shakes, moderation is the key.

Top 12 Home Remedies for Colds

Top 12 Home Remedies for Colds

Are cold symptoms making you feel miserable? Here are Top 12 cold remedies you can use right now while sitting at home to feel better.

Cold Remedy #1: Drink plenty of fluids to help break up your congestion. Drinking water or juice will prevent dehydration and keep your throat moist. You should drink at least 8 to 10 eight-ounce glasses of water daily. Include fluids such as water, sports drinks, herbal teas, fruit drinks, or ginger ale. Your mother's chicken soup might help too! (Limit cola, coffee, and other drinks with caffeine because it acts like a diuretic and may dehydrate you.)

Cold Remedy #2: Inhale steam to ease your congestion and drippy nose. Hold your head over a pot of boiling water and breathe through your nose. Be careful. If the steam burns your nose, breathe in more slowly. You can buy a humidifier, but the steam will be the same as the water on the stove. Moisture from a hot shower with the door closed, saline nasal spray, or a room humidifier is just as helpful to ease congestion.

Cold Remedy #3: Blow your nose often, but do it the proper way. It's important to blow your nose regularly when you have a cold rather than sniffling mucus back into your head. But when you blow hard, pressure can carry germ-carrying phlegm back into your ear passages, causing earache. The best way to blow your nose is to press a finger over one nostril while you blow gently to clear the other.

Cold Remedy #4: Use saline nasal sprays or make your own salt water rinse to irrigate your nose. Salt-water rinsing helps break nasal congestion while also removing virus particles and bacteria from your nose. Here's a popular recipe:

Mix 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda in 8 ounces of warm water. Fill a bulb syringe with this mixture (or use a Neti pot, available at most health foods stores). Lean your head over a basin, and using the bulb syringe, gently squirt the salt water into your nose. Hold one nostril closed by applying light finger pressure while squirting the salt mixture into the other nostril. Let it drain. Repeat two to three times, and then treat the other nostril.

To avoid exposing yourself to other bacteria and infections, it's important to watch what you put in your nose. According to the CDC, if you are irrigating, flushing, or rinsing your sinuses, use distilled, sterile, or previously boiled water to make up the irrigation solution. It’s also important to rinse the irrigation device after each use and leave open to air dry.

Cold Remedy #5: Stay warm and rested. Staying warm and resting when you first come down with a cold or the flu helps your body direct its energy toward the immune battle. This battle taxes the body. So give it a little help by lying down under a blanket to stay warm if necessary.

Cold Remedy #6: Gargle with warm salt water. Gargling can moisten a sore or scratchy throat and bring temporary relief. Try a half teaspoon of salt dissolved in 8 ounces of warm water four times daily. To reduce the tickle in your throat, try an astringent gargle -- such as tea that contains tannin -- to tighten the membranes. Or use a thick, viscous gargle made with honey, popular in folk medicine. Steep one tablespoon of raspberry leaves or lemon juice in two cups of hot water; mix with one teaspoon of honey. Let the mixture cool to room temperature before gargling.

Cold Remedy #7: Drink hot liquids. Hot liquids relieve nasal congestion, prevent dehydration, and soothe the uncomfortably inflamed membranes that line your nose and throat. If you're so congested you can't sleep at night, try a hot toddy, an age-old remedy. Make a cup of hot herbal tea. Add one teaspoon of honey and one small shot (about 1 ounce) of whiskey or bourbon if you wish. Limit yourself to one. Too much alcohol inflames those membranes and is counterproductive.

Cold Remedy #8: Take a steamy shower. Steamy showers moisturize your nasal passages and relax you. If you're dizzy from the flu, run a steamy shower while you sit on a chair nearby and take a sponge bath.

Cold Remedy #9: Try a small dab of mentholated salve under your nose to help open breathing passages and help restore the irritated skin at the base of the nose. Menthol, eucalyptus, and camphor all have mild numbing ingredients that may help relieve the pain of a nose rubbed raw.

Cold Remedy #10: Apply hot packs around your congested sinuses. You can buy reusable hot packs at a drugstore. Or make your own. Take a damp washcloth and heat it for 30 seconds in a microwave. (Test the temperature first to make sure it's right for you.)

Cold Remedy #11: Sleep with an extra pillow under your head. This will help relieve congested nasal passages. If the angle is too awkward, try placing the pillows between the mattress and the box springs to create a more gradual slope.

Cold Remedy #12: Learn about natural remedies like zinc, echinacea, and vitamin C. People looking for natural cold remedies often turn to supplements. Many of these remedies have not been shown to help and some hurt.

Zinc: While early studies showed that zinc could help fight off a cold more quickly, the latest consensus seems to be that zinc has a minimal benefit at best. According to the Food and Drug Administration, zinc nasal spray can cause permanent loss of smell.

Echinacea: While echinacea was once a very popular cold remedy, the latest science indicates that it does not appear to prevent colds and is not an effective treatment. Researchers are continuing to study echinacea’s effects on respiratory infections to determine if there is some benefit. People with asthma may make their asthma worse with medications like Echinacea.

Vitamin C: What about vitamin C? In a recent review of prior studies, researchers found limited evidence that vitamin C prevented or treated colds.