I'm new to prepping and I've been doing a ton of research and trying to take it all in. Whey protein is a big part of my diet. Working out is a big part of my life and I consume 200g of protein a day. I was thinking that protein powder would be a perfect food to include in food prepping but I haven't seen it talked about much. In a survival situation it would provide lots of protein and allow someone to keep their muscle mass up. It's very efficient and takes up little room compared to meat. I figure in the right conditions it can have a very long shelf life. Anybody here have protein powder as part of their food storage?

I do.  I also have a few frozen quarts of raw egg whites in the freezer.

I agree that bulk protein powder would be great to stock. Buy a few of those 10lb bags of ON 100% whey
 

TheNuge, welcome to the world of prepping.

A good friend of mine bought a bunch of sweet dairy whey when his son worked at a local dairy. They use it in their ice cream mix so you have to remember it has a  sweet flavor to it. Goes great in coffee if you like adding a creamer. I've tried it in quite a few meals and in baking.

As far as whey protein powder goes I stock the 2 lb jugs from either wally world or costco. I normally throw a scoop in a fruit smoothie and inhale with great prejudice after a workout. Yes I said a fruit smoothie. I love my freshly blended fruit smoothies......(with skim milk and greek yogurt of course).

This is just a little too much for me price wise.

Sweet dairy whey (not what I have, just an example)

In a survival situation or disaster event it can provide you with or boost your protein levels in your meals. I have had mine stored in mylar bags inside food grade buckets going on about 4 years now. I have about 3-4 pounds left in a bucket with no mylar that I have been consuming out of for a year or so and it still taste great.

When I got them from my friend he had just emptied the bags into the buckets and called it good,  I transferred them to mylar when I got them. He still has his in just buckets and so far they are holding up just fine (stored in a climate controlled room etc).

BT

i stored it for a bit. most will last a few years as is with out re packing.
 

One thing to keep in mind is that you will still need the right enzymes to be able to use the protein.   Make sure that whatever you stock has enzymes in it, or add enzymes to your stock.

Enzymes?

Sorry if that was confusing.  Here

You can buy digestive enzyme supplements to help with absorption.   Actually, based on what you said about working out and eating 200g of protein a day, you might want to take them daily now.  A lot of body builders/fitness people recommend it.

Ok yea that's what I though you were talking about but I wasn't sure. I've experimented taking enzymes before. Not really sure how I feel about them. There are a lot of mixed feelings about them. Some people say that they are awesome and should be taken every meal and others say they are bad for you because it doesn't make your body produce enzymes to digest the food on its own. I usually take one with a big meal or something that's hard to digest. NOW makes an enzyme blend called Dairy Digest and it's awesome when drinking milk or eating ice cream or something.

It's good to know the bulk protein powders have some shelf life.  I bought some six months ago and haven't even started using it.

There's a lot more to it. That stuff is usually based on if you consume something completely fasted without anything eating anything else with it. That's why the glycemic index is considered worthless for its intended purpose with carbs. I've read articles that think you can actually absorb 100+g of protein at one time because your body actually takes 8 hours to digest the food.

http://www.wannabebig.com/diet-and-nutrition/is-there-a-limit-to-how-much-protein-the-body-can-use-in-a-single-meal/

Cool.  My first impulse would not to use too much at once anyway.  The article conclusion seems to support (while not having evidence for) spreading intake out over time.

 

Absolutely stock it.

Delicious, mixable, easy to store, long shelf life, and cheap when you compare the cost per gram of protein to other protein sources.

Drifting  a bit here, but a quality whey mix, chicken breast (2.29/lb at costco) lowfat greek yogurt, and egg whites cost pretty close to the same for the amount of lean protein they contain. Whole eggs and beans are cheaper sources. Those choices obviously carry some other calories that we might not want now, but would be useful in a scarce food situation.  Lack of appetite is rarely a problem for me. I find it more enjoyable to eat my protein than drink it.  Having said that, I use protein powder frequently. I sometimes use it as a milk substitute in cereal. I'll also mix it and add it to coffee.

A decent food storage friendly breakfast by mixing a cup of rolled oats, 1c water, and 1-1.5 scoops of flavored protein powder together. Stir or shake until well mixed. Let sit in a cooler overnight and eat it cold in the morning. You could also add or substitute some powdered milk, dried or FD fruit, nuts, etc. .

I could also envision this stuff being useful while on the move, when rations or FD food  is being consumed.  

My daily protein goal is 200 g, but would feel comfortable cutting that in half if the need arises to conserve  and sufficient caloric intake is possible.

Although the enzyme argument is intriguing, my most frequent use is to supplement a meal that looks a little light on protein, so I usually have something in my stomach to slow digestion.  

Just an idea, but in a survival situation, conserving muscle mass is a liability, as it uses more cals per day.  I did the bodybuilding thing for more than 15 years, and it was probably the best thing that I did for myself.  I switched to a functional mindset, like crossfit a few years ago.  In a few adventure races, I discovered that carrying all that muscle can be a liability.  I had to eat more than the skinny bastards to keep going (but I looked better).  Anyway, you will be expensive to maintain with all that muscle in a survival situation.  Still, keeping whey around is probably a good idea, since it stores well, and if you can't get animal proteins, or foodstuffs run thin, you can add the whey to what you have to round out the diet with complete proteins.  Beans/rice are a poor protein source.