Warm protein shake???

First of all - I wasn't sure whether I should put this in the foods forum instead, but I figured more people in fitness know about protein shakes...

I have discovered that  having hot chocolate protein shake (warm milk + chocolate protein powder) in place of an actual hot chocolate really satisfies my chocolate cravings. Mmmmm....

Anyhow, hopefully this isn't a stupid question, but does having protein powder once its been heated affect the powder or absorption of it in your body? As in, will I get as much nutrition out of the protein when its hot then when its cold?

Well, your body temperature is is usually 98-99 degrees, so whatever you consume is already getting heated up a bunch once it's in your system, I don't see how heating it up right before it goes in would make any difference.

All you need out of the protein powder is the amino acids it's made up of.  Heating it up won't change those, so you should be fine. 

Warm is ok, hot is not.  I believe anything over 160 will "kill" the protein (I think the term is "denature") and you won't be getting the nutrition from it. 

 Protein also gets "denatured" when it's exposed to hydrochloric acid like in your stomach, and technically protein gets 'denatured' when it's cooked in any way - the protein in fried egg, steamed chicken or grilled salmon is also denatured.

 For some populations that have a medical need for certain amino acids in an easily digestible form protein getting denatured is a concern, but you'd know it if you were in one of those groups who lacked a few digestive enzymes and were suffering from malnutrition and protein starvation as a consequence.

   For people without really serious medical issues though, it doesn't matter - it might change the speed of absorption some, but I've come to think that speed of absorbtion for protein powders is mostly a red herring anyway.

 So go ahead and enjoy your protein the way you want it ;)

Sweet! Thanks for the responses guys! I will definitely be enjoying my warm shakes more now. :)