Many people drink protein shakes (高蛋白饮品) regularly to lose weight, build muscle or both. Others, however, question the belief that protein shakes are better than normal, high-protein foods. So what is the truth?

What is in a protein shake?

Protein shakes are dietary supplements (膳食补充品) designed to help people consume more protein than they otherwise would. 【小题1】 Or people can mix their own shakes using protein powder and other ingredients. Protein powder can be made from plants or animals. Plant-based protein shakes can include soy, pea or rice protein. Animal-based protein powders are usually made from cow’s milk. Those who want to stay away from milk can also get protein powder made from egg whites.

Advantages of protein shakes

Studies indicate that consuming protein shakes is helpful if you want to build your muscle. They can also help to improve your performance while exercising and help you to recover from exercise. 【小题2】

Consuming protein shakes can also help you lose weight. Eating a high-protein diet helps you feel full, so it’s easier to resist eating too much. High-protein diets can also increase how quickly your body burns energy. When you use more energy than you take in through food, you lose weight. 【小题3】

Disadvantages of protein shakes

However, you don’t have to drink protein shakes to have a high-protein diet. Many wholefoods are rich in protein. As a matter of fact, the people in many high-protein diet studies didn’t drink protein shakes The studies proved the benefits of eating protein-rich foods. 【小题4】 In contrast, many protein shakes contain sugar or artificial sweeteners, which are not healthy.

To sum up

So yes, protein shakes are convenient, and they work. However, they are not your only choice for eating a high-protein diet.

Beijing Imperial Court Food(宫廷菜)

Imperial Court Food is a style of food with origins in the Imperial Palace and it is well-known for the original features of the raw materials and carefully selected ingredients. In addition, the dishes are decorated with different colored vegetables and fruits in various shapes. Each dish has a special name, such as Yu Feng Huan Chao. Today, Imperial Court Food has become an important school of Chinese cooking with several places offering this special taste. While expensive, it is worth trying.

Fangshan Restaurant is the most famous one offering the first-class Imperial Court Food. The restaurant is made up of three parts and it can hold 500 people eating at the time. It is decorated in imperial style with the design of dragon and phoenix. Here is the best place to experience the life of the Chinese emperors in former days, Now, it serves nearly 800 kinds of Imperial Court Dishes. Among them, Man-Han Banquet is the most famous.

The layout(布局)of the restaurant follows the imperial palace. When eating in there restaurant, diners are served by waitresses in traditional imperial clothes.

The dishes and snacks cooked in this restaurant are worthy to be tried. And, the traditional performances at night is one of the restaurant's attractions.

Both of the food and services of this restaurant are so good. You can also enjoy some wonderful performances in this large courtyard.

Jianbing guozi（煎饼果子）has long been one of the most popular street snacks in China – many people enjoy eating it for breakfast with a cup of warm soy milk. But according to a new set of standards, we may not have been eating “real” jianbing guozi at all.

On May 26, the Tianjin Catering Industry Association introduced a set of standards that say how jianbing guozi should be made. Tianjin is believed to be the birthplace of the snack.

The new standards say that the snack should be made with mung bean flour, eggs and scallions (葱). And it should be between 38 and 45 centimeters in diameter. They also state that its packaging should show the snack’s expiry date (有效期) and the name, address and phone number of its maker.

Jianbing guozi is a traditional food that’s sold all over China, and it’s even started to become popular in other countries. However, the way the snack is prepared in different regions varies. While traditional jianbing guozi often consists of a pancake and eggs, sea cucumber, hotdog sausage or even squid (鱿鱼) are sometimes added in some places.

“Different street sellers all have various ways to cook jianbing guozi, but they don’t care about how to develop it better for the future. They just focus on making money,” Song Guanming, chairman of the Tianjin Catering Industry Association’s jianbing guozi branch, told The Telegraph. Song believes that the new standards will preserve the traditional flavor of the snack.

However, the introduction of the standards has raised heated debate among Chinese internet users. Some believe that part of the fun of eating jianbing guozi is that its flavor varies by seller, but the rules will destroy its variety, according to The New York Times.

In response, Song explained that the standards would not be strictly carried out. “It’s not our aim to make it standard like KFC fast food,” Song told China Daily. “We just aim to better regulate the cooking process, techniques and safety of this time-honored Tianjin snack in its hometown.”