I have done a little research on Whey Protein and from what I understand it aides in muscle growth and repair. Looks like there are lots of other bonus' as well. Only caution I found was not to overdo it as that can be bad for the liver and kidneys.
I find that it makes me burp or have a little indegestion. I am mixing the powder with skim milk.
Any feedback on your experiences with Whey Protein and what you know about it would be appreciated!
I'm not a nutritionist, but my sense is that it would take A LOT of whey protein to really over do it... I'm talking body builder trying to really really bulk up and taking lots of supplements that are all based on whey protein.... over do it.
Personally, I prefer Soy protein... because me sense is that it's more natural. What I mean by that is just that I believe from an evolutionary perspective that as adult humans we're more designed to consume plant matter then dairy. Dairy's great when you're a kid and it came from your mother... but it's hard on your adult body to digest. Plus, since I have a cheese addiction, I figure I will get my share of dairy from that source.
Finally, I'll add this other recommendation that another fitness minded friend of mine offered. He suggested that I make a point of mixing up my protein sources. Include some dairy, some soy/beans/legumes, some meat, some fish. The point being that all of these proteins have slightly different amino acid components and variety always helps your body get exactly what it needs.
Good luck!
I heard that soy based proteins are known to contribute to prostate cancer. Is this true?
Wow, Steve, I hadn't heard that. Interesting. Do you know where you heard that? I'd be very interested in reading more.
Lindsey~
As an experieced yogini, I would suggest you listen to YOUR body... Maybe your BODY is telling you something different than your MIND...I personally avoid things that cause eruptions (gas) in my body...
Great advice FDH... that's probably the best advice for many questions we might have.
My sister said she saw an article stating this and voiced her concern when my father and I switched over to soy milk a couple of years back.
Regarding the original post, it's not just whey protein that can potentially overwhelm the kidneys/liver. Too much of any type of protein over long periods of time can be hard on the body. Both soy and whey protein powders are excellent sources of protein. If you are lactose-intolerant, you can use isolated whey protein powder which has the lactose component removed. A really inexpensive source of protein is non-fat dry milk powder, which you can add to shakes, pudding, soup, etc.
Re: Soy causing prostate cancer. I hadn't heard this before... In fact, when my grandfather had prostate cancer, part of his treatment was to take estrogen and if I remember right, soy contain phyto-estrogens (plant source of estrogens, not as strong as synthetic estrogens). So the whole "soy causes prostate cancer" doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
Nutritionexpert: So as was stated above and in your post, too much of any type of protein can potentially harm the kidneys and liver. Please define too much protein. As Brad stated, this takes large amounts of protein over time? I would just like to add the whey protien mixed with milk 3 times a week and the soy protien 2/3 times a week into my current meal plan. I am looking for some extra protein to aid in my strength training routine and cardio routine. I was told it would help the muscles repair and help with toning. With my current meal plan I would say I get 3 or 4 servings of protien daily plus dairy.
BTW: Thanks for all your comments!!
The most current research suggests .55-.75 gms of protein per pound of body weight. You can go higher than that, but there really isn't any advantage to doing so. An athlete's diet should be composed of mainly complex carbs. Hope this helps you!
So let me do some math here...
Say I weigh 145lbs. So I want .55gms-.75gms of protein per pound of body weight... (I'm assuming that's a daily number), so that means 79.75gms - 108.75 gms of protein a day.
If I checking the official USDA Nutrient Database, I see...
1 Cup Nonfat milk = 8.35g of protein
1 oz Soy Protein Isolate = 22.8 g of protein
So if I made a protein shake from this I'd be getting about 31gms of protein, and so I shouldn't "need" more than 3 of these a day.
I've heard recommendations of more like 1g per lbs of body weight for people who are trying to gain muscle mass.. What is the point at which you're getting enough that you risk liver damage? I would assume it was much much more than 3 shakes a day...
Yes, you are correct in calculating approx. 109 gms protein/day, you mathematician- ha ha!! There probably isn't much harm in going to 1-1.5 gm/pound of body weight, but going beyond this amount hasn't been shown to be beneficial. Despite popular belief, excess protein does NOT build muscle, your body can only utilize so much protein for muscle repair etc. before it then starts to "save" it as an energy source.
In my professional opinion...I wouldn't ever go above 1.5gms protein/# body weight, you are risking dehydration,kidney stones, kidney disease and digestive issues. Strive for a diet that is: 60-70% carbs, 15-20% protein and 20% fat and save your money by eating real food, not protein shakes/powders/bars. Ok, enough said on my part..whew!
All protein is not interchangeable. The basic building blocks of all protein is amino acids. All the proteins in your body are constructed from these. Some amino acids can be made from others but thoseknown as "essential amino acids" your body can't make and must be in your diet.
It's impossible to know, let alone consume exactly the right profile plus a surplus aids in availability. For those reasons it's important for an athlete to consume modestly more protein. It also helps to stage the protein consumption to match demand because excess protein can not be stored. It is primarily eliminated by the kidneys since it makes a lousy energy source and is difficult to impossible for it to be converted into fat.
Whey protein has a good amino acid profile as a supplement and it's relatively cheap. Soy protein has the issue with estrogen and as a plant source is "incomplete". That last statement is controversial but some suggest it's deficient in the amino acids Methionine and Cysteine and difficult to digest because it contains trypsin inhibitors. Also at issue is B12 availability with soy supplementation.
Bodybuilders use to use baby food to cut up for a contest because it didn't have a high fiber content and was easy to digest. Then whey protein became popular because it too is easy to digest. Now recent research shows that the milk protein casein can slow the absorption of whey and that there is an ideal ratio of whey to casein that is most efficient to muscle gain.
On the other hand studies done on endurance cyclists have shown that endurance athletes have the highest need for protein due to muscle break down. These proteins are the ones that can be converted to glucose. Since the body can not simply take the branch chained amino acids out of a muscle without breaking the whole thing down muscle degradation in high endurance athletes can be high. Hence the recommendation that endurance athletes consume a greater amount of protein AND complex carbohydrates than the average bear. (Strength and power athletes don't require as much protein as they would like to think.)
Research also shows that timing of carbohydrates and protein consumption is important for efficient recovery and minimal catabolism.
Here's a good article about protein, shakes and how much you need... http://www.webmd.com/diet/protein-shakes
Take a look at rice protein - unlike whey and soy, it's a complete protein in and of itself. I like Nutribiotic's products for this one.
I'd like to see some commentary regarding rice protein from some of the nutrition experts. Thx.
Re: Rice protein: Rice does not contain all the essential amino acids and therefore, is not a complete protein. You must combine it with another complementary protein to make it complete.
Ooops! I meant to also add that if you looking into using a protein powder, soy, whey and egg are all complete proteins; however, rice is not.
Not all whey proteins are created equal. There is a huge range in quality between different brands. First you have to look at how the cows are raised and what they eat because if you are going to be ingesting 20-60 grams of whey a day you want to make sure you aren’t getting something full of hormones, pesticides or GMO from the cows milk.
Second, you need to look at how the whey protein is processed. You don’t want acid processing or high heat processing because it destroys the amino acid profile of the whey and is much harder for your body to assimilate and build muscle with. A lot of companies have to add fillers and sweeteners to make it taste better after all of the processing, but a high quality whey tastes great just by itself – nothing added – just one ingredient, the whey protein.
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