Food Study Fridays: #2 - Whey Protein Powder

Many people use whey powders as a way to supplement their diet. They believe that this supplement offers a good source of protein that is low-calorie and low in carbohydrates. But what is the cost of getting all three of these benefits in one convenient scoop-able, mixable product?

Let's take a look at two whey protein powder products to see what exactly they're made of.

Protein Powder #1:

Now take a look at this product's nutritional facts label (NFL):

As you can see, each serving of this product (one scoop) contains 120 calories. The percentage of carbohydrates--even the sodium (at 55g)--are fairly low. And...one serving of this product delivers 25g of protein (or about 50% of the daily recommended amount).

I admit, that's pretty impressive. But let's take a good look at the ingredients list:

A pretty long, complicated listing, isn't it? But under the "Medicinal Ingredients", the following ingredients are highly suspect:

• whey protein concentrate
• whey protein isolate
• hydrolyzed ultra filtered whey protein isolate

Hmmm. Apparently, only some of the whey protein isolate in this product is worthy of being "ultra filtered". I don't know what that's all about. But I do know that all three of these ingredients are excitotoxins. Meaning that they cause certain nerve cells in the brain to become excited to the point of premature death.

That's suspicious enough. But what about the whole section of the trademarked ingredient "Digestol"?

Isn't it weird that the company making this product adds protein digesting enzymes to their product? By their inclusion, the assumption can be made that this product isn't very digestible without the added digesting enzymes.

Finally, let's look at the "Non-Medicinal Ingredients". The suspicous ingredients on that list are:

• natural and artificial flavours
• acesulfame potassium
• sucralose
• soy lecithin

Natural and artificial flavours are excitotoxins. Acesulfame potassium and sucralose are both artificial sweeteners. And soy lecithin is a chemical emulsifier made from soy. (An emulsifier makes fats interact well with protein and starches.)

To be fair, soy lecithin is found in most processed foods, including nearly everyone's favorite, chocolate. (But that's a different story for a different day.) I just mention it here to emphasize that whey protein powders are no different. They are processed foods.

Okay, so as far as this particular whey protein powder is concerned, you do get a hearty dose of protein in every scoop-able serving. That's true. But the price to be paid is no fewer than four excitotoxins, two artificial sweeteners, and a whole bunch of added protein digesting enzymes! Yum!

Now let's look at a "natural" whey protein powder.

Protein Powder #2:

 

As you can see, this product claims to contain "100% New Zealand Protein" and "No Artificial Ingredients", not to mention a very prominent "Our NO List".

But let's not just take their word for it. Instead, let's check it out for ourselves, starting with the NFL:

 

Same calorie count per serving as the first protein powder we looked at (120 calories), and the same amount of carbohydrates per serving (3g). Also, the protein is about the same--this product has 24g of protein per serving where the first product had 25g per serving. But let's call that even.

In this product, though, there is a difference in the sodium content. This one has more than twice the sodium as the first protein powder (130mg compared to 55mg).

Next, let's look at the ingredients list:

 

I'm sure New Zealand is a wonderful place. In fact, my own father, who traveled there several times, said as much. But I wonder what exactly makes their whey protein any better than the whey protein from anywhere else.

I really wondered, so I did a little research. Apparently, New Zealand whey protein is derived from grass-fed cows, as opposed to other whey protein that's usually derived from grain-fed cows. So it starts out from a better quality product. That is: the dairy from grass-fed cows.

Okay, sounds good. But I still don't see how that would make much difference once you process higher quality whey into these ingredients:

• whey protein isolate
• whey protein concentrate
• whey protein peptides

You see, when these whey protein products are processed to "isolate" or "concentrate", they free the glutamate contained within the protein, creating free glutamic acid. Free glutamic acid is what makes all of these ingredients excitotoxins.

And let's see...what else here is suspect? Oh yes...

• natural flavours

Here's the thing about "natural flavours":

Have you ever seen a bottle in your grocery store's spice aisle labeled "natural flavor"? Can you buy it for yourself to use in your own home cooking? No, you can't. And if it were just the naturally occurring flavors that serendipitously happen when the food manufacturer mixes the other ingredients together, then they wouldn't have to list "natural flavours" as an actual ingredient in its own right.

"Natural flavours" as an ingredient is anything but natural. In other words, it's artificial. Which, in this case, is in direct opposition to the company's prominently displayed "Our NO List". For shame!

Just remember: As an ingredient in any processed foods, whey protein is an excitotoxin. So are "natural and artificial flavours". Excitotoxins can and will excite certain nerve cells in your brain to the point of premature death.

So unless you're eating raw,  unprocessed curds and whey (preferably from lovely New Zealand grass-fed cows)--kind of like Miss Muffet on her tuffet--I suggest giving up on whey as a viable protein source.

But that's just my suggestion.