casein page

[bigdoc1059]

in the last post from Denise Minger she made a disparaging comment regarding casein. What is the problem with casein? I tend to favor it for a pre-bedtime and sometimes a first in morning shake(mixed with whey in mornings). I am a newbie to a lot of this and find some of it confusing. Any research based comments would be appreciated.

[yodiewan]

Welcome to the forum.

Casein has been linked to cancer in some studies. I thought I read somewhere that it was not a proven causitive link though.

Anyway, I wouldn't mix whey and casein in the same drink. I think the casein slows absorption of everything, so there's not really a benefit to using it in conjunction with whey since the main benefit of whey is its speed of absorption.

Off-topic:
Also, you probably don't necessarily need a protein shake in the morning and night to build muscle. Believe it or not, there are many of us here that would be considered recreational bodybuilders (or at least people trying to improve body composition) who skip breakfast (in the traditional sense; a morning meal) or otherwise have a condensed eating window every day. Most of us follow a Leangains type protocol (Intermittent fasting diet for fat loss, muscle gain and health). Disclaimer: Some consider Leangains type fasting to only be for people who are metabolically healthy, not severly overweight, and just looking to tune-up.

[Ferti]

Casein is the protein in milk, some people have a problem with it, some don't.

[yodiewan]

I did some reading on the Wikipedia page for casein so now I am an expert. Haha.

Apparently Colin Campbell found it to be cancer promoting (but Denise Minger tore him up on almost all points so I'm not sure what her stance is on that).

Also, casein has a molecular structure similar to gluten. Then again, there are many compounds that have similar molecular structures but very different properties, so I'm not sure that that is too important.

Casein is found in human breast milk, so I have a hard time believeing it's too terrible for human health. Although there are different types. And breast milk is for babies. Anyway.

Casein - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Lewis]

I did some reading on the Wikipedia page for casein so now I am an expert. Haha.

Apparently Colin Campbell found it to be cancer promoting (but Denise Minger tore him up on almost all points so I'm not sure what her stance is on that).

Also, casein has a molecular structure similar to gluten. Then again, there are many compounds that have similar molecular structures but very different properties, so I'm not sure that that is too important.

Casein is found in human breast milk, so I have a hard time believeing it's too terrible for human health.

It might be if you isolated it and fed it in large amounts to people. This is what Campbell did to the rats (after exposing them to the aflatoxin)

He then said all animal protein was dangerous, which is an extrapolation (and which also ignores the fact that plant protein in excessive quantities will do the same thing so long as you feed a mixture of different plant proteins that supply all the necessary amino-acids). In truth we generally don't—and at any rate shouldn't—eat components of foods in large amounts. Wholefoods are far safer.

[yodiewan]

Thanks for the clarification, Lewis.