Protein Drinks & Heavy Metals page

[Dave]

There's a good article in the July, 2010 edition of Consumer Reports wherein they tested 15 different popular protein drinks and discovered different levels of arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury - some in excess of the minimum limits listed in the U.S. Pharmacopeia. I can't link to the site because it's by subscription but it's worth picking up a copy if you use any of these products. The brands reviewed are BSN Core Series, EAS Myoplex, a couple of GNC products, Jillian Michaels Natural, several Muscle Milk products, Muscle Tech Nitro-tech, Optimum Nutrition Gold and Platinum, Six Star, and Solgar.

In summary:

"Meeting your daily protein requirements through a balanced diet rather than supplements is best for both your health and your wallet."

"You can roughly calculate how many grams of protein you need daily by multiplying your body weight by 0.4. For athletes, a general rule of thumb is about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day."

"A sandwich with 3 ounces of chicken and an 8-ounce glass of whole milk provides about 40 grams of protein, which is more than half the 72 grams required by the average 180-pound person and most of the 48 grams required by someone weighing 120 pounds. According to federal health survey data, Americans get an average of 82 grams of protein per day from their diet."

"You can find the protein content for a wide range of foods at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcom...t/sr18a203.pdf. Because foods can also be a source of exposure to cadmium or other heavy metals, you can find out the levels in many different types of foods by viewing the Food and Drug Administration's list at http://www.fda.gov/downloads/food....../ucm184301.pdf. "

[Cosima]

Ah, man. I just did a forum search for "Myoplex" because I was hoping to find something like, "No, it's fine, you can totally still drink that $30 worth of shakes you just bought."

Alas, this is not that.

Very good info nonetheless, thank you for the heads up!

[slowcooker]

Here is a pretty good rebuttal to the consumer report.
http://nicktumminello.com/2010/07/po...on-speaks-out/

[TheGrappler]

Here is a pretty good rebuttal to the consumer report.
http://nicktumminello.com/2010/07/po...on-speaks-out/

Thanks for this! makes perfect sense.

Lol, they used the minimum intake for a 110 lb person.

[DarthFriendly]

Heavy Metal is awesome.

SLAAAAAAAAAAAYER!!! \m/

[TheGrappler]

lol

[Darrin]

Yeah... the fewer the supplements the better. The more we try to shift from "food" to "food products" the more we go down a road that has been shown to be detrimental to human health. (Yeah, mixed metaphor, I know.) But the occasional whey protein drink is probably not gonna kill you, either.