 |
| Protein powders: Is their consumption harmful to our health |
Every time I walk into my local health food store or large grocery store, there is always a corner that is a mystery to me. There are protein powder supplements on the shelves in big plastic tubs. Similarly, many people in the changing room of the gym rave about it, saying that they just add a scoop of powder to milk or a smoothie, exercise, and build a beautiful body, meaning more muscles.
As of now, their popularity has gone beyond bodybuilders and professional athletes to the general public. It seems that this is the appropriate time when we need to evaluate the pros and cons of its use.
Some people use a protein shake or protein drink as a snack between meals or as a meal replacement if they don't have time to eat. Vegetarians sometimes use these supplements to increase the amount of protein their body needs.
And supermarkets have hundreds of new food products made with these protein powders, from cereal bars to ice cream and chocolate.
These protein powders are available in the market with different nutritional strengths and energy for different people. Such as high-protein nutritional powders for bodybuilders that contain protein derived from animal milk or eggs.
While ready-made protein powders are also available, usually derived from peas, potatoes, rice, and soybeans. Sometimes a few flavors are added to them to improve their taste.
Protein powders are a big industry these days but how many of us really need extra protein nutrition?
There is no doubt that protein is an essential part of the diet. We need it to build muscle and strength, to keep our bones strong, for our immune system, and to keep our brain, heart, and skin working the way we need them to.
Diets such as eggs, milk, yogurt, fish, lentils, meat, soy, nuts, and various grains are rich in protein, and the majority of adults in high-income countries get the daily amount of protein recommended by health authorities. Is.
According to research based on an analysis of 49 studies, the average amount of protein in people's diets was 75% higher than the amount recommended by US and Canadian health authorities.
But there are some scientists, such as Stuart Phillips of McMaster University in Canada, who argue that the recommended amount may not be enough for everyone.
The hardest part is knowing how much protein you might need as an adult. The answer depends on your age, health, and exercise routine. So sometimes the generally recommended amount may not apply to you.
For example, some older people find that they don't feel very hungry, which causes them to eat so little that they don't get enough protein from their diet. And if you're a professional athlete, you need more protein than the average adult.
As we know that dietary protein helps build and grow muscles, strengthen bones, and protect your immune system, is consuming too much of it beneficial? Can we all benefit from this? Or are there risks in getting extra protein?
Fortunately, some experiments can guide us in this matter.
Mostly they show that protein powders can really help with muscle growth, as many people claim. But the problem with this is that it only works if you do a lot of physical activity or strenuous exercise, like lifting weights at the gym. This extra protein won't do anything if the muscles aren't exercised.
In a 2014 experiment, researchers combined data from 14 people in which half were given a whey protein powder to consume, and half were given a plain powder.
After that, the researchers found that people who exercised hard when they ate protein powder changed their lean body mass, but if they drank the powdered drink without exercise, there was no significant change in their body shape.
One difficulty in comparing these studies is that some of the research was done with obese people, some with older people, and some with gym goers, making it difficult to generalize.
A more recent paper published in 2022 brought together the best research on the subject and focused on experiments with healthy people who were not overweight. In these experiments, protein powder also made a difference, showing benefits in people who were using it with intense exercise, had a lean body, or had low physical strength.
There was also some difference in the ability to perform bench press exercises in such individuals, but this did not affect handgrip or other exercises. So it is not a magic powder that instantly makes you energetic or powerful. For this, you have to work hard and exercise.
After reviewing all of these studies, the authors say the optimal amount of protein is still unclear, although it was interesting to note that people over the age of 65 had enough protein to build muscle energy and strength. There was no need to use powder.
M. of this review of the pioneers, Stuart Phillips, has spent two decades studying the effects of our diet on our muscles.
Speaking on the BBC's Food Program last year, he summed it up like this: Anyone who consumes extra protein and exercises two or three times a week gets the least benefit. , while people who exercise four or five times a week may see little benefit. So unless you are a very committed and regular exerciser or are a professional athlete, its use is unlikely to benefit you much.
For those who still want to use a purine supplement for little benefit, there is often talk about when it is best to take it. Before or after you hit the gym while your muscles are recovering. There is also a debate about what type of protein powder to take. Some recommend protein from milk and animal fat, while others recommend using protein powders from plant sources.
An analysis of a pool of 2018 studies concluded that neither the time of consumption nor the type of protein mattered.
Of course, if you want to use protein powders, you also need to make sure that they are not causing you any harm. Ingredients vary between different products. Along with protein, some powders contain added sugars, flavors, and vitamins. Too much sugar can lead to high blood sugar and, of course, weight gain.
There are even more stories online about healthy young men suffering heart attacks at the gym and wondering if it was all due to protein powder consumption.
With such individual cases, it is difficult to know which affected individuals may be suffering from underlying heart problems. So we need to turn to research again.
Unfortunately, there is very little research on this. In fact, you have to look at the rat studies to learn a lot, but even that is insufficient. But a study on mice was published in the journal Nature Metabolism in 2020 by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, USA. Researchers fed mice a high-fat diet to deliberately cause fatty deposits in their arteries.
But the other half of the mice were fed three times more protein than the other group. The high-fat, high-protein group didn't gain as much weight, but alarmingly, their arteries were 30 percent more clogged.
The problem is comparing high-fat-fed mice to young humans who consume high-protein drinks at the gym. So this type of research is just beginning. But it's true that we don't know what effects adding large amounts of protein powder to our diet daily might have on the heart or kidneys or any other part of the body.
A few researchers say that consuming protein powder may have benefits beyond muscle strength. Data from nine experiments showed that people who consumed protein powder lost more weight and had lower blood pressure and cholesterol. But the subjects in this study were obese or overweight. We don't know if it can have similar positive effects on healthy people.
In a small study with just 27 people, a researcher at the University of Reading, Agnes Facetti, found that if their blood pressure was slightly high, protein powder could lower it. Meanwhile, a new research paper combining the results of a 31-person experiment found that there was some reduction in inflammation in the body if people took animal-derived or soy protein powders.
This is interesting because inflammation levels are high in people whose muscles become particularly weak as they age, which raises the question of whether protein powders can try to prevent this. Is.
But apart from its effects on muscle growth, does its use have any health effects or benefits? We need more long-term experiments to find out.
Only time will tell, but ultimately we will discover whether protein powder is more beneficial for young people going to the gym or for older adults who are undernourished to meet their nutritional needs and muscle energy. Use it to keep.
Nutritionists often emphasize that ideally, we should get everything our body needs from our diet before using supplements. In fact, our daily diet is the best for us, and yet we still don't know why.