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Sunday, August 9, 2009

Pros and Cons of Whey Protein

By Phil Ruth

Supplement manufacturers have done a wonderful job of confusing the fitness wanting public. For the last few years the bodybuilding community has gobbled up whey protein.

Studies proved that fast stomach emptying by many of the amino acids consumed via whey protein are burned up with enzymes. Casein manufacturers decided to increase the number of protein grams in a serving because excess protein would have to be consumed, and more protein was sold.

Soy found its popularity primarily among vegetarians. The Soy industry watched as whey protein sales skyrocketed, thus, in order to grab their own position, they capitalized within a "health" marketplace, primarily targeting women. Some of the referenced studies are valid, but are not representative of "the whole picture."

One study looked at two groups of healthy middle aged men that were given isocaloric meals with one group eating soy protein, while the other consumed animal protein. They wanted to find out if there is a decreased propensity of gallstones when animal products are replaced by soy proteins. Very often gallstone accumulation is linked to cholesterol crystallization, so they then examined the participants cholesterol levels.

The study showed that cholesterol crystallization was slightly retarded in the soy group extrapolating that soy can help in preventing gallstones. Here's what the study did not seem to address. There wasn't any control over fruit and vegetable intake. Soy is a vegetable, and it does happen to fall into the group of veggies that are high in isoflavones.

Isoflavones are very closely tied to many health benefits including a lowering of cholesterol levels. On the other hand, we've known for some time that the consumption of meat is linked with an elevation of the cholesterol level. This does not mean that people who eat soy will have better cholesterol than people who eat chicken, turkey, egg, fish, and other vegetables. This clearly shows that conclusions drawn from studies are very often taken out of their proper context and overemphasized.

Many studies show the cancer resistive benefits of a nutrition plan heavy in vegetables, we do not take this to mean that people who consume soy instead of milk, egg, and animal protein will be in better health, if an exercise is part of the plan conclusions in non-exercising people will always be invalidated.

Much of the information promoted specific to soy is published by companies with a vested interest in Soy product sales, like The USB (United Soybean Board). This doesn't mean that soy isn't an excellent source of protein, rather it shows that the health benefits have been taken out of context to sell Soy products.

Metabolically, recent data suggest that you should consume a mixture of casein and whey protein for optimal results. Unless you are a vegetarian, you'll see the best results from consuming a wide variety of foods as part of your nutrition program. - 17268

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