The Whey to Health
One potentially healthy alternative which increasing numbers of health conscious individuals are turning to is the use of powdered whey meal substitutes. The emphasis, however, is on the word ‘potentially.’ It may be helpful to consider ways of evaluating various products and, where possible, seek products made to a higher quality specification. To deal with the obvious point first: it cannot be stressed enough that products such as these are meal replacements, not whole diet replacements. They should replace one or at the most two meals a day, not all meals each day; otherwise such overuse will cumulatively lead to dietary imbalances and bring unintended health issues.
Whey protein is a byproduct of cheese production which, in bygone days, used to be discarded. Arising from the processing of cow’s milk, it is a healthy protein with many nutritional benefits for human consumption. Not only does it contain all the essential amino acids necessary for tissue repair, maintenance of a healthy immune system and the biochemical release of energy, it also supports helpful gut bacteria and has antioxidant properties which protect the body from harmful metabolic waste products such as free radicals. However, the precise methods of processing involved in the manufacture of powdered whey meal replacement products have attracted some attention in recent years.
Concerns about Whey Powders
The principal concerns center on the additives given to cows in conventional, non-organic farming methods which are designed to improve milk yield and protect the health of the animals. For example, steroid based sex hormones such as testosterone are commonly administered to the animals, as are growth hormones or growth factors such as insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and antibiotics. Let us take a look at the most prominent concerns.
Sex Hormones
For those who are averse to all additives in food products, the safest way of avoiding them is to carefully select whey made from cows which are hormone and anti-biotic free (i.e., organically reared cows, often found in New Zealand). However, these apparent risks also need to be properly evaluated. To begin with steroid based sex hormones, these compounds are highly soluble in fat (they are referred to as lipophilic or ‘fat-loving’ hormones) and will therefore be found in the fat-component of whey. But good quality whey powders are almost entirely fat-free, so the quantity of sex hormone that may be present is infinitesimally tiny. The steroidal sex hormone content of high quality whey products, in other words, may perhaps have been overplayed by the media.
Growth Hormones
Unlike testosterone, growth hormones such as bovine somatotropin (BST) are not fat soluble; they are protein-based compounds and will therefore be included in the protein portion of whey. While some may balk at the idea of ingesting same, they are minor variants of the human growth hormones produced by the pituitary gland. But the critical point is that, even though these hormones are provided to the cows, careful measurement of the chemical constituents of milk from hormone-injected cows and milk from hormone-free cows shows that there is no difference in the amount of growth hormone or growth factor present in either. In other words, the additional growth hormone administered during conventional farming methods simply does not find its way into the milk. The normal level of growth compound found in cows’ milk ranges from zero to 10 parts per billion, with the average being only three parts per billion. This means that a liter of milk will contain just one millionth of a gram of growth compound. The verdict – again, nothing to be concerned about.
Our Review: Nutribody Protein
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