Whey protein and cholesterol

Triathlon Forum
1

Hi all. I’ve been trying to increase/maintain muscle mass for some time and began taking Bob’s Red Mill whey protein about a year ago. I’m satisfied with the results so far, but last Friday, by brother suffered a heart attack. He feels much better after an angiogram and balloon angioplasty. I wish it didn’t happen, but kinda glad it did, as it was quite a wake up call since heart disease runs in my family. Since then, I’ve been freaking out about the cholesterol in the food I eat, and realized that the whey has about 10% per serving, and I consume about 3-4 servings daily.

Can anyone recommend a non-flavored whey protein that has zero cholesterol? I read of one person who began taking whey whose blood cholesterol went way up, others say that the cholesterol in whey protein can actually lower LDL (bad) cholesterol. What’s the real deal? I’m due for a yearly physical in a few weeks, so a blood cholesterol check will give me an indication of how/if the stuff is having any adverse effects on my health. Any info is appreciated. Thanks.

2

I use **this **unflavored protein powder to add a little protein kick to applesauce, soup, etc.
Zero cholesterol and doesn’t taste too bad. For any food that you are heating up (oatmeal, soup), make sure you add the protein powder AFTER it is warmed up.

3

I don’t have any links to studies, but I’d highly recommend checking out some of the latest research. Studies are showing that a high GI diet, and not dietary cholesterol, is worse for raising blood cholesterol levels. Now that said, I’m not advocating a diet of whole milk, red meat & fried foods, but some of the traditional advice has been updated.

I followed a traditional ‘low fat/low cholesterol’ diet for over ten years, and it did little to lower my high cholesterol. Recently went to a new doctor, who had me switch to a low-GI, wheat free diet, and my cholesterol dropped 97 points in 9 weeks. Exercise level & weight were pretty consistent throughout. I’m a total believer now.

I continued to eat whey protein (about 1 serving per day) during that entire 9 weeks and consider it perfectly healthy.

4

You could switch to egg-white protein.

5

The underlined portions are from my blog (and on my app entitled Daily Holistic Health Tips):

The body makes 2500mg of cholesterol each day. That’s the equivalent of approximately 12 eggs. If cholesterol is so bad for us, why do our bodies produce it? Not enough people ask themselves common sense questions like that one. But one of my clients who works for the CDC certainly does. From an e-mail she sent me this morning on the subject of cholesterol and saturated fat:
“I thought I would pass along these nutrition abstracts to you (see links below). Well done studies by a research group that I’m familiar with. The first one is a meta-analysis looking at the available literature on saturated fat and CV disease and concludes that there is NOT a good relationship between these two things. The second study looks at cholesterol and CV disease and concludes that it’s actually refined carbohydrates that is the problem. While both abstracts are not new news to us, it is VERY encouraging to see very good evidence in a peer-reviewed journal that is influential in the medical field.

Yes, your body makes cholesterol–so here are some questions to ponder

Why does your liver make sure that you have plenty of cholesterol? Why is HDL taking cholesterol back to your liver? Why not take it right to your kidneys, or your intestines to get rid of it?
It is taking it back to your liver so that your liver can recycle it; put it back into other particles to be taken to tissues and cells that need it. Your body is trying to make and conserve the cholesterol for the precise reason that it is so important, indeed vital, for health.

But what about all the “evidence” that cholesterol is bad for us???

In 1954, David Kritchevsky published a paper detailing the findings of an experiment he did which involved putting rabbits on high-cholesterol and high-saturated fat diets. The rabbits in the study developed plaques in their arteries, eventually resulting in heart disease and adding more “evidence” to the so-called lipid hypothesis. But no one ever brought up the fact that rabbits really aren’t big meat eaters. Most of the ones I’ve ever seen are strict vegetarians. Like putting Diesel in an unleaded engine, I have to believe that feeding rabbits food better suited for carnivores is just plain Looney Tunes!

Good. And I was starting to wonder why lions aren’t keeling over from heart disease…also

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a 30 year follow-up on the Framingham Massachusetts heart revealed a finding which might surprise most people. It concludes that after the age of 50 high cholesterol is correlated with longevity. More interesting, perhaps, is that falling cholesterol is correlated with mortality. Since cholesterol is a key component of every cell in the body; since it acts as an antioxidant; and since cholesterol is the substrate of steroid hormones that naturally decline with age, people may want to question their doctors’ reasoning for prescribing them statin drugs.

but nobody thinks about the fact that we have been eating egss with yolks, chickens with skin, milk with fat, etc. for at least 2.8 million years. How’d we survive that long on such an unhealthy diet? Again from my blog:

Breast milk is 55% cholesterol. How long will it be before the drug companies try to convince mothers to put their newly born infants on statins?

Cholesterol is not the bad guy. It’s the ultimate anti-oxidant, repairing damage done from the stress of exercise to the stress of eating crappy food to the stress of just plain living. Cholesterol gets blamed cause it’s at the “scene of the crime” even though all it’s doing is putting out the fire. That’s why the commercials for statins always say to consult your doctor if you have muscle pain or weakness. You’re not recovering! What’s the heart? A muscle! Hmmm…If the cholesterol levels are high, you have to ask why they are high. Keeping them artificially low is missing the point and asking for trouble. Blaming cholesterol and fear of cholesterol is like blaming fire fighters for a burning building because they’re always around when something’s on fire.

6

I don’t have any links to studies, but I’d highly recommend checking out some of the latest research. Studies are showing that a high GI diet, and not dietary cholesterol, is worse for raising blood cholesterol levels. Now that said, I’m not advocating a diet of whole milk, red meat & fried foods, but some of the traditional advice has been updated.

I followed a traditional ‘low fat/low cholesterol’ diet for over ten years, and it did little to lower my high cholesterol. Recently went to a new doctor, who had me switch to a low-GI, wheat free diet, and my cholesterol dropped 97 points in 9 weeks. Exercise level & weight were pretty consistent throughout. I’m a total believer now.

I continued to eat whey protein (about 1 serving per day) during that entire 9 weeks and consider it perfectly healthy.

I had this same experience.

Jodi

7

Jay Robb Whey Protein = 0 Cholesterol - found at Whole Foods
.

8

What exactly is the reason to only add AFTER the food is heated up? I recall something re the chemical composition changing when you actually cook the whey protein, how does this affect the stuff?

Does even heating it with oatmeal negatively affect it?

9

Thanks for that info, Andrew. Very interesting perspective.

10

I don’t have any links to studies, but I’d highly recommend checking out some of the latest research. Studies are showing that a high GI diet, and not dietary cholesterol, is worse for raising blood cholesterol levels.

  • Elevntymillion - check out robb wolf and marksdailyapple for additional info.

There is no significant link between cholesterol in food and cholesterol levels within the body.

11

Not sure what heating does to the composition of the protein- I was referring to the effect on the taste. No issues if you stir the unflavored protein into an already heated item like hot soup or oatmeal but at high cooking temps, not good…like trying to drink a protein shake that’s been sitting in the hot sun for a couple hours

12

Thanks
.

13

What exactly is the reason to only add AFTER the food is heated up? I recall something re the chemical composition changing when you actually cook the whey protein, how does this affect the stuff?

Does even heating it with oatmeal negatively affect it?

Not sure on that with the effect but I know lumps are worse if it’s cold with some whey proteins. I use IsoPure and Nectar though. Those mix in pretty much anything.

14

make sure you check your recovery drink also. A couple of years ago, I could not figure out why my cholesterol was high, it wound up being my recovery drink.

15

Drewdini,

You make some interesting points but it always scares me when I talk to Cardiologists and the ONLY thing THEY take is a Statin.

16

Okay so two things STOP FREAKING OUT to start. the cholesterol in food has been found to have little effect on total body cholesterol. Back when I used to be a meathead I knew a guy who switched all of his shakes exclusively to whole raw eggs. So say 6 raw eggs per shake. He did blood work before and 6 months later and found his bad cholesterol went down and good went up and he didn’t significantly change his workouts or anything else in his diet. What I would be more concerned with is the fat in your diet or you getting not enough fat. Balancing the omega-3s and 6s is far more significant, but that could be a whole thread. However, if you are seriously looking to get rid of cholesterol from food(which I strongly feel shouldnt be your priority as there are other more significant components that impact the health of the cardiovascular system.) check out allmax isonatural http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/all/natural.html. I’m not a rep or anything, but they are one of the few companies that has their product independently lab tested for heavy metals and posts the results. You can see these on the bodybuilding.com forum if you tool around.

Cheers,

17

One serve of whey per day or after a workout is not going to hurt you
.

18

I’m sorry your brother had a heart attack. That’s scary stuff. But, I’m he survived.

Discuss with your doctor, not a bunch of idiots on a forum. Everybody and their mother on this forum has some goofy fad theory about how the body works, nutrition, and cholesterol. Most of the posts above are just some more bullshit. There’s a few more players who haven’t shown up yet to espouse their particular variety. I’m sure they will be along shortly, though.

If CAD runs in your family, then you should possibly see a cardiologist regularly----or at least, that’s another conversation to have with your doctor. Don’t trust serious medical advice from a bunch of hacks.

Everyone’s situation is somewhat unique, and should be reviewed and monitored by someone skilled and trained in how to do so. I prefer to trust the advise of people who have spent 12+ years in post graduate education, internships, residency, and have been treating hundreds of patients for a few years…instead of someone who did a google search yesterday…even though those doctors are part of the vast big Pharma medical conspiracy.

19

Trust your doctor to prescribe statins, rather than diet advice, since he gets a kick back.

To OP:

Quality matters. Low quality whey will have the cholesterol oxidized depending on how it was processed. Likely will also have fillers like sugar which does impact ldl levels

20

Trust your doctor to prescribe statins, rather than diet advice, since he gets a kick back.

To OP:

Quality matters. Low quality whey will have the cholesterol oxidized depending on how it was processed. Likely will also have fillers like sugar which does impact ldl levels

Right on cue. As misinformed as ever.