Protein powder has been a staple of body builders and gymgoers for years, and recently it\u2019s become a cultural phenomenon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But your post-workout snack could come with a side of potentially harmful chemicals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Promoted through a mass of social media influencers, body-building culture has never been so popular. Gyms all across the country are\u00a0removing treadmills<\/a>, bikes and other cardio equipment to make room for more bench press, squat and free weight areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n With the focus on muscle gains comes fascination about optimized protein intake, skyrocketing the protein powder business into a\u00a0$24.6 billion\u00a0<\/a>industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n People commonly use it in smoothies, but it\u2019s also trendy to use in oats, yogurt and even pancakes.\u00a0Protein cookies<\/a> and\u00a0protein pasta<\/a> have become common in supermarkets, and if you\u2019d prefer a light, protein-infused beverage, you can try out the\u00a0protein water<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n But more protein isn\u2019t always better.\u00a0<\/p>\n Excess protein doesn\u2019t necessarily give you more muscle, and an overly narrow focus on protein could lead you to consume significant amounts of extra calories.\u00a0<\/p>\n Or it could lead you to eat more protein-heavy animal products, which have been linked to\u00a0cardiovascular issues<\/a> and other health harms.<\/p>\n While many companies make claims about their powder, they may not all be true. Protein powders are classified as dietary supplements, which means they are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration in the same way food and drinks are. The companies themselves are responsible for verifying the safety of their products. The same is true of health claims made about their products \u2013 they\u2019re not confirmed by the FDA.\u00a0<\/p>\n Get your free guide: EWG’s Guide to Food Additives<\/p>\n How much protein should you eat every day?<\/p>\n Before you rush to buy a protein powder, consider whether you really need it.\u00a0<\/p>\n The recommended dietary allowance is set by the Food and Nutrition board of the National Academy of Sciences to prevent nutrient deficiency. For the average person, that guideline is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. So for a person weighing 150 pounds, that\u2019d be about 54 grams of protein, the rough equivalent of two chicken thighs or about 3 cups of lentils.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some people recovering from illness or injury, exercising regularly or experiencing\u00a0age-related muscle loss<\/a> may benefit from higher protein intake. People in these groups typically need more protein than the average person, and supplementation can ensure that they consume enough protein to build back their muscle fibers.\u00a0<\/p>\n The average adult male consumes about 96 grams of protein a day, and the average adult female about 70 grams,\u00a0according to a report<\/a> by the Agriculture Department and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.<\/p>\n Food naturally offers more nutrients than just protein, which is why most experts recommend trying to consume enough protein without supplements, to avoid underconsuming any nutrients.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of these nutrients is fiber. Scientists say\u00a095%<\/a> of Americans consume less fiber than recommended. Making a point of eating protein-rich foods like lentils, beans and chickpeas can help you reach your protein goals with the added benefit of more fiber.\u00a0<\/p>\n Potentially harmful additives<\/p>\n If you would like to use protein powder, take time to look at the ingredients label. Many brands contain\u00a0artificial food dyes<\/a>, sweeteners and other potentially harmful chemicals. They\u2019re additives that don\u2019t occur in nature and add no nutritional value.\u00a0<\/p>\n As the protein supplement market expands, so are the flavor options. Some companies collaborate with well-known brands to make their protein powder mimic the flavors of foods typically marketed to kids, such as\u00a0Cosmic Brownies<\/a>,\u00a0Jet-puffed Marshmallow Birthday Cake<\/a> and\u00a0Fruity Pebbles<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n To mimic these foods, protein powder brands use\u00a0artificial dyes<\/a> to add eye-catching colors and artificial sweeteners to improve their flavor without using sugar. Petroleum-based artificial dyes\u00a0have been associated<\/a> with various health harms, including behavioral and developmental issues in some children and the potential for increased risk of cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n Protein powder is notorious for giving some people stomach problems, including stomach aches, bloating and diarrhea. Artificial sweeteners such as\u00a0sucralose<\/a>,\u00a0erythritol<\/a> and\u00a0aspartame<\/a> are known to worsen these issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n And some sweeteners may contribute to increased risk of\u00a0certain heart diseases or other health harms<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Heavy metals<\/p>\n Potentially harmful heavy metals are another source of concern about what\u2019s in protein powders.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Clean Label Project<\/a>, a food transparency nonprofit, recently tested 160 products from 70 of the top-selling protein powder brands. The results showed that 47% of these products exceeded California\u2019s\u00a0Proposition 65<\/a> exposure safety\u00a0guidelines for toxic metals, such as lead and cadmium.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cadmium<\/a> has been linked to kidney toxicity, bone damage and cancer.\u00a0Lead<\/a> is widely known to cause irreversible brain damage and behavior and learning problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n Whey-based protein powder tended to have lower levels of metals. Even so, 28% percent of whey products tested above California\u2019s Prop 65 safety threshold for lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n The best choice for you<\/p>\n Protein supplementation can be helpful for someone who participates in sports at a high level or competes in endurance sports, such as running or biking. Most people, even athletes, can meet their protein requirements without relying on protein powder.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you decide to use protein supplements, here are some tips:<\/p>\n Read the label to avoid products with artificial dyes and sweeteners. Try to stick with simpler flavors, which usually contain fewer ingredients and possibly fewer artificial dyes and sweeteners. They may have fewer ingredients and rely on artificial dyes and sweeteners less.A shake does not replace a meal. A meal with whole foods has more added nutrients, like fiber, and provides support throughout the day better than a shake alone can.Look for third-party verification to ensure that a product has been tested for safety and that claims about its ingredients and absence of harmful additives have been verified.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Protein powder has been a staple of body builders and gymgoers for years, and recently it\u2019s become a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124147,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[79476,21247,79477,97,45557,66407,269,44729,5599,2785,582,34968],"class_list":["post-124146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-consumer-safety","tag-environmental-research","tag-ewg","tag-health","tag-health-risks","tag-heavy-metals","tag-nutrition","tag-protein-powder","tag-public-health","tag-safety","tag-supplements","tag-toxic-chemicals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}