Consumer Reports tested dozens of protein powders and ready-to-drink shakes.<\/a>\u00a0What the lab found raised red flags: more than two-thirds contained more lead in one serving than CR\u2019s food-safety experts say is safe in a full day.<\/p>\nThat investigation sparked a wave of concern from readers. According to CR investigative reporter Paris Martineau, many people wanted to know whether other protein powders on the market posed similar risks.<\/p>\n
In response, Consumer Reports tested five reader-requested chocolate protein powders: Clean Simple Eats, Equate from Walmart, Premier Protein, Ritual, and Truvani. This time, the results were notably different. All five powders contained low levels of lead, meeting CR\u2019s threshold for safe daily or near-daily consumption. On average, these products also had lower levels of lead and arsenic than the powders tested in CR\u2019s earlier investigation.<\/p>\n
Still, the findings raise broader questions about why so many other protein powders continue to contain higher levels of heavy metals. Martineau points out that there are currently no federal limits for lead in protein powder. While the FDA requires manufacturers to keep products free of harmful contaminants, companies largely decide for themselves what counts as harmful and how often their products are tested.<\/p>\n
Nutrition experts note that most people don\u2019t actually need protein supplements. Many everyday foods\u2014such as beans, tofu, eggs, dairy, fish, and lean meats\u2014can easily meet protein needs. But for those who do rely on protein powders, Consumer Reports advises caution. \u201cHealthy\u201d doesn\u2019t always mean risk-free, and using protein powders occasionally rather than daily may help reduce exposure.<\/p>\n
Consumer Reports also reminds consumers that while protein gets plenty of attention, fiber is the nutrient most adults are missing. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends about 25 grams of fiber per day for women and 38 grams for men, depending on age and other factors.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFor Related Stories:\u00a05 ON YOUR SIDE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"5 ON YOUR SIDE: Protein powder Last fall,\u00a0Consumer Reports tested dozens of protein powders and ready-to-drink shakes.\u00a0What the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122147,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[78315,97,269],"class_list":{"0":"post-414606","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-5-on-your-side","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-nutrition"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414606","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=414606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}