The Truth About Protein Shakes

Yep, that’s me looking a little light headed from a tough set of deadlifts in the picture above. I was probably in the best shape of my life when that picture was taken.

Truth About Protein Shakes…

Do you know how many protein shakes I drank to get into that kind of shape?

Zero.

I’ve always advocated getting your protein from real food and not some magic powder. But occasionally I would bend and give the use of protein shakes a “maybe”, especially for hard gainers trying to pack on muscle.

Well not anymore.

The July 2010 issue of Consumer Reports puts some popular brand protein shakes through some tests and found that they contain toxic heavy metals including arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury.

How much of the metals?

A few of the brands were clearly over the maximum recommended limits and some were admittedly within the range that is considered “safe”. And to be completely fair. . . they also noted that some “real” foods, including my beloved spinach, contained cadmium due to absorbing the metal from the environment due in large part to the use of cadmium-containing phosphate fertilizers.

So what does this mean for YOU?

It means do your homework. Read the Consumer Reports article (be sure to also read the links in the left sidebar). And then do some additional research if something doesn’t sit right with you. And then make your own decision.

For me it’s pretty simple. . . If the ingredient list has words in it that I have to sound out like a third grader, I don’t want to eat it. And yes I can pronounce arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury just fine. Those ingredients are just icing on the heavy metal cake and reinforce why I don’t want to eat it.

So what do you think? Do you use protein shakes? If not, how do you get your protein? Let me know in the comments below.