4 ms·

I find this plausible, but I think it's about powdered proteins generally, or at least many of them. I tolerate dairy well, although I only drink small amounts

I find this plausible, but I think it's about powdered proteins generally, or at least many of them. I tolerate dairy well, although I only drink small amounts of sweet milk and cream, eating mostly yogurt and cheese. I like to make strained yogurt / labneh, and I'll drink the whey by itself (I like pickle and sauerkraut juice as well). But when I add whey powder to a shake for the gainz, my stomach really doesn't like that as much. It doesn't cause problems or I wouldn't eat it, but it's just a bit gassy and sometimes irritating. I've noticed much the same thing with the pea-protein based vegan meats. I believe it's difficult to extract proteins without denaturing them somewhat, collagen is an exception but not a vegan one. I like eating peas just fine, peas don't give me gas and lentils rarely do (that's it for me and pulses these days), but the extracted protein, not so much, doesn't sit right.

kortex 4y ago
Huh. I get almost the same thing. It always kinda baffled me, since I tolerate the source food fine, but the powder proteins give me a stomach ache beyond a certain amount. I've tried to pin it down or at least mitigate it. It seems that emulsifiers + fats help (which is odd, as proteins themselves are often emulsifiers). My two theories are a) there are more free amino acids/oligopeptides, and some are naturally irritating, or b) these protein powders are more likely to crash out in the stomach.
maxerickson 4y ago
It can just be the volume of the protein. Whey has a trace of protein in it (like 1%). Powders are mostly protein. Unprocessed peas are around 5% protein, meat substitutes are more like 50%.
- samatman 4y ago
  It's not strictly volume of protein, no. I can and do eat six eggs, or a 300gm steak, or a half liter of yogurt, in one sitting. All of these are readily digested. They also have fat, and buffing a yogurt shake with whey protein pushes the balance toward protein, sure. But strictly volume of protein doesn't hold up.
uup 4y ago
Stuff like yogurt and cheese can often be tolerated by those with lactose intolerance, especially cheeses with lower lactose levels. For whey, I would verify that you're eating the same amount of whey in both cases. Obviously, powdered whey protein has the protein extracted and dried so the same amount of whey protein will weigh substantially less than whey you separate yourself. Regarding peas and lentils: they have a ton of fiber when eaten whole. That makes a big difference.
ReptileMan 4y ago
Couple of things come to mind - probably working together: The human body changes at slower pace than our diet in the last 60 years. Transforming food by cooking, curing, salting, smoking, grinding and fermenting has been around for thousands of years and we have adapted to it. Eating food deconstructed and isolated is somewhat new invention. And the second is - with processed and refined stuff it is easier to OD. 20 grams of whey protein is probably the amount of protein you get from couple of liters of milk or a kilogram of milk. And we usually have consumed both casein and whey together.
kaczordon 4y ago
Unfortunately plant proteins are not as digestible as animal proteins. I believe you get roughly 60% of the protein uptake from pea protein as compared to meat. This is due to the profile of specific amino acids(leucine, methionine) limiting its uptake.
- drooby 4y ago
  It believe it depends. Plant protein isolates have comprobable digestibility to animal (90%+) Peanut is very high too.
- johncearls 4y ago
  A fellow fan of Peter Attia I see. His latest podcast had a protein expert on that went into great depth about the virtues and drawbacks of different protein sources. Highly recommend to people who are interested in the topic. https://peterattiamd.com/donlayman/ https://peterattiamd.com/donlayman/

kortex 4y ago

Huh. I get almost the same thing. It always kinda baffled me, since I tolerate the source food fine, but the powder proteins give me a stomach ache beyond a certain amount. I've tried to pin it down or at least mitigate it. It seems that emulsifiers + fats help (which is odd, as proteins themselves are often emulsifiers). My two theories are a) there are more free amino acids/oligopeptides, and some are naturally irritating, or b) these protein powders are more likely to crash out in the stomach.

maxerickson 4y ago

It can just be the volume of the protein. Whey has a trace of protein in it (like 1%). Powders are mostly protein. Unprocessed peas are around 5% protein, meat substitutes are more like 50%.

samatman 4y ago
It's not strictly volume of protein, no. I can and do eat six eggs, or a 300gm steak, or a half liter of yogurt, in one sitting. All of these are readily digested. They also have fat, and buffing a yogurt shake with whey protein pushes the balance toward protein, sure. But strictly volume of protein doesn't hold up.

uup 4y ago

Stuff like yogurt and cheese can often be tolerated by those with lactose intolerance, especially cheeses with lower lactose levels. For whey, I would verify that you're eating the same amount of whey in both cases. Obviously, powdered whey protein has the protein extracted and dried so the same amount of whey protein will weigh substantially less than whey you separate yourself. Regarding peas and lentils: they have a ton of fiber when eaten whole. That makes a big difference.

ReptileMan 4y ago

Couple of things come to mind - probably working together: The human body changes at slower pace than our diet in the last 60 years. Transforming food by cooking, curing, salting, smoking, grinding and fermenting has been around for thousands of years and we have adapted to it. Eating food deconstructed and isolated is somewhat new invention. And the second is - with processed and refined stuff it is easier to OD. 20 grams of whey protein is probably the amount of protein you get from couple of liters of milk or a kilogram of milk. And we usually have consumed both casein and whey together.

kaczordon 4y ago

Unfortunately plant proteins are not as digestible as animal proteins. I believe you get roughly 60% of the protein uptake from pea protein as compared to meat. This is due to the profile of specific amino acids(leucine, methionine) limiting its uptake.

drooby 4y ago
It believe it depends. Plant protein isolates have comprobable digestibility to animal (90%+) Peanut is very high too.
johncearls 4y ago
A fellow fan of Peter Attia I see. His latest podcast had a protein expert on that went into great depth about the virtues and drawbacks of different protein sources. Highly recommend to people who are interested in the topic. https://peterattiamd.com/donlayman/ https://peterattiamd.com/donlayman/