Whey Protein Side Effects and Benefits Information

What Are Some Possible Whey Protein Side Effects?

Whey protein, are just that, protein - unlike some other types of supplements and drugs, whey protein supplements contain mostly whey protein. So in other words, you can expect very little, if any side effects of taking whey protein supplements. Other than maybe gaining some lean mass, which is what you want. Also, there have been no documented side effects of whey protein, it's just like the food you eat, causing no side effects.

Even though whey protein is no doubt one of the best proteins you can get, you should not take too much of it. Too much of a good thing can be harmful. Extremely high consumption of whey protein could cause damage to your liver.

Note: if you're lactose intolerant, whey protein isolate maybe better for you. Whey protein concentrate contains 5-6% lactose, while Whey protein isolate contains less than 1% lactose. Both levels are very low, and should be easily tolerated by most.

How Much Whey Protein Should You Take, and What Are Some Benefits of Whey Protein?

Depending on what your goals are, your protein intake will differ from everyone else. Bodybuilders normally consume 150 grams or more a day. This depends on your body weight. In general, it's recommended that you take about 1 gram of protein(or a little less) per pound of body weight. For a 150lb bodybuilder, that's around 150 grams of protein, or a little less. Again, you don't want to over do it, and overload your liver and kidneys.

Some benefits of whey protein include:

Helps to increase lean muscle mass (more easily absorbed)
It is also useful for weight loss, specifically fat loss
It enhances immune function by increasing glutathione levels.
Whey protein helps prevent cancer
It may help T-cell activity and decrease wasting tissues during illness and increase well-being and the speed of overall recovery.

Whey Protein Studies and Interesting Whey Protein Information

A study by Ball State University showed that taking 0.88 grams of whey protein per pound of body weight resulted in increased prevention of overtraining. Whey protein has also been found to enhance muscle recovery following exercises.

Supplementation with a whey protein hydrolysate enhances recovery of muscle force-generating capacity following eccentric exercise.

The potential of whey protein to speed up recovery following eccentric exercise was evaluated by assessing the recovery of peak isometric torque in this double blind, randomized study. 28 sedentary males had muscle soreness, serum creatine kinase activity, plasma TNF alpha, and peak isometric torque assessed at baseline and after 100 maximal eccentric contractions (ECC) of their knee extensors.

The participants then consumed either a drink containing 25g of whey protein, or a placebo drink, with assessments taken 1, 2, 6 and 24 hours later. The study found that peak isometric torque decreased by 23% following the ECC. However, after 6 hours, peak isometric torque had recovered completely for the whey protein group, leading to the conclusion that whey protein assists with recovery from fatiguing exercises. [1]

Whey protein was shown effective in prevention of breast cancer, and was found to inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells in a test tube. Arkansas Children's Research Institute found it to be twice as effective as soy protein. Whey protein is also beneficial for your immune system.