Protein Powder AKA Whey Proteins. How harmful are they?

Amidst the worldwide deliberation on whether or not to include Whey Proteins in your diet, here is a genuine perspective based totally on facts and experience. Of course you can rely on the following information more than those found on any Protein Merchants' websites or someone who has a purpose to portray things in a way that supports some kind of profit to them.

Before even getting started I would very fervently make an appeal to the readers not to call Whey Protein a Steroid even in dreams. This not only makes you sound unschooled about the topic but also makes you look like someone who could be easily deluded by unreasonable hearsay.

What Are Steroids?

What comes to your mind when you stumble on the word "Steroid"? Now all you could relate to is

• a highly muscular bodybuilder who can't scratch off an itch on his back or
• a professional athlete who could not participate in the sport as a penalty for unethically using steroids to enhance his performance.

Let's look at some facts to get more educated

• The human body produces steroids naturally which is all-important for the sustenance of several life-processes in the form of hormones like Testosterone(male sex hormone), Estrogen(female sex hormone), Cortisol(the stress hormone and also a carbohydrate metabolite) etc.
• Steroids are organic compounds, similar to fats. Why organic? because they contain Carbon atoms.Why similar to fats? because they are composed of high number of carbon & hydrogen atoms and are also insoluble in water resembling the properties of fats.

Why Do Steroids Have A Bad Name?

Some of you would look at me with inquisitive eyes for why do Steroids have a bad name out there when they are naturally occurring in our body. Before I clarify the doubt, do you already know what are steroids most infamous for? I guess you do.

The bad name steroids have earned over the years is the sole blameworthiness of "Anabolic Steroids" used by body builders to get those unrealistic huge muscles with the sacrifice of a naturally healthy body. "Anabolic Steroids" are man-made drugs which behave like Testosterone(male sex hormone).You must also know that Testosterone is considered responsible for natural muscularity and libido(desire for sex) in men .

How do Anabolic Steroids work? What Are The Practical Aftermaths?

Some facts you must consider before getting in depth of this:

• Our body is made of up trillions of cells which continue operating to keep us alive. 
• Our muscle cells use proteins from our diet to repair broken muscle fibers and build new muscles.
• A protein chain consists of over 20 amino acid molecules and not all amino acids are relevant for muscle growth. Protein is also required for other life-processes in our body.
• There is a limit to which our body can synthesize proteins solely for muscle building. Anabolic steroids push this limit.

Anabolic Steroids enter the brain(nucleus) of the muscle cells and continuously make them synthesize muscle building proteins over other kinds of proteins. 

This not so natural process ends up with several side-effects:

• Replication  of Testosterone results in low production of natural Testosterone in body.
• Considerable increase in feminine characteristics in males due to counter balancing effect in body body raising Estrogen.
• Infertility and disrupted menstrual cycle in females
• High blood pressure and heart related problems due to high blood pressure
• Kidney related issues in filtering blood 

I hope this clears your perspective on Steroids. Now let us head towards our topic of the day which has nothing to do with Steroids.

What Is Whey Protein And How Is It Made?

No, it's not a drug or anything like that in the first place. Whey protein is the water-soluble part of milk. The same milk which no matter whether fed to a new born child or an eighty years old, does no harm whatsoever.

Milk has two types of proteins:

1. Whey Protein(water soluble)
2. Casein Protein(water insoluble curds)

Cow milk contains 25-30% protein of which 20% contribution comes from Whey Proteins and the rest comes from Casein Proteins.Whey protein is extracted in the process of making cheese from milk. After cheese gets separated from milk, the left over water is nothing but Whey Protein. This liquid Whey Protein is dried and filtered into powdery form and sold into markets as Whey Protein powders, of-course with added flavors. Quite a large amount of liquid whey has to be dried up to get one scoop of Whey protein available to the consumers.

You should also know that the daily protein intake recommendation for an average person is 0.8 grams per kilogram of weight.If you are a 80 kg man , it becomes a minimum of 64 grams of protein per day for you. Consider the example of an egg , the white part of which contains about 3.5 grams of protein. How many egg whites do you need to meet you daily protein requirement? say 19 or 20 egg whites.If you are physically active and exercise daily , you need even more and here is when Whey comes to your rescue. It is definitely not needed if you can meet your protein needs solely from diet. Again I hope this clears the air and brings the facts in limelight.

After going through this post you would be informed enough on the topic and sagacious enough to know that Whey Proteins are not Steroidal Hormones or chemical Testosterone alternatives. They are just dietary supplements rich in protein(food which have proteins collected from milk and are dried up) and have no side-effects whatsoever. They should be used like other food items to meet the daily caloric and macro-nutrition requirements.

Rumors about Whey Protein being unsafe for consumption have no element of truth. They keep the unaware masses from making a good use of it. There has to be factual certainty in whatever is being communicated out to the world to spread true knowledge and it's always better to get informed before delivering the information to others.