In a society that is becoming increasingly obsessive about getting fit, toned, and slim, there seems to be an ongoing trend among college students to consume copious amounts of protein powder. However, the real question remains: Is your protein supplement really doing any good the way it’s being consumed?
Protein powder users often believe the supplement is a gateway to building muscle and getting fit easily. However, while protein powder may initially seem beneficial, the product is more often than not being misused by people everywhere.
This supplement is often wrongly thought of as a way to appear naturally athletic. The disturbing part is that when used incorrectly, protein supplements actually create opposite results and ultimately have negative, long-term effects on health. In addition to lacking nutrients and adding excess calories to your daily intake — which definitely will not help you slim down the way you expect — these supplements are full of other ingredients such as lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic. Ingredients that are poisonous and not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.
There’s really no good practice of ingesting this supplement. If you subscribe to drinking a protein shake instead of eating a meal, you end up malnourished; if you add a protein shake to a meal, you tend to flood your body with excess proteins, sugars, and calories.
We all want to believe the shake that tastes like ice cream is genuinely healthy, but this thought is an inaccurate one. The ingredients that make your protein shake taste so delicious (e.g., aspartame, saccharin, and artificial flavors) are toxic to your body.
Even if you aren’t yet disturbed by the disgusting levels of unnatural ingredients in your protein powder, consider the fact that flooding your body with protein causes your kidneys to work extra hard to flush water out of your body. This can cause dehydration and unnecessary stress on your organs.
As the invincible college student you are, you’re probably thinking that you couldn’t care less about this stress on your internal organs as long as you look hot on the outside. But you may reconsider when you realize that rather than piling on muscle, protein supplements are more likely to pack on fat if you’re drinking them with a meal and aren’t exercising correctly.
If you’re not an athlete or a vegetarian, there’s really no reason to take a protein supplement, and if you are an athlete and not a vegetarian, eat a chicken breast instead of drinking a processed liquid with artificial protein.
My take: The only accomplishment taking protein supplements is likely to achieve is the depletion of resources: nutrients, water, and money out of your pocket.
Reach contributing writer Rebecca Gross at development@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @becsgross
Read Katie's take: The power of suggestion is what maintains our view that supplements are beneficial, even if they aren’t.
Read Haylee's take: Needing supplements on a daily basis is hard enough, and unfortunately our only option is to trust the companies that manufacture them.
