Have you ever noticed that our health and nutrition “experts” never seem to get anything right? For example, one day a food may be proven to cause cancer, then the next day they’re telling us that it prevents cancer. Then they keep switching back and forth so you have no idea what to believe, and in the end it probably doesn’t even matter the slightest bit.

Well that’s how I’ve been feeling with supplements lately. I used to use whey protein after my workouts, but then I just got lazy one day and stopped and haven’t really used it since. Recently I decided to try to find some good supplements to enhance my workouts and results. Nothing too hardcore with crazy side effects or anything, mostly natural things that your body already has or creates, or naturally uses, shit like that. I came to one difinitive conclusion…screw it all.

Yes you heard me, to Hell with supplements. I’ll tackle a few specific supplements scams in later posts, but right now I want to focus on one in particular, one that I thought was infallable until just recently, one that I may never be able to use again without second guessing it’s effects, and that is whey protein.

I know, I know, everyone out there must think I’ve lost my mind and is getting ready to come after me with pitchforks and torches, but let me explain. Please don’t take it to mean that no protein powders work, that’s not what I’m saying at all. What I’m saying is that after quite a bit of research, it seems that the only stuff worth getting is the top of the line stuff, and you need to do some research about how and where the powder is produced.

Here are a couple of the biggest problems I’ve found with some protein powders. First off, the production process that a lot of these powders go through subjects them to extreme heat, which can actually kill the ingredients in a sense, and rob the final product of any real nutritional value. This also prevents the protein from being able to be absorbed through your intestines and instead creates, for lack of a better word, “sludge” in your intestines. This coating of sludge, in turn, prevents other nutrients from being absorbed by your body. I’d probably butcher any explanation that tries to get more scientific than that, so I would suggest doing your own research on the matter.

I have actually seen advertisements for certain brands of whey protein that try to sell you on how the powder is refined, though. Not that an advertisement makes it true, but it’s definitely something that people think and care about, otherwise companies wouldn’t be marketing their products that way.

So maybe I was being overdramatic when I said to Hell with supplements and whey protein, but you do need to pay attention to where you’re getting your protein from, otherwise you might just be throwing away your money and really screwing with your body.

Personally, being on my diet kick and all, I’ve decided to take the natural approach, so I’m basically eating chicken, rice, and beans every day for lunch, and trying to make sure that all of my meals are packed with protein.