Is vegan protein powder good for you?

Is vegan protein powder good for you? Some vegan protein powders are good for you, others are not. Keep reading to learn more about vegan protein powder. 

Our vegan protein is good for you.

Is plant-based protein good for you? 

Plant-based protein is good for you, and is as effective as any other type of dietary protein at helping you meet your nutritional goals. Some people will tell you that plant proteins are inferior to whey protein, for example, because they are not complete. This is misleading. A complete protein is a protein that contains the nine essential amino acids that our body cannot produce on its own. Although it is true that dairy, eggs, and meat contain complete proteins and most plants do not, humans do not need to consume complete proteins in every bite of food at every meal.

If you are eating a balanced diet and getting your protein from a variety of sources, it does not matter if your proteins are complete. In other words, you do not need to mix and match incomplete proteins to create a complete protein every time you eat. Eating a variety of plant foods like legumes, lentils, nuts, seeds, and whole grains on a regular basis will suffice. Moreover, research has shown that whey and plant proteins promote similar strength, performance, and body composition adaptations. In other words, you are by no means holding yourself back by choosing plant-based protein. In fact, if you keep reading, it will become abundantly clear that you are doing the opposite.

Plants are easier to digest than dairy.

Dairy-based proteins like whey and casein, which are byproducts of cheese and yogurt production, are known to cause digestive issues, especially for people with lactose intolerance and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Over one in three Americans are lactose intolerant, and the prevalence of IBS is somewhere between 10 and 15 percent in the United States. It follows that you may be lactose intolerant or have IBS and not even know it. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a poorly understood condition, and it is unclear why dairy triggers symptoms. Lactose intolerance, on the other hand, is clearly understood. People with lactose intolerance are unable to fully digest lactose, the sugar in dairy. As you just learned, partially digested food feeds the bacteria in your gut, which produce gas. 

Plant proteins, on the other hand, are easy to digest. Although every gut is different, it is unlikely that plant protein will upset your stomach. It you find plant protein powder hard to digest, it is probably due to added ingredients, not the protein itself.

Plants are better for your skin.

Dairy-based proteins can also cause acne. Dairy indirectly stimulates insulin production, which regulates sebum production. Sebum, an oily, waxy substance produced by your body’s sebaceous glands, can clog your pores and cause pimples. Dairy can also hinder your ability to process blood sugar efficiently, which can cause inflammation in your skin. This matters because acne is an inflammatory disease, that is, clinical evidence shows that inflammation occurs at all stages of acne development.

Plants, on the contrary, are great for your skin. A recent review of 20 studies found that plant-based dietary interventions are good for skin barrier health and function.

What about heavy metals? 

In recent years, there has been increasing global public health concern about environmental contamination by heavy metals. Soils polluted with heavy metals are becoming more and more common due to an increase in geologic and anthropogenic activities. There has also been increasing concern about the levels of heavy metals found in protein powders, specifically vegan protein powders. Is this concern legitimate? 

What are heavy metals? 

Heavy metals are naturally occurring elements with a relatively high density compared to water. They are all around us – in the ground we walk on, in the water we drink, and in the food we eat. Some heavy metals are good for us. For example, we need trace amounts of copper and iron to stay healthy. Other heavy metals – such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercury – are toxic and can cause health problems, even at lower levels of exposure. They are also classified as human carcinogens by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. 

Why do plants contain heavy metals? 

Heavy metals are in all plants because they are natural constituents of the Earth’s crust. They are not added to protein powders, they are absorbed from the soil by the plant itself. 

Should I be concerned about heavy metals in protein powder? 

A non-profit called the Clean Label Project claims that most protein powders contain lead and that vegan protein powders contain, on average, twice the amount of lead per serving as protein powders made from animal products. They also claim that plant-based protein powders contain mercury, cadmium, and arsenic, in some cases at levels above regulatory thresholds. Although these findings are informative, they are not necessarily concerning. 

Simply because there are detectable amounts of heavy metals in protein powder does not render it unsafe to consume, nor does it discount the benefits it offers as part of a balanced diet. To put matters into perspective, according to a study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, we consume more metals from common foods like kale, apples, avocados, than we consume from plant-based supplements. In other words, if you are eating a healthy serving of any of these foods, you are probably ingesting more heavy metals than you would from a serving of vegan powder.

The heavy metal scare created by the Clean Label Project is misleading. We should take these findings seriously, especially given the popularity of vegetarian and vegan diets, but they should not deter us from using plant-based protein powders. Instead of worrying about heavy metals in your protein powder, you should focus your attention on the ingredient list.

What is the healthiest vegan protein powder? 

Any type of vegan protein powder can help you boost your protein intake, but not all vegan protein powders are good for you. This is because most vegan protein powders are full of heavily-processed ingredients that look nothing like real food. Here are a few of the top ingredients to avoid when buying protein powder. 

Avoid food additives.

Again, most ready-to drink protein shakes and many protein powders are full of food additives. Although not necessarily bad for you in small quantities, additives can add up quickly (especially if you drink a protein shake every day) and cause gastrointestinal (GI) side effects like bloating, constipation, diarrhea, gas, and stomach pain. This is because food additives are, generally speaking, hard to digest. They sit in your gut for longer than food should, which gives your gut bacteria more time to eat. As they eat, these bacteria produce gas, which causes bloating and stomach pain. Gas also slows colonic transit (the amount of time it takes food to travel through the colon), which can lead to constipation.

In the long term, food additives can disrupt regulatory pathways in the intestine, which can result in the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and systemic inflammatory disorders. Artificial sweeteners are among the most harmful additives in the long term as they alter the composition of your gut microbiota (the collection of microorganisms that help you digest food). This can lead to serious, chronic GI problems and widespread inflammation. Some sweeteners, especially sugar alcohols like xylitol, are also poorly absorbed by the gut (meaning they feed those hungry gut bacteria) and cause diarrhea because they draw water into your intestine. Now you finally have something to blame for those post-protein shake trips to the bathroom!

Here is a list of the most common food additives in protein powder:

acacia gum, acesulfame potassium, artificial flavors, aspartame, carrageenan, cellulose gum, dextrin, dextrose, erythritol, gellan gum, guar gum, gum arabic, inulin, locust bean gum, “natural” flavors*, maltodextrin, rice syrup solids, soy lecithin, silica, sucralose, sunflower lecithin, xanthan gum, xylitol

When it comes to identifying food additives, go with your gut. 😉 As a rule of thumb, they are the ingredients that you cannot pronounce. Food additives are not the only thing to look out for when buying vegan protein powder, however. There are several other ingredients that can upset your stomach.

our ingredients: 

almonds, coconut, cocoa, monk fruit

the alternative:

Protein Matrix Comprised of (Whey Protein Concentrate,  Whey Protein Isolate, Calcium Caseinate, Micellar Casein, Milk Protein Isolate, Egg Albumen, Glutamine Peptides), Polydextrose, Sunflower Creamer (Sunflower Oil, Corn Syrup Solids,  Sodium Caseinate, Mono- and Diglycerides, Dipotassium Phosphate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Soy Lecithin, Tocopherols), Natural and Artificial Flavor, MCT Powder (Medium Chain Triglycerides, Nonfat Dry Milk, Disodium Phosphate, Silicon Dioxide), Lecithin, Cellulose Gum, Salt, Yellow 5, Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium, Papain, Bromelain.

*This is the actual ingredient list of one of the best-selling protein powders in the United States.

Avoid protein concentrates and isolates.

Finding an additive-free, dairy-free protein powder is hard. Finding an additive-free, dairy-free protein powder made with real foods is next to impossible. Why? Most protein powders are made with protein concentrates and isolates, foods stripped of everything but the protein. They are listed on the ingredient list as “pea protein,” for example, as opposed to “peas.”

We will not go into the details, but protein concentrates and isolates undergo heavy mechanical and chemical processing before becoming protein powder. Sometimes, manufacturers use chemical solvents like hexane to isolate (separate) the protein from the food. This means that what you end up putting into your body looks nothing like real food. 

The potential problem here is that your gut might not know what to do with ingredients like these. Your gut prefers the real thing, not some heavily-processed imitation, so protein concentrates and isolates might be hard to digest for people with sensitive stomachs.

Instead of protein concentrates or isolates, we use almonds. Almonds are simply roasted, pressed, and ground before becoming protein powder. Unlike protein concentrates or isolates, they still contain lots of healthy fats, fiber, and other nutrients like calcium and vitamin E.

★★★★★

“I just finished my first bag and ordered 2 more! I Iove this stuff! I have IBS and every protein powder hurts my stomach…except drink wholesome!”

-Julio

drink wholesome is the healthiest vegan protein powder. It is made with simple, easy to digest ingredients. Order samples to see for yourself.

Our vegan protein powder is good for you.