What Is the Best Protein Powder for Depression?

Are you looking for the best protein powder for depression? Discover how protein powder can affect your mental health.

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Protein Powder for Depression

Can Protein Powder Cause Depression? 

You may have read that protein powder can cause depression, which is not true.

No clinical evidence that supports an correlation or even association between protein powder consumption and depression.

Almost everyone who claims that there is a link between protein powder consumption and depression cites the same study conducted by the University of Sydney.

In this study, researchers examined the relationship between dietary branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and overall health, and found that long-term dietary BCAA manipulation influences health and lifespan in mice.

Note that his study involved mice, not humans.

The notion that protein powder can cause depression in humans is therefore an extrapolation of animal data to humans.

And the assessment of human response from animal data is significantly limited, so using this study to make claims about human health is problematic to say the least.

Moreover, anyone who uses this study to suggest that protein powder causes depression in humans does not understand what BCAAs are.

Branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) are a group of 3 amino acids: valine, leucine, and isoleucine.

They are in most of the foods that we eat, not just in protein powders.

To say that protein powder, because it contains BCAAs, causes depression is therefore silly.

If BCAAs were really the issue, then any dietary protein sources could make us depressed.

Finally, the study in question mentions depression only once, and the researchers were referring to existing literature, not their own findings

In short, protein powder itself will not make you depressed.

That said, some common protein powder ingredients could affect your mental health.

What Is the Best Protein Powder for Depression?

As long as you are eating a balanced diet, the type (egg, pea, whey, etc.) of protein powder you use does not matter.

Ingredients do matter, however.

Many protein powders contain ingredients that could contribute to mental health problems.

Among these ingredients are food additives and protein concentrates/isolates.

Avoid Food Additives

Regularly eating food additives like emulsifiers, thickeners, and flavorings can alter the composition and function of your gut microbiome.

This, in turn, can lead to gut dysbiosis, which research shows can affect your mental health and contribute to mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. 

This is all possible due to a bidirectional pathway between your gut and brain called the gut-brain axis.

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

• acacia fiber
• acacia gum
• acesulfame potassium
• artificial flavors
• ascorbic acid
• aspartame
• calcium carbonate
• carrageenan
• cellulose gum
• dextrin
• dicalcium phosphate
• dipotassium phosphate
• erythritol
• gellan gum
• guar gum
• gum arabic
• inulin
• locust bean gum
• maltitol
• maltodextrin
• mono- and diglycerides
• ‘natural’ flavors
• rice bran extract
• rice dextrin
• rice hulls
• rosemary extract
• silica
• silicon dioxide
• sodium alginate
• soluble corn fiber
• sorbitol
• soy lecithin
• sucralose
• sunflower lecithin
• tocopherols
• tricalcium phosphate
• xanthan gum
• xylitol
• zinc oxide

Basically, if you could not find an ingredient in nature or make it at home, it should not be in your protein powder. 

Avoid Protein Concentrates and Isolates

The protein source itself (not the type of protein, but the form) might be a factor worth considering too.

Most protein supplements are made from protein concentrates and isolates, which have been mechanically and/or chemically stripped of everything but the protein.

This includes the enzymes, fiber, and other natural digestive aids that help your gut break them down.

You therefore do not digest them in the same way that it does whole foods, which can affect your gut health.

In fact, studies show that regularly eating protein concentrates and isolates can disrupt your gut microbiome and cause the formation of toxic byproducts in your gut.

So, pending further research, it is recommended that you stick to protein powders made from whole food protein sources.

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Drink Wholesome Is the Best Protein Powder for Depression

Finding a protein powder free from food additives and protein concentrates and isolates is hard.

In fact, 99% of protein supplements contain one or more of these problematic ingredients, which is why we created Drink Wholesome.

We make the best protein powder for depression because we use a short list of simple ingredients.

Our Ingredients

egg whites

coconut

vanilla

monk fruit

NOT Our Ingredients

• acacia gum

• acesulfame potassium

• artificial flavors

• carrageenan

• erythritol

• guar gum

• inulin

• maltodextrin

• 'natural' flavors

• silica

• soy lecithin

• sucralose

• xanthan gum

• xylitol

Note that instead of using protein concentrates or isolates, we use whole food protein sources like egg whites and almonds, which are easier to break down and absorb.

It follows that our customers experience fewer digestive issues with our Protein Powder more than any other protein supplement.

Order Samples to see for yourself.