Really enjoyed this, Ben - the Elsa and Carl framing does a lot of work here, especially showing how a "textbook healthy" breakfast can still land at under half the leucine threshold. The anabolic resistance piece is the bit most protein content skips entirely; people see "1.2g/kg" and assume it's just a bigger number, not a distribution problem.
The bedtime casein detail was a nice touch too, small effect, honestly presented as "net protein loss over one night" rather than oversold as a fat-loss hack. More of this, please.
Another practical, easy to digest article. Thanks Ben. Like almost everyone, I love chocolate but I don't buy chocolate flavored protein powder, or use cocoa or cacao powder, because chocolate-flavored protein powders contain roughly four times more lead and up to 110 times more cadmium (a highly toxic heavy metal that poses serious health risks) than vanilla or unflavored protein powders. These heavy metals in chocolate protein powders come from the cacao plants that absorb naturally occurring trace minerals and heavy metals, like lead and cadmium, from the soil. Plant-based protein powders made from peas, hemp, soy, or rice absorb more heavy metals from the soil and typically have three times more lead than whey protein powder. For this reason I've switched from pea protein powder to whey and casein based ones (with a vanilla flavor).
I am allergic to casein so cannot use whey protein, which makes it impossible to find a protein supplement unless I want plant-based, which I certainly do not. Any suggestions? Thank you for your writings.
This was very helpful, thank you! Question: I’m vegetarian and will often add a slice of cheese, some Greek yogurt, or some Ka’Chava protein powder to increase total protein as you’ve described here. Any insights to how much leucine I’m getting with any of those?
Obviously some folks are still under the impression that red meat is not good for you, with which I firmly disagree. I basically eat a keto diet that excludes soybeans in any form, peas and beans, grains and minimal sugars. To me, leaving those out creates more of a metabolically balanced diet for my health conditions.
As a protein supplement, I use a grass fed, pasture raised bovine sourced powder made with beef protein isolate, heart, liver, kidney, lung, spleen, colostrum, collagen, and the 3 grams of sugar per serving is from raw honey, maple syrup and dates with 13 grams of protein. Added to an ultra filtered milk with only 6 grams of carbs per cup of milk, I'm not sure what the leucine content is, but out of the oh so many protein powders I've used over the last 50 years (I'm 78), this has been the best tasting and best formulated protein supplement that I have ever used. With 1 serving, I'm getting 26 grams of protein per serving and only 77 calories from the powder, and approximately 187 calories from 10 oz of the Fairlife milk for a total of 264 calories and about 11 carbs.
To my morning coffee, I add glycine as a sweetener and a multi collagen protein (type l, ll, lll, V and X from bovine, fish, chicken and eggshell membrane) for 7 gram of protein and 30 calories. The leucine content is 195 mg.
Then I have protein at my 1 or 2 meals a day using beef, chicken, fish, shrimp, lamb or pork. I try to eat 4 to 6 ounces at dinner with low carb vegetables. Dessert is homemade yogurt with berries and a tablespoon of a mixture of nuts/seeds.
I have concluded that my diet works for me, and my recent extensive blood tests I just had performed 2 weeks ago is showing everything in range ( for whatever that's worth). We are all different and I prefer to keep my carbs very low as I associate high glucose levels with a real possibility of cancer.
Really enjoyed this, Ben - the Elsa and Carl framing does a lot of work here, especially showing how a "textbook healthy" breakfast can still land at under half the leucine threshold. The anabolic resistance piece is the bit most protein content skips entirely; people see "1.2g/kg" and assume it's just a bigger number, not a distribution problem.
The bedtime casein detail was a nice touch too, small effect, honestly presented as "net protein loss over one night" rather than oversold as a fat-loss hack. More of this, please.
Thanks, Tom. Glad you found it a worthwhile read.
Another practical, easy to digest article. Thanks Ben. Like almost everyone, I love chocolate but I don't buy chocolate flavored protein powder, or use cocoa or cacao powder, because chocolate-flavored protein powders contain roughly four times more lead and up to 110 times more cadmium (a highly toxic heavy metal that poses serious health risks) than vanilla or unflavored protein powders. These heavy metals in chocolate protein powders come from the cacao plants that absorb naturally occurring trace minerals and heavy metals, like lead and cadmium, from the soil. Plant-based protein powders made from peas, hemp, soy, or rice absorb more heavy metals from the soil and typically have three times more lead than whey protein powder. For this reason I've switched from pea protein powder to whey and casein based ones (with a vanilla flavor).
I am allergic to casein so cannot use whey protein, which makes it impossible to find a protein supplement unless I want plant-based, which I certainly do not. Any suggestions? Thank you for your writings.
This was very helpful, thank you! Question: I’m vegetarian and will often add a slice of cheese, some Greek yogurt, or some Ka’Chava protein powder to increase total protein as you’ve described here. Any insights to how much leucine I’m getting with any of those?
Obviously some folks are still under the impression that red meat is not good for you, with which I firmly disagree. I basically eat a keto diet that excludes soybeans in any form, peas and beans, grains and minimal sugars. To me, leaving those out creates more of a metabolically balanced diet for my health conditions.
As a protein supplement, I use a grass fed, pasture raised bovine sourced powder made with beef protein isolate, heart, liver, kidney, lung, spleen, colostrum, collagen, and the 3 grams of sugar per serving is from raw honey, maple syrup and dates with 13 grams of protein. Added to an ultra filtered milk with only 6 grams of carbs per cup of milk, I'm not sure what the leucine content is, but out of the oh so many protein powders I've used over the last 50 years (I'm 78), this has been the best tasting and best formulated protein supplement that I have ever used. With 1 serving, I'm getting 26 grams of protein per serving and only 77 calories from the powder, and approximately 187 calories from 10 oz of the Fairlife milk for a total of 264 calories and about 11 carbs.
To my morning coffee, I add glycine as a sweetener and a multi collagen protein (type l, ll, lll, V and X from bovine, fish, chicken and eggshell membrane) for 7 gram of protein and 30 calories. The leucine content is 195 mg.
Then I have protein at my 1 or 2 meals a day using beef, chicken, fish, shrimp, lamb or pork. I try to eat 4 to 6 ounces at dinner with low carb vegetables. Dessert is homemade yogurt with berries and a tablespoon of a mixture of nuts/seeds.
I have concluded that my diet works for me, and my recent extensive blood tests I just had performed 2 weeks ago is showing everything in range ( for whatever that's worth). We are all different and I prefer to keep my carbs very low as I associate high glucose levels with a real possibility of cancer.