Protein powder brands heavy metals consumer reports
This is just a small sampling of products. You can see that Muscle Milk and EAS were the most toxic brands while the whey products faired better than the rest generally. Potatoes, rice, sunflower seeds, spinach and other leafy greens are susceptible, but this is not a problem if you are eating organic.īelow is the average finding for three serving of the protein drinks. This is because of the heavy use of cadmium-containing phosphate fertilizers in commercial farming. “This (Cadmium) is a highly toxic metal, and while there are some cases where decisions have to be weighed against relative risks, accepting that you have to be exposed to any cadmium at all in your protein drink after your workout is definitely not one of them.” says Michael Harbut, M.D., director of the Environmental Cancer Initiative at the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Royal Oak, Mich.Įven some plant sources can contain cadmium. They are the ones who eat a LOT of these products and who may be in for a very unpleasant surprise some time from now. Imagine what will happen to the large group of teenagers and twenty-somethings wanting to ‘bulk up’ today. We have enough health considerations just dealing with life without wondering about a product we specifically consume for health or fitness!Ĭadmium exposure is particularly scary because it accumulates in and can damage the kidneys, the same organs that can be damaged by excessive protein consumption. It can take 20 years for the body to eliminate even half the cadmium absorbed today. Personally I would not find even ‘ low to moderate ’ exposure acceptable considering how many other toxic products we find in our environment. For many products, levels of those contaminants were in the ‘low to moderate range.’ This is if you assume 3 servings per day which is the average for most consumers. The results showed a considerable range, but levels in three products were of particular concern because they exceeded the daily exposure limits proposed by USP for arsenic, cadmium or lead. The results were very disturbing, considering how many people consume these highly processed food products and how MUCH they consume per day.