alternatives to whey

matrixroyal

HI,
I have been using whey since the middle of the year and it has definitely helped me to put on muscle in conjunction with some hard work. I put on muscle but I still had a lot of "padding" hiding it. So thanks to the stickies and this forum I have really cleaned my diet in the last few months and noticed some real benefits to my overall body fat ( despite doing the same amount of work ).

Anyway I have had a cold for about 3 weeks now ( very rare for me ) and contstantly have mucus on my chest. Since the weekend I have not taken any dairy products or whey shakes, because I had a suspicion that they were not helping the mucus situation. After a few days I am feeling better already and I am wondering if I am maybe intolerant in some way to milk or dairy. I am going to arrange some allergy testing.

But for the moment, what would people recommend for alternative sources of protein ?

Whey is just so handy, just bring a small container and a shaker to the gym for after workouts or any other time when protein is hard to get.

Anybody else in a similar situation ?

Hanley

You've been using whey 6 months, had a cold for 3 weeks and you've alot of mucus on your chest.

You obviously know your body better than I do but to blame the whey might be a bit pre-emptive.

You could try egg protein or soy.

pwd

As suggested, I wouldn't stop using whey yet. Egg protein can be very hard to digest (it upsets my stomach anyway), soy is supposed to increase oestrogen levels, and I'm not aware of any other protein supplement of as good quality (apart from caseine which is also from milk).
I had asthma before I reached puberty (I grew out of it) and didn't consume dairy for years because it was thought to aggravate it - increase the production of mucus etc. So it can have the effect you're describing.
I think that exercising too much without sufficient rest and recovery hammers the sh!t out of your immune system, possibly even while making strong improvements in your fitness level. My personal experience would really support this idea, so I prefer to err on the side of resting too much than too little. You say you've been working hard for the last 6 months or so so maybe that could be what is happening with you.

siochain

there is also pea protien available on sites like http://www.bulkpowders.co.uk/ haven't used this type before so I can't comment on results or how it mixes. To clear out the last of the mucus you could try a few sauna sessions.

Johnerr

casien also

ali.c

matrixroyal wrote: »

Anybody else in a similar situation ?

Nope, definately i have heard that dairy is not great if you have a lot of mucus on your chest, but i think its the lactose rather than the dairy causing the problem and AFAIK you can get low lactose whey protein (depending on the brand). I think Jon was saying something about NutritionX, ProMatrix protein which went along the lines of it tastes like angel delight (hmm so checking the out when my whey runs out) but its a cocktail of protein. Anyhow dunno if thats much help....

Hanley

Johnerr wrote: »

casien also

It's derived from milk too.

WHIP IT!

What sort of things have alot of lactose in them? Assuming that's the cause of the OP's muccus (sp?) issue? Basically all dairy?

matrixroyal

thanks for advice.

Hanley, I agree it might be a bit premature to ditch the whey, think I might cut the dairy first and then reintroduce the whey ( or the pro matrix stuff ) in and mix only with water.

PWD, could be fair to say that I also may have underestimated the power of rest.

Also, after a little bit of research i know realise that it is not just as simple as being allergic or intolerant to dairy, you can be having a reaction to lactose ( the sugar in dairy ) because you don't produce enough of the enzyme to digest it, or you can be having a reaction to the proteins in dairy ( either casein or whey ) which is causing your immune system to respond in some way - normally an allergic reaction.

hardtrainer

I have a similar problem with mucus buildup, but it's really only noticeable if I have full fat milk, cream or ice cream, butter etc. I can drink litres and litres of skimmed milk without a noticeable buildup of mucus. It don't know if its a real allergy, but probably more of a tolerance. I don't think it's lactose related as that normally presents as stomach cramping or intestinal discomfort (as the lactose (milk sugar) is broken down by your gut flora when you don't produce enough lactase (enzyme for mmilk sugars)).

With me, and possibly with you, the problem I think is that the fat content is important because fats form layers and films on mucus membranes (the reason butter is used in cooking is to spread the flavours over the mucus membranes so you can taste it better) and this may lead to protein being in contact with mucus membranes long enough to provoke a reaction. The lower fat content in skimmed milk eliminates the problem. Incidentally, I find lowfat milk is still too fatty and I still get a mucus buildup with it.

As for whey protein. There should be very little, if any, lactose in isolated whey protein.