Protein shakes tear up my stomach..

[Altephor]

Obviously, the quintessential supplement for athletes is whey protein. But everytime I drink a protein shake, it fucks up my stomach pretty badly. I'm talking maybe 1 to 2 hours post ingestion, I will start to get serious stomach cramps/gas/diarrhea. It's usually worse if I'm active after drinking them (and active can simply mean walking around). The worst culprit by far is Muscle Milk, but I have tried other brands and they all have the same results. Protein bars, however, I have no issues with. The only problem is that protein bars are very expensive, so I'd like to hopefully find a way to get back to drinking shakes. Not to mention that for Post Workout it's hard to beat shakes since you can add so many things to them (peanut butter, fruit, other powdered supps, etc).

I make the protein shakes in milk. Drinking milk alone has never bothered my stomach, so I don't think I'm lactose intolerant. Ice cream sometimes creates a similar problem but not to the same intensity, so perhaps I'm slightly intolerant? Is there such thing as being 'slightly' lactose intolerant? Right now I've been drinking shakes right before bed, as I obviously am not bothered because I'm sleeping. But I would like to get them back during the day as with class, training, and work it's not always easy to cook even something as simple as a chicken breast.

Any ideas? Should I maybe see an allergist?

 

[cheath]

If you're by chance a student at a university, allergy testing is often inexpensive.

You might try finding a sports nutritionist in your area, as they may have experience with this. Or PM some of the nutrition guru's around here to get their advice directly (Vedic, MikeMartial, Madmick, Monger, etc.).

Other than that, you're stuck with the case study analysis! Go without for a few days until you know you're at a good baseline and not having tummy problems. Then get one and take it for a couple days. Same time, followed by the same activities. If it troubles you, try a different time same activities after. Still troubles you, try the original time no activities. Then switch, repeat. If Muscle Milk sucks, try Isopure, Syntha-6, maybe a soy shake.

Just keep as many factors constant as possible, only changing out the shake. Then hopefully you can narrow it down to find out "oh, it's only if I do it at night" or "I have to give them X hours to digest before being active" or your best case might be "oh, it's only X and Y proteins that do it, but Z is just fine."

Good luck man. Sorry that's happening. You might try RTD Isopure, but those freaking things might as well be liquid gold! But if it makes you feel any better, I thought I recently read that with a seriously well rounded diet, there may be little to no need for liquid supplementation.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[jerrylundergard]

Obviously, the quintessential supplement for athletes is whey protein. But everytime I drink a protein shake, it fucks up my stomach pretty badly. I'm talking maybe 1 to 2 hours post ingestion, I will start to get serious stomach cramps/gas/diarrhea. It's usually worse if I'm active after drinking them (and active can simply mean walking around). The worst culprit by far is Muscle Milk, but I have tried other brands and they all have the same results. Protein bars, however, I have no issues with. The only problem is that protein bars are very expensive, so I'd like to hopefully find a way to get back to drinking shakes. Not to mention that for Post Workout it's hard to beat shakes since you can add so many things to them (peanut butter, fruit, other powdered supps, etc).

I make the protein shakes in milk. Drinking milk alone has never bothered my stomach, so I don't think I'm lactose intolerant. Ice cream sometimes creates a similar problem but not to the same intensity, so perhaps I'm slightly intolerant? Is there such thing as being 'slightly' lactose intolerant? Right now I've been drinking shakes right before bed, as I obviously am not bothered because I'm sleeping. But I would like to get them back during the day as with class, training, and work it's not always easy to cook even something as simple as a chicken breast.

Any ideas? Should I maybe see an allergist?

Try the whey in water only, cut the milk and see what happens. You could also get a whey only, or whey unflavored with nothing in it but whey. That way you could narrow it down.

 

[Altephor]

Where would I get the whey-only? That way I can at least narrow it down to whether it's the protein or something IN the protein.

I figured cutting the milk won't do much, since whey is protein from milk.

 

[Trials-2-Triump]

Digestive enzyme supplement maybe? They are fairly inexpensive and it seems to work for me. I had the same problem, no hassle with milk, but same symptoms adding the protein. Good luck.

 

[lil_ric23]

why not just start with trying to not use milk. is it really gonna kill ya to have one shake with water? they make them good enough these days that they taste fine with water.

 

[James Keith]

Obviously, the quintessential supplement for athletes is whey protein. But everytime I drink a protein shake, it fucks up my stomach pretty badly. I'm talking maybe 1 to 2 hours post ingestion, I will start to get serious stomach cramps/gas/diarrhea. It's usually worse if I'm active after drinking them (and active can simply mean walking around). The worst culprit by far is Muscle Milk, but I have tried other brands and they all have the same results. Protein bars, however, I have no issues with. The only problem is that protein bars are very expensive, so I'd like to hopefully find a way to get back to drinking shakes. Not to mention that for Post Workout it's hard to beat shakes since you can add so many things to them (peanut butter, fruit, other powdered supps, etc).

I make the protein shakes in milk. Drinking milk alone has never bothered my stomach, so I don't think I'm lactose intolerant. Ice cream sometimes creates a similar problem but not to the same intensity, so perhaps I'm slightly intolerant? Is there such thing as being 'slightly' lactose intolerant? Right now I've been drinking shakes right before bed, as I obviously am not bothered because I'm sleeping. But I would like to get them back during the day as with class, training, and work it's not always easy to cook even something as simple as a chicken breast.

Any ideas? Should I maybe see an allergist?

Yes you can be slightly lactose intolerant. The issue is how much lactose your stomach can digest before it passes through and causes those problems farther along when the bacteria get it. As people get older their system can handle less and less generally.

You can get milk without lactose. It costs twice as much. That's an easy thing to try.

 

[Joe Lyons]

You've got a couple options.

1. You can try a whey protein isolate such as Isopure or something WPI from True Protein.com. They are usually much easier on the digestive tract and even with people that are lactose intolerant.

2. Go to GNC or some vitamin store and get a lactose supplement. It's like a digestive enzyme that will help you break down lactose. I take it when I go out for ice cream and it really helps. If I don't I'm in pain for the rest of the evening.

good luck

 

[hardheart]

You've got a couple options.

1. You can try a whey protein isolate such as Isopure or something WPI from True Protein.com. They are usually much easier on the digestive tract and even with people that are lactose intolerant.

2. Go to GNC or some vitamin store and get a lactose supplement. It's like a digestive enzyme that will help you break down lactose. I take it when I go out for ice cream and it really helps. If I don't I'm in pain for the rest of the evening.

good luck

Most "greens" supplements will do this also.

 

[Hbs6]

if you have the money, buy a more pure (usually more expensive) whey and see how it goes. Whey protein concentrate always bloated me and gave me a similar feeling like you have someimtes. Whey protein isolates on the other hand have been great for me. find a place like trueprotein or whatever company that sells pure forms of whey and see what happens. And also, if you dont mind me asking...how many grams of protein are in the shakes you are making?

 

[YellowChicken]

Shake it up with water. Occasionally when I opt to mix with milk my stomach feels it. And if Im active after Ive just had a shake I sometimes get indigestion and have to take a dump.

 

[Cooz]

you've been given some good advice so far and should give some of them a try.

also...how big of a serving are you drinking? Whatever it is, try cutting it in half and seeing how well you do with a smaller serving.

 

[richardle]

I use to get the shits from whey shakes.

I am lactose intolerant.

A few months ago, I wouldn't dare add milk to my shake.

Then I discovered digestive enzymes and it's 98% all good. I also use lactose free milk.

I use Manno's Zyme-Max. It was on sale at a local SuperSupplements.

I'd say for you, try these steps:
1. Use only water with your shake. If this doesn't help then
2. Find a whey with minimal carbs...zero if possible. Optimum Nutrition is decent stuff at a decent price.
3. Add enzyme pills if step 2 didn't help.

I swear by enzyme supplements!

 

[richardle]

I wanted to add that:

Yes, you can have a varying degree of lactose intolerance. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, I believe everyone is lactose intolerant but for some people it is so minimal that they rarely ever have symptoms.

I can drink a glass of mlik with a big meal like spaghetti and be coo or I can drink a glass of milk by itself and have ass piss.

 

[southpaw447]

Try getting a protein with Aminogen to help with digestion.

GF Pro by Ergopharm is good.


You may also be lactose intolerant. If that's the case you may need to try Egg Protein

 

[Hbs6]

yeah i have to agree with southpay aminogen (protease enzyme) helps some people who have issues with digestive protein.

 

[dingdangdoodle]

So, TS, what happened?

ps. Commercial/Industrial milk is disgusting, it's pus suspended in water with some hormones and anti-infection drugs thrown in for good measure. Cows aren't made to eat corn.

The dairy industry knows that there is a problem with pus in milk. Accordingly, it has developed a system known as the “somatic cell count” to measure the amount of pus in milk. The somatic cell count is the standard used to gauge milk quality. The higher the somatic cell count, the more pus in the milk.

Any milk with a somatic cell count of higher than 200 million per liter should not enter the human food supply, according to the dairy industry. Therefore, anyone living in a state where the somatic cell count is higher than 200 million shouldn’t be drinking milk. There’s only one problem—every state but Hawaii is producing milk with pus levels so high that it shouldn’t enter the human food supply! At the bottom of this page, you can see how high the pus levels in your state’s milk are. Even the national average, at 322 million, is well above the industry’s limit.

 

[Hbs6]

yeah i kind of shy away from milk and most dair products because they tend to bloat me if i take in too much. But i have read a lot about the dairy industry and obviously its tough to get all of the truth but all of these stats and how much these large industries just milk these cows and pump them full of hormones makes me wonder.

 

[M o A]

Yup, definitely try Whey Isolate, i have ibd and guarantee you my stomach is more sensitive than urs, if it works for me, it should do for you.

 

[Loomy]

now foods unflavored whey is the only retail source of pure whey isolate I know of. 10lb bag for 70 bucks. the best and also the cheapest whey source.