There’s recently been a “study” floating around that claims protein will hurt your arteries.
The mainstream media is doing everything it can to scare people away from eating healthy high protein diets.
According to the press release for this “study”:
“If more than 22% of dietary calories come from protein, it can lead to increased activation of the immune cells that play a part in blood plaque forming in the arteries.”
You can see the full study in Nature Magazine here.
You can’t actually view the study unless you pay them. I wouldn’t recommend giving them your money because Nature literally seems like a Chinese Communist Party propaganda outlet.
As with most modern “studies”, this study is complete bullshit. For the uninitiated, even the system of peer review is also mostly bullshit even though average people think “peer reviewed means it’s true” (yes average people are that easy to fool).
What’s in the “Protein Shake”
It’s pretty clear that the people who performed this study wanted to show that “protein is bad”.
Here’s the “protein” that was used in the study:
The “protein shake” is literally Boost Plus, Unjury, nonfat dry milk powder, Sol Carb, canola oil, and water.
First of all, who the hell adds CANOLA OIL to a protein shake?
Canola oil is a garbage vegetable oil that actually causes heart disease and artery damage.
Secondly, the biggest ingredient in the protein shake was Boost Plus.
Here are the ingredients used in Boost Plus (Note that ingredients have to be listed by weight):
WATER, GLUCOSE SYRUP, SUGAR, VEGETABLE OIL (CANOLA, HIGH OLEIC SUNFLOWER, CORN), MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, AND LESS THAN 2% OF COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, CALCIUM CASEINATE, SODIUM CASEINATE, VITAMINS AND MINERALS‡, GUM ACACIA, FRUCTOOLIGOSACCHARIDES, INULIN (FROM CHICORY), SOY LECITHIN, SALT, CARRAGEENAN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR
Boost Plus has 45g carbs, 14g fat, and 14g protein. It has more than 3 times as much carbohydrates as its entire protein content. Each bottle has 24g added sugar – again, much more than the protein in it.
To top it off, right after glucose syrup and sugar, the next heaviest ingredient used are vegetable oils (Canola, sunflower, and corn oils).
Why would anyone put this in a protein shake? It doesn’t make any sense.
It also has soy in it – one of the worst things you can eat as a man.
This drink has more vegetable oils and sugars in it than protein. Protein is the lowest macronutrient in Boost plus.
Thirdly, the “protein shake” contains “Sol Carb” which the study describes as a “commercial supplement composed of a carbohydrate polymer”.
Once again, why would you put this in a PROTEIN shake? It does not make sense.
In summary, here is what the protein shake used in the study contained:
- Canola oil (???)
- Boost plus – A drink mostly consisting of sugar and vegetable oils (Canola, sunflower, and corn oils). It has 3x more carbs than protein and some of the protein is actually soy protein (worst of them all).
- Sol Carb – A carbohydrate supplement.
None of these things belong in a protein shake.
We are dealing with malice, not stupidity.
The “scientists” cross the realm of stupidity and are malicious.
The only explanation is that the “scientists” wanted to conclude that “protein is bad” for whatever reason (could be funding money, job offers, or anything else).
To top it off, there were only ~30 people in the study (extremely small) and most of the data is from “experiments in mice and cells in a petri dish”.
If you’re drinking canola oil and sugar sludge – yes, you’re going to mess up your body.
Blaming it on protein and making it sound like protein will hurt your arteries makes you a Grade A imbecile.
– Harsh Strongman
Read next: How to Increase Protein in Indian Vegetarian Diet (With Desi Diet Plan)