can't tolerate protein drinks!!

Help!!! I can't stand these protein shakes. I am starting to think that I may be lactose intolerant. Does anyone have a creative way to get in their protein without using the shakes or drinks? I did buy some liquid protein at GNC yesterday and with 3 TBSP it equals 18 gms. I was so excited to find it them my husband looked at the back and saw that it had 5 gms. of sugar per serving. Is that too much? He said I shouldn't use it and Frutose is like the 2nd ingredient. I really do not know what to do. Then to top it all off I got on the scale this morning and it says I gained 2 lbs. Go figure...I am amazed that I can even gain weight with what little I am eating. Hopefully things will get better~ Julie

I have not yet started the protein drinks but I was told that the fructose and lactose are the good sugars because they are the natural ones. Have you checked with your doctor or surgeon to see if this is ok with your body? Hope you get on the losing side and are able to tolerate the protein soon Bsnyder - Toledo OH

They told me I could have as many as 9gms of sugars in anything. How are you doing with drinking your water? That should keep the weight gain at bay. Thanks for the info about the liquid protein. I am having troubles with the shakes too because I don't like sweets. Good luck Julie! Hugs, Joni

Okay ladies, well here it is. The big first week post-op and protein drinks SUCK! I'm now 17 days post-op and so glad that I'm on soft foods so I don't have to rely as heavily on the protein drinks. But I do have hope to offer to you. Everyone in my support group talked about this drink called Nectar. I didn't listen...UNTIL I started getting sick of the cholocate/strawberry protein drinks. Go to www.bariatriceating.com. There under the Protein, Protein, Protein section you will find Nectar. They have several flavors. The one I have now is the Tea w/Lemon flavor. To make it, I mix a 20oz bottle of water with Raspberry Ice Crystal Light. Then I pour out 16oz of the Crystal Light into a shaker bottle and add the 27g of the Nectar and shake, shake, shake. This 16oz of drink has 23g of protein, no fat and no carbs. It takes delicious. AND you are getting in the fluid you need at the same time. I've got a canister of the Fuzzy Navel Nectar on the way which is suggested to mix with either Crystal Light Sunshine Orange or Peach Tea. I'm excited to try it and to have several flavor options on hand. I'm telling you honestly girls, it's not hard at all to drink this stuff, and just think if you can drink three 16oz servings of it a day you will be getting 69g of protein just from that. You can order the Nectar and have it shipped 3 day express, of course it is a little more expensive but the extra dollars are so worth it to be able to have something to drink that is healthy and good tasting. Hope this helps anyone that's having this problem. Jessica

I can't seem to tolerate sweet either. I've tried the Atkins Advantage and it doesn't sit well. I tried another drink called Isopure, it's more along the lines of a kool-aid type drink. It has about 160 calories, with 40 grams of protein in a 20 oz bottle. I personally thought the mango-peach and alpine friut were sickening. But the apple melon, blue raspberry, pineapple orange banana and grape were all OK. I got the powder of the pineapple orange banana and it is not like the pre-made drink, it seems more milky and sweet and I'm going to try to return it today. Also, my dietician told me to add dry milk powder to things like mashed potatoes, cream of wheat, cottage cheese, and even milk if you can tolerate milk. It adds a good amount of protein. Good luck!!! Dawna

The first and only protein drink I have been able to tolerate is the fuzzy navel nectar. I get it from Vitalady.com. I had ordered a bunch of champion whey stacks samples from her and and she threw in some free nectar samples. This is the BEST website. Very nice folks. I got an e-mail from vitaguy (her husband) wishing me good luck on my surgery. The lemonade was ok. I plan to try it again but make it with crystal light lemonade instead of water. I was also planning to try the fuzzy navel with crystal light orange. The Crystal Sky nectar was awful. Smelled bad and didn't dissolve very good. The other shakes (banana, cocoa mochachino) were very bad. I do not like sweet tasting drinks. Many people have suggested a vanilla shake made with diet orange pop or diet root beer. Either let the fizz out of the pop by leaving it open over night or just make the shake in the blender; blenderizing takes out the carbonation. I got a french vanilla shake from GNC that made me throw up pre-op. Good luck.

u don't realize how bad they are into u have to take it

Hi Julie! If you think you are lactose intolerant, try mixing your protein powder with Lactaid Fat Free milk. That's what I have to do. Another problem I have is that I can't tolerate sucralose (the artificial sweetener also known as brand name Splenda). It causes severe diarrhea for me. I am having a huge problem finding any of these protein drinks that do not use it. I finally found one, Unjury, which is sweetened with aspartame instead. Thank God! It tastes pretty good, although I am also getting sick of the milky protein drinks and wish I could find one that's more like juice, without the sucralose. One of the great things about Unjury is that one scoop mixed with eight ounces of milk gives you 28 grams of protein (20 grams for the Unjury, eight grams for the milk). That means I only have to drink two 8-oz. shakes per day to get 56 grams. Then just make sure you eat something else (like an egg, cheese stick, chicken, etc.,) to give yourself that extra four grams of protein. If you reach a plateau and need to up your protein, you can always add a third shake. (Btw, the shakes only have 170 calories when mixed with milk!)

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm a week out and tolerating the Protien shakes. My nut suggested carb solutions. It's OK, but clumps and is getting old fast. I ordered a couple of different kinds of Nectar as so many people rave about it. I'm going back to work next week and hate to think of trying to milk protien shakes there. Good luck with your search, Torrey