Question about protein supplements....

I originally read about Unjury protein supplement drinks here and ordered some sample packets of each, chocolate, vanilla and the unflavored. I really liked all of them and was just getting ready to order a full size container of the chocolate and the unflavored to have on hand for after my surgery...... I was looking at the nutritional info on the website again before ordering and noticed that the flavored ones have fructose listed as the second ingredient. The dietitian at my surgeons' office gave me a list of ingredients, that if any one of them are listed as one of the 1st three ingredients, we have to avoid them. Fructose is one of them. Now my question is: If we are mixing the powdered protein supplement with skim milk instead of water, doesn't that change the listing of ingredients? Does this make it OK to drink? Also, does anyone know if crystalline fructose is the same as fructose? Should this also be avoided if it is one of the 1st three ingredients? This was listed as the 2nd on another protien drink powder I was checking into. Any input would be appreciated!

Julie, Last I knew fructose was an artificial sweetener, maybe I am wrong. If i were you I would search for info about it online. There is of course a bounty of information out there. As far as the skim milk goes, on the nutrition facts label it will tell you how many calories, grams of sugar (natural lactose sugar which cannot be removed), etc. If regular milk doesn't settle well with you after surgery there are substitutes (soy etc). Goodluck, Casey I just found a couple sites with info... http://www.health-marketplace.com/Fructose-Crystalline.htm http://www.cas.astate.edu/draganjac/Fructose.html

Hi Julie The fructose and ingredients listed on the package will not change except in adding the vitamins etc that is in the milk you use to mixe the protein power in. As far as fructose goes: Fructose's chemical name is levulose. Fructose is also called the fruit sugar. Fructose is found in fruits, honey, and the sole sugar in bull and human semen. It is the sweetest of sugars. It is used for preventing sandiness in ice cream. This explains why we are not to eat it. Fruit sugars this rich will more than likely cause that wonderful sensation called "dumping". In reality it can go from being mildly nauseated to being quite painful. Hope this helps you out. Cindy K.

Thanks for all the info ladies! I'm trying to get together a supply of everything I'm going to need for the first month. Got my vitamins and Tums and tons of blended food ice cubes, protein drink mixes & non-carbonated bottles of water......!

A message from Martha at UNJURY: Thank you all for your interest in UNJURY. I just wanted to provide some background on UNJURY ingredients. First, the entire group is wise to be mindful of all sugars, as this discussion clearly recognizes. If I understand correctly, there are two questions: 1) what is the significance of the fact that fructose as the second ingredient on the list? 2) how good is fructose for bypass patients? If you compare UNJURY to other supplements, you will see that our ingredient list is very short, far shorter than most. That's because almost all of UNJURY is whey protein isolate, a very high quality source of protein. We try to minimize addititives. Almost all of UNJURY is protein. We add very little of *anything* else, so a very small amount of fructose -- 2 grams -- moves it to #2 on the list. The dietitian's advise is generally good because it makes it easy to remember that #2 on the list generally indicates a *lot* of something. But that's not the case with UNJURY. One of the posters is correct; fructose is sometimes called fruit sugar, and it is found in many fruits. Two grams of fructose (per serving) is not nearly enough to cause dumping. In fact, we have many customers who in fact report that UNJURY is the only one they can tolerate without problems ! UNJURY is quite appropriate for diabetics (unless there some other unusual condition). A far greater concern to bypass patients is lactose, which can be a truly major ingredient in supplements using whey protein *concentrate* (not those using only whey protein *isolate*). Whey protein concentrate contains lactose--sometimes as much as 50%,--even though lactose is not on the ingredient list. I'll track this discussion thread, and if anyone has further questions, please feel free to ask here, or email me at [email protected] Thank you all for your interest. Martha Krachenfels MS RD President UNJURY Protein

Thanks for clarifying Martha. As always you give us answers in very simple to understand language. Just so everyone knows, when I saw this topic on the MB I wrote to Unjury and asked them about it. I had never heard of anyone dumping on Unjury so knew there must be an explanation. It is good to see that Martha gave us a great explanation and very quickly. Theresa

Martha, Thank you for your response to my fructose question! I spoke with the dietician at my surgeon's office last week after my initial post and she basically told me the same thing..... The amount of fructose in Unjury is low enough (only 2 carbs) so as not to create a problem for Bariatric or Diabetic patients. I did go ahead and ordered ( and very promptly received) a container of the unflavored powder and will soon be ordering some chocolate! Thanks again, Martha!