GNC had bullets - But not the 100% whey protein....

Even though the dietitian said not to try them, I bought 2 anyway. It listed whey protein isolate on the ingredients so it should be OK. I thought I was getting fruit punch and orange…..well, the orange was actually peach. I am not a peach flavored anything person. I did try it. Straight out of the flask - not good. So I dumped it in my 20 oz water. Still not so good. It didn’t really taste like peach. For some reason it reminded me of hard apple cider. Maybe because I have been sick off of it.

GNC carries only flavored 100% whey protein isolate. Is there any place that carries the unflavored in the GR area? I have some chocolate, but I am not going to add that to things other than sweet stuff. I am looking for something to add to just about everything.  Anyone have any suggestions to use if I need to find it on the internet? The sales person told me to look for On Nutrition products?? TIA!

It's so funny how different programs are from each other.  I was at my bariatric information meeting last night (surgery in a little over two weeks) and my nutrionist had that item on her list of things that are good for us.

The bullets?  Yeah - that is werid, but I figured that some offices must OK them since so many here on OH drink them.   Like I said, I wasn't worried since it said protein isolate.    That is something they specify A LOT - has to be isolate.

GNC carries Any Whey, 100 percent unflavored pure isolate protein. It is high priced compared to where I get it online so if you choose to use that often, let me know and I'll let you know where I get it for about 50 percent the price. SW

So another GNC might have the unflavored isolate?  The dude said that all stores would carry the same.  They had one unflavored 100% whey protein, but it was a blend.  My surgeon's office says no blends or concentrates. I'd love to know where you get it 50% off!  I am not on full mushies yet, but would like to start using it even in drinks.  I have had an issue with shedding since I had my girls and am afraid that I will be bald in a few months without extra protein. Thanks!

Gwen, You want me to see if I can drop off on Friday? I am in Sturgis tomorrow at Wally world and have to run to Elkhart tomorrow to Menards so I have no problem stopping by there tomorrow. Just give me a flavor preference. it really doesn't bother me. Ask Stacy W. sometimes, you can find the strangest of things in Sturgis and my Market area. i leave for elkhart about 11:00 to buy a stove for the cottage so just let me know..Shopping for someone else is not a problem since I am such a picky finicky person and cant eat or drink anything. sometime, I will share my story with you--(not just yet.)AS long as I avoid the amish buggies. Amy.. (wigglypoo)

Thanks Amy - I'll PM you!

My nutritionist said they weren't good for us either.  But I'm the type of person who wants to know WHY WHY WHY.  hehehe... so I did my own research.  Guess she was actually right for a change.  Here's the post I put in my profile a few weeks ago with the research I did. ------------------------------------------------ A lot of people swear by the New Whey Protein Bullets.  but from my own research I am not thrilled with the quality of the protein it provides.  Here's what I know:

Ingredients in New Whey Protein 42g
67.4% pure deionized water, 31.5% Actinase (patent pending blend of enzymatically hydrolyzed collagenic protein isolate, whey protein isolate and caseine protein isolate), less that 2% of malic acid, vitamin c,b3,b5,b2, b1, folic acid, biotin, and b12, natural flavors, sucralose, blue-1 and red 40.

As we know, the highest percentage of ingredients are listed first, with lesser amounts listed last.  So we know that of that 31.5% of protein mixture the highest amount of protein would be Collagen Protein.  Next is Whey Protein Isolate, then Caseine Protein Isolate.  Let's look at each one:

Callagen Protein:
This is the main protein of connective tissue in animals and the most abundant protein in mammals, making up about 25% of the whole-body protein content.  When broken down, collagen becomes a gelatin used in many foods such as Jell-O type desserts.  It’s also used in cosmetics, pharmacology and photography industry for the production of various products. Collagen and gelatin are poor-quality protein sources since they do not contain all the essential amino acids that the human body requires - they are not complete proteins.

Whey Protein Isolate
This is the highest quality protein currently available.  The BV rating is often shown at 110-159 because the BV scale was devised before Whey Protein Isolate was developed and the scale is based on the perfect protein of an egg.  This form of protein has the highest biolavailability of any other form of protein.

Casein Protein Isolate
Casein is a slow-digesting protein source that actually forms a "gel" in the stomach and slowly releases it's amino acid components over several hours after ingestion.  This slow release can last up to 7 hours (for comparison: Whey is released within 40 minutes).  Casein is derived from milk - same protein source as if you drink a glass of milk.  My concern though with this source is because it is concentrated and process to be slow-digesting, the Casein Protein Isolate may actually leave our altered/shorter digestive track before it has a chance to release all of the amino acids it contains.

And just a side note:  The words "enzymatically hydrolyzed" don't really mean much.  Enzymatically just means it's a "variety of protein enzyme sources" and hydrolyzed just means that the protein has been "broken down" into it's basic amino acid component.

So basically with those $3.50+ protein bullets you're paying for 68% water and 32% of a low quality combination of protein (with a little bit of good whey protein thrown in for good measure). 

I personally would rather feed my body the high quality Whey Protein Isolate that is proven to be the best for my body, will be processed in less than an hour in my shorter intestines and allow me to use every single bit of what I'm drinking and not waste any protein.

HTH
Pam

Thanks Pam! I guess the old saying "If it sounds too good to be true...." applies. They weren't something I would consider as a meal/protein replacement, but just a bonus. I am finding that although I have a cupboard full of dry protein supplements from my surgeon's office, I opt for the ready-to-drinks because I tend to get side tracked with the kids or DHs needs and find I am late for meals. I know in order to make this tool work, that is a practice I need to correct too. It would be nice to have a back up if I have one of those days though. By any chance, although they are crummy proteins in the bullets, did it give like a mean protein equivalence? Like it says 42 g protein, but really should be counted as 10g or something?

I understand about having a crazy schedule.  If I didn't have my alarms on my cell phone I'd breeze through the whole day without eating or taking my vitamins or drinking my water.  My 10am alarm just went off a bit ago, which reminded me to eat breakfast.  Now it's 10:39 and I'm only remembering to start drinking my water because I'm writing this post.  Next alarm goes off at 2pm to remind me to start drinking after lunch and to take my calcium.   So maybe something like that could help you stay on schedule with your eating and allow you to plan ahead for meals before you realize you missed it 2 hours ago and need to grab for a RTD shake.   I always keep a case (4 cans) of Slim Fast Low Carb RTD in the fridge in case I oversleep in the morning and need to grab someone on the way to work.  But normally I can take 2 minutes in the morning to mix up a shake from powder without a problem (my schedule has me drinking a protein shake on my 90 commute to work).   And remember ... you can't fully take care of DH or the kids unless you are FIRST taking care of yourself.  You need to eat on a very specific schedule and make sure you are doing everything in  your power to follow every rule your surgeon gave you.  So if you aren't focusing enough attention on you and your nutritional needs, then you'll need to readjust your priorities -- especially right now in the early months after surgery.  YOU are the most important person right now. As for the Bullets having the equivalant amount of protein at a lesser amount.... no, that's not really how it works.  The body would be able to take in a little bit of the whey isolate that's mixed into it, but would not really use the rest of what's in there.  There are 3 different forms of protein in a Bullet (even if they say Whey Bullet --- it's not ALL whey).  So even if we assume that there's equal amouts of those 3 different kinds of protein and divide the 42g by 3 ... that's only 14g.  But we know that's not how it works because collegan is listed first, so there's more of that form than there is of whey.  Who knows.  Maybe 10g is a good guess.  But I'd personally rather just eat a cheesestick and know I'm getting a solid 8g of protein and real food .... then to pay that outrageous price for a Bullet and not being sure what my body will and won't be able to use.  I know there are others out there who will argue with me and say it's fine.  But this is what I've found from my research and I would rather be very careful with what I'm putting into my body now.... especially with the high risk of deficiencies we have now.   Pam