Bullets?

I always see people saying things about liq. protein bullets any info on them is greatly appericated. Also where do you buy them from?

Hi BrenMc You'll want to hear what the dietitians on the Forum say about PDCAAS, a protein scoring system supported by the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences, as well as the FDA, the USDA and the Food and Agriculture Organization at the United Nations.  Last year, we had samples of two of the "liq. protein bullets" tested for their amino acid profiles at a leading independent lab.  That allowed us to calculate their protein quality score according to PDCAAS. While the companies marketing those products offered alternative ways of thinking about which protein is best, I believe THEY NEVER CHALLENGED OUR CALCULATIONS OF THEIR PDCAAS SCORES. In brief: while a high quality protein such as whey gets a 100 out of 100 as a PDCAAS score, the bullets got scores of about 5 and 6 out of 100. Here's a link to the newletter we sent out at that time on that topic: http://www.unjury.com/unjury-update-may-2007.pdf If you have any questions, just reply and I will try to watch this thread.  :-) Kind regards Jerome UNJURY (R) Protein

UNJURY Is this is biased opinion?  Are you a employee of Unjury?  The only reason I ask is your user name implies that.   I'm just looking for the truch.  I'm scheduled for surgery on the 31st of March and just want to get the best product to ensure my protein levels stay up.   I have seen posts going in both directions.  Mainly praise for the IDS New Whey product.   Is there a unbiased report available.  The one listed by you is actually on a competitors web site.  Thanks

Hi jmatteol

I do work for Unjury. We participate some on the boards and we are always open about that.

I cannot say for sure, but companies that market the bullets might like for people to believe that there is a "controversy" and that there are questions about what the facts are. They also might like for there to be controversy about what's important.

Here are some facts that are not in dispute:

1) The protein quality/value scoring system we are using is the one recommended by Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences. These are the leading nutritional and medical experts in the country. (The scoring is called PDCAAS.) The FDA also supports using PDCAAS.

2) We send samples of two brands of "bullets" to Covance laboratories, a leading independent lab. The are one of the labs used by the FDA, for example.
We paid Covance to analyze the amino acid profile of the samples and the results for the samples were essentially identical.

3) We at UNJURY then calculated the PDCAAS protein score for those products. It is a mathematical formula.
The scores for the two "bullet" products calculated to 5 and 6 out of a possible 100. That's very low.

The marketers of those two products have not ever, to my knowledge, challenged those calculations of their PDCAAS score. I believe they would have if they were incorrect.

We generally comment on products when we believe that there is either substantial misrepresentation, or substantial misunderstanding.
In this case, we believe that the misunderstanding is that the value of different kinds of protein are similar. These products appear to get about 94% of their protein from collagen, which is well-recognized to be a low value kind of protein.

Whey protein has always been considered to be a high quality protein. It has a PDCAAS score of 100.
Interestingly, one of the products uses the word "Whey" in it's name, even though it contains about 6% or less whey protein.

So you can choose to use a Whey-based product with a protein score of 100, or
you can choose a product that is mostly collagen-based with a protein score of about 6.

Does that help?

Jerome
UNJURY (R) Protein

Hi Jerome, Thanks for the quick response.  I apologize if my reply seemed some what negative.  I've just seen so many posts and opinions on the New Whey product that are positive.  I just want what will be best for a full recovery.  I don't want to burn any lean muscle tissue during the liquid diet phase of the recovery process.  It is critical that not only myself but everyone that comtemplates this type of surgery or diet knows what the truth is in regards to what is best to consume for protein supplements.  The name New Whey is very deceiving.  Again thanks for your quick response.  I hope you understanding why I questioned your post being a competitor of New Whey.  Thanks Again. 

You're very welcome jmatteol

I perceived your questions as straight hard questions, not "curveballs".

If you look back, I suspect you will find the positive comments often do not address the protein value as much as the convenience. But convenience without a lot of protein value seems to miss the point...

So thanks for your questions. It helps us clarify things.

Kind regards
Jerome
UNJURY (R) Protein

Hi Bren, Just in case you wanted just a simple answer - Protein bullets have either 42 or 25 grams of protein in a little 2 ounce plastic capsule that looks like a big, clear bullet. They come in a couple of flavors; my favorite was grape, but they come in fruit punch and orange from one co. and lots of flavors from the other. I watered mine down and added some lemon juice and lots of ice, but for the first 8 months after surgery, bullets helped me keep my protein levels up a lot. I have since discovered Muscle Milk Light and I wish I'd known about it at the beginning. You can get bullets at Vitamin Shoppe and GNC, both in their stores and on line. Another great way to get protein, the one I use every day now, is from non-fat, decaf, sugar-free vanilla lattes. I get a large one at least once a day for 16 grams of prtein and 18 ounces of liquid all for 160 calories. I love them and am happily addicted! Good luck. Getting enough protein and liquid at the beginning is tough. nancy

Thank you so much for the info.

Nancy - what company are you referring to that has lots of flavors?  I've checked online at the Vitamin Shoppe & GNC and each only has 3-4 flavors.