Bone broth protein powder? Good pea protein powders?

Hiya. It's 2am and I've finished my 2nd day of Optifast...so far, so good, except I can't sleep! So I'm shopping for protein powders online, lol...

Whey protein gives me a very sore throat. I have the same problem with cow milk (although not with yogurt or cheese, and so far I've been okay with the Optifast, which of course I'm committed to even if it does end up irritating my throat).

My usual protein powder is a brand that uses a mix of pea and rice. It's my understanding that rice protein isn't good for us post-wls. My booklet from the hospital recommends whey or soy, and the dietician said pea protein is also suitable. I want to avoid excess soy, so I'm looking for good pea protein powders...

Right now I'm looking at Naked Pea, which is unflavoured and just pure pea protein. Also Vega Sport Protein Powder, which uses pea, pumpkin seed, and sunflower seed protein. Anyone use these, or have another to recommend?

I've also just discovered the existence of bone broth protein powder, which is kinda pricey but looks very interesting. Zero carbs! Anyone tried it?

Check with your nutritionist, but I have read here that we do not effectively digest certain protein powders after WLS. Whey was recommended to me. People said that calcium caseinate (also a milk derivative) was not a good choice for us. I would think that bone broth protein would be a collagen type protein which is also one that I have been told isn't as effective. I get not wanting to use soy because of the phyto estrogen.

I have tried the Vega sport before surgery. I found that like some of the other Vega products it was a little gritty.

If you can handle yogurt, that's great. SKYR will give you 21 grams of protein for the plain 0% fat. You can water it down to make a smoothie.

You will find that after surgery your tastes change quite a bit. Please do not stock up on any protein before surgery. Better to go to a place like Goodness Me market or GNC and buy a variety of sample packs. So many (including me) bought a huge tub of protein powder because it sounded yummy before WLS. I tried mine before the surgery and loved it. After surgery it made me gag. Huge waste of money. Those and other stores sell individual serving size proteins, including Vega.

Thanks, crqvingchange! Good point about changing tastes. I didn't even realize you could buy individual serving sizes. I'll hit up GNC and see what they have. Unfortunately vegan protein powders are usually somewhat gritty, they don't dissolve smoothly like whey. I am going to try some whey after surgery because who knows, maybe I won't have the same reaction to it. Life would certainly be easier if I could tolerate whey protein powder!

I'll definitely call the dietician and see what she says about the bone broth protein. I believe you're right, that it's a collagen.

SKYR is on my post-surgery shopping list. From reading posts here, it sounds like a staple for many folks. It's great we have such good high protein yogurts these days.

I was just at Bulk Barn to get the ingredients for Everything But the Bagel Spice, and here is what I found for protein in bulk:

organic sprouted protein - 350/100 gr, 16g of protein - not great on numbers

organic vegan protein powder - my picture was fuzzy but it looks like better stats

pumpkin seed protein - 360 cal/100gr, 65g protein

hemp protein powder - 400cal/100gr. 49g protein

pea powder protein - once again pic is fuzzy.

These were all in bulk and you could buy as much or little as you need. I would listen to Dawn and make sure that you are getting a complete protein with amino acids. Bulk Barn did have single servings of Vega Sport. GNC (in the same plaza so I checked for you) did not.

A word of caution. Post-op your Centre will tell you to stay away from seeds for so many weeks/months because they can get caught in the staple line in your pouch as it is healing. If these powders are gritty you may want to avoid them for some time. Check with your Centre.

Bulk Barn also had in the refrigerator case a flavoured protein water that looked like it would be suitable for the clear fluids phase post-op. It had zero carbs, was 60 cal and 15g of protein. It came in multiple flavours.

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. I'm going to try and speak to the dietician this week and see what she says. I never even thought about the grit causing a problem for the pouch. It really is such a new way of thinking about everything.

I've heard about that protein water at Bulk Barn, I think it's called ProteinH20. I recently met someone who had wls a couple of years ago and she swears by it.

Maybe I'll be better off just coping with effects of whey protein powder for the first couple of months post-wls. This morning I had the old familiar sore throat and stuffy nose, presumably from the Optifast, but I've been blowing my nose like crazy today and my throat is feeling a bit better. I'm willing to live with cold-like symptoms to prepare for surgery, and I'm willing to do so after surgery too, at least at first, in order to get in my protein requirement safely.

Thanks again for doing the reconnaissance mission I'll have to get my butt out to Bulk Barn soon.

We don't absorb P protein well if in its natural form because it is an incomplete protein. Adding amino acids or making sure that the P protein you buy has amino acids added in it will help you absorb it better And will make it a complete protein

Thanks, Dawn. That's something for me to look into and ask the dietician about.

So I've been researching amino acids and protein powders, and it seems to me that the protein powder I usually drink might be just fine post-surgery. I'm going to run it by the dietician, of course. For anyone else who may be looking for a non-whey, non-soy protein, here's the info on this one (make sure to clear it with your bariatric centre):

It's called Garden of Life Raw Organic Protein, comes in chocolate, vanilla, and unflavoured. It's not gritty, ie there are no little gritty bits which are so common in vegan proteins, at least not when blended into shakes. I haven't mixed it into applesause or yogurts, etc., so I'm not sure how it dissolves that way.

1 scoop = 33 grams
calories: 130
protein: 22 grams
carbs: 5 grams (fiber 3, sugar 0)

It's made with Pea Protein and Sprouted Brown Rice Protein. According to the label, it has all 9 essential amino acids that make a complete protein (histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine). I don't have pictures, but you can looks it up on Amazon and read the labels there.

Naked Pea Protein Powder also has all 9 essential amino acids. I haven't tried it yet, so no idea if it's gritty or not.

I'm still going to go to GNC and Bulk Barn and get a few individual packets of various protein powders to try after surgery, keeping in mind my taste might change.