I posted a little while back how my blood pressure was way too high for someone my age (im 21), and my doctor believed it was related to the supplements I was taking. At the time I was taking some metabolism pills, Syntha-6 protein supplement, and One-A-Day multi-vitamin. I'd stopped taking the fat burners a week prior to seeing my doctor as I found out they didn't do shit.

So she had me go off all supplements for a month, no protein, no multivitamin, no nothing. Well, I went to see her yesterday and found out my blood pressure had decreased significantly. She told me to stay on this path and come back in a month, and to keep exercising. She also told me that a lot of times these supplements have stuff in them that's not even labled, such as steroids, which makes sense to me because I made big gains on Syntha-6 protein, more than any other protein. But it's not worth it if i'm just doing myself harm.

And I also read this article, which states that you don't even really need protein supplements if you're working out, that you should be able to get enough from the foods you eat.

http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/News/Energy-drinks-whey-protein-and-more-Dietary-supplements-and-teen-athletes.aspx?articleID=8049&categoryID=news-poh2


So I guess my question is, are protein supplements really all that safe or necessary?

perhaps, Syntha 6 has a lot more in it than just protein. have you tried any other brands?

And I also read this article, which states that you don't even really need protein supplements if you're working out, that you should be able to get enough from the foods you eat.

The way I interpreted it, the article said that you should get protein from real food instead of supplements, ie - instead of a protein shake, just eat some chicken.

Personally, I eat a lot more protein than that article recomends ( I eat approx 200g, the article suggests I should be getting around 100g - an optimistic amount ) and 40g of that protein comes in the form of a shake. Shakes are easy to make and consume - real food isn't always so.

I dont know about the brand of protein you were talking about, but if your doctor recommended you stay off it then I'd heed her advice.

I'd recommend taking your multivitamin though. But then I'm not a doctor so... :rolleyes:

perhaps, Syntha 6 has a lot more in it than just protein. have you tried any other brands?


I used to take Whey protein, but now im hesitant to even go back to that. I've heard Whey Isolate Protein is good for you, but how safe is it?

I used to take Whey protein, but now im hesitant to even go back to that. I've heard Whey Isolate Protein is good for you, but how safe is it?

From a reputable company? Very. It's basically just a part of milk, as is the casein proteins. They are seperated through a variety of physical or chemical means from the rest of the milk, dried, powdered, and flavored.

Lots of medically used nutritional food replacements use the exact same stuff for everyone from infants to burn victims to the elderly.

You don't have to use supplements, though. You can make gains with food. Protein powders are just an economical convenience food for the most part.

I posted a little while back how my blood pressure was way too high for someone my age (im 21), and my doctor believed it was related to the supplements I was taking. At the time I was taking some metabolism pills, Syntha-6 protein supplement, and One-A-Day multi-vitamin. I'd stopped taking the fat burners a week prior to seeing my doctor as I found out they didn't do shit.

So she had me go off all supplements for a month, no protein, no multivitamin, no nothing. Well, I went to see her yesterday and found out my blood pressure had decreased significantly. She told me to stay on this path and come back in a month, and to keep exercising. She also told me that a lot of times these supplements have stuff in them that's not even labled, such as steroids, which makes sense to me because I made big gains on Syntha-6 protein, more than any other protein. But it's not worth it if i'm just doing myself harm.

And I also read this article, which states that you don't even really need protein supplements if you're working out, that you should be able to get enough from the foods you eat.

http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/News/Energy-drinks-whey-protein-and-more-Dietary-supplements-and-teen-athletes.aspx?articleID=8049&categoryID=news-poh2


So I guess my question is, are protein supplements really all that safe or necessary?

Your doctor is a moron.

Perhaps the "metabolism" product you were using was chock full of stimulants and that was the cause.

Protein supplements will not do anything to your blood pressure unless you have other underlying health problems. Does your blood pressure increase from eating a chicken breast? Think about it.

Your doctor is a moron.

Perhaps the "metabolism" product you were using was chock full of stimulants and that was the cause.

Protein supplements will not do anything to your blood pressure unless you have other underlying health problems. Does your blood pressure increase from eating a chicken breast? Think about it.

Agreed -- If he would have gotten his BP taken a month after stopping only the "metabolism pills", then he likely would have shown similar reductions in BP. He says he waited a week, but, if the "metabolism pills" work by elevating certain hormones (e.g. T4), then the effects can last 7-14 days even after he stops taking the pills. A week isn't long enough, but a month should be.

Seriously, Syntha-6 and your multi are fine. If you are having BP problems, then stay away from fat burners and "metabolism pills".

I used to take Whey protein, but now im hesitant to even go back to that. I've heard Whey Isolate Protein is good for you, but how safe is it?

It is just a form of protein. It is no more "unsafe" than eating a piece of chicken or an egg.

I think im just gonna stay the hell away from all these "super" products, that promise great results but fail to mention just what or how much is in there.

I recently bought skinless chicken breasts from the grocerie store and have been eating at least one a day, do you think i should still get a protein supplement? Just how much do I need after a heavy session of lifting weights?

I think im just gonna stay the hell away from all these "super" products, that promise great results but fail to mention just what or how much is in there.

I recently bought skinless chicken breasts from the grocerie store and have been eating at least one a day, do you think i should still get a protein supplement? Just how much do I need after a heavy session of lifting weights?

No, protein supplements are not necessary -- They are just a convenient way to up your protein intake with minimal increases in calories. You can do just as well with whole foods if you have your diet in check.

alright, thanks for your help guys!

I have never heard a doctor to recommend not taking a multivitamin. Maybe he wants to fill more prescriptions?

well the reason was she didn't know what was causing it, so she recommended that i go off all supplements to see if it would change anything. Now im not sure if it was just going off the fat burners that did it or going off the protein as well. I used to take No-Xplode as I find it gives me a nice bulk, but now i don't even want to take that for fear of increasing my bp.

I used to take No-Xplode as I find it gives me a nice bulk, but now i don't even want to take that for fear of increasing my bp.


Do NOT take a goofy supplement like that if you have blood pressure problems. From all the reading I've done on it, it's not effective for doing anything besides getting you to feel "pumped" anyway. And there are some not-so-safe things about it.

That's nothing like a straight protein supplement in safety.

well the reason was she didn't know what was causing it, so she recommended that i go off all supplements to see if it would change anything.

You realize that NO-Xplode is loaded with caffeine ... right? Sounds like you were taking lots of stimulants....and stimulants raise your blood pressure. Your doctor probably isn't familiar with all the stuff were taking -- which is why she probably recommended that you stop them all.

Now im not sure if it was just going off the fat burners that did it or going off the protein as well.

It was the fat burners and NO-Xplode. It wasn't the protein....trust us on this one. Some research shows that vegetable protein actually LOWERS blood pressure, and animal protein has no effect on blood pressure.

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/166/1/79

Generally, you should know what is in the supplements you are taking, and how those ingredients are likely to affect your body. I don't take anything unless I've researched the hell out of it.

She also told me that a lot of times these supplements have stuff in them that's not even labled, such as steroids

If the doctor seriously suspected that steroid hormones were the cause of significant high blood pressure, the very obvious next step is a simple blood test to check for things such as elevated androgens and reduced LH. A competent doc would do this regardless of whether it was thought the hormone-related ill health was caused by some external agent or by an internal disorder.

thanks for you feedback guys. I think im just gonna stick to a good old normal protein supplement for now.

Chris is exactly right.

Your doctor is guilty of jumping to conclusions based on her own ignorance and you ended up doing the same thing.

You have no reason to be putting things into your body if you don't know what's in them and what those ingredients do. As a consumer it is YOUR responsibility to learn the proper dosing protocol for a given supplement and make sure you do not have any contraindications for its use (people with heart problems taking ephedrine, etc.).

You were taking a crapload of stimulants, and as already stated those will increase blood pressure. It's not necessarily a bad thing (the same thing happens when you drink a cup of coffee), but if you have preexisting heart or vascular issues it could be a problem. You also may just be particularly sensitive to stims.

Moreover, keep in mind that western medicine is built on specialization. Would you ask a proctologist about your heart? Hell no. In this same manner, take any nutritional advice that your general practitioner gives you with a grain of salt. They have received VERY little training in nutrition.

Here's a few fun facts (many of these come from a study published in Nutrition Journal):

1. Only 30% of medical schools require an actual nutrition course, and even this is almost exclusively related to intravenous nutrition and biochemistry of the cells. It’s not the clinical stuff.

2. Only 3% of medical board exam questions are even remotely connected to nutrition.

3. Nearly 25% of medical students didn’t know that fat contains, gram-for-gram, more calories than an equivalent serving of protein or carbohydrates.

4. Nearly 50% of the students were unaware that olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat.

5. Nearly 50% of the students thought that folic acid (B9) supplementation can make up for a B12 deficiency.

Add to this that the dietary supplement market is huge, and the sports supplement industry is immense in and of itself. Doctors generally have a hard time just keeping up with the current state of drugs, much less supplements (how many times have you heard of a drug being pulled off the market because of "new" studies that show it may be harmful or you hear about a class action lawsuit? This info was invariably available beforehand but you doctor doesn't have the time to individually research every single drug he or she might prescribe. --- sad, I know).

If you take supplements and you go into your doc's office with a problem, 9 times out of 10 they will either jump to the conclusion that supplements are the issue or will at least lean heavily in that direction. I had a problem a while back that I was fairly certain was a reaction to one particular thing I was taking (amongst the vast array of crap I take). Once I got the bloodwork back I was certain what the culprit was, but my doctor was still ordering me to "stop taking all that junk" and come back in after being "clean" for six weeks to retest my blood.

Did I quit everything? Hell no. I just stopped taking the one thing that I knew was causing the issue (I'm apparently rather sensitive to that ingredient), told him I'd quit everything, came back and my bloodwork was perfect.

Lastly, drop your multivitamin. A great many of the vitamins and other nutrients you need are water-soluble and therefore will be "passed out" of your body if not used within a relatively short timeframe. This means that any "one a day" multivitamin is giving you insufficient benefit for most of the day. The supplement industry knows this, but they make them simply because there's enough people that will simply refuse to take more than one pill in a day, which is very bizarre to me.

There are multiple brands out there that have a regular formula that involves two or three tabs which also have a "one a day" formula. If you look at the labels they're the exact same product, they just changed the serving size to one tablet a day, creating the incorrect impression that that one pill is doing the same job of the three in the other bottle.

There's plenty of good multivitamin info out there. Do some reading and I'm sure you'll find something that works for you.

I personally recommend Source Naturals Life Force Multi. Like all better multivitamins it's got independent lab testing to back up its label claims, purity, and absorption (you'd be surprised how many multivitamins out there will barely be absorbed in the human digestive system -- Centrum comes to mind). If you're a guy, definitely get the Iron-free formula, although this applies to any multi. Price ranges from $25-$35 for a bottle of 120 tabs (which at two a day will last you 2 months), depending on where you purchase it.

Some good multi info:
http://www.naturalphysiques.com/cms/index.php?itemid=209

I would get off Syntha-6 and switch to a more pure protien. Looking at its facts, only 22g of the 44g serving size is protien...50%. You can get a good powder that will be 80%+ in protien. BSN puts a lot of other things in their products, as well as being expensive. Personally I use At Large Nutrition, but theres many fine products out there.

A buddy of mine is taking Muscle Milk. Im wondering if anyone can tell me if it's any good and if it's safe to take.

A buddy of mine is taking Muscle Milk. Im wondering if anyone can tell me if it's any good and if it's safe to take.

It used to have glycocyamine in it, which is questionable, but I don't think it does anymore.

However, you are probably better off with a straight whey/casein and possible egg blend. Low carbs/low fats. That way you can use it multiple ways with other foods to fit your dietary needs of the moment.

Cytosport also sells EvoPro, which is the protein of Muscle Milk without all the other stuff.

It used to have glycocyamine in it, which is questionable, but I don't think it does anymore.



Yeah, I think they took that out. Also, they reduced the fat content in MM. Still though, it is pretty calorie dense, and is more of a meal replacement than a protein supplement. Muscle Milk is a decent product, but, unless one is bulking, I would probably go with something that doesn't have 400-ish calories per serving.