Protein Powders?

[Mehita]

DS has started a fitness program and one thing the trainer wants him to do is eat more protein or consider adding protein powder to things. Any thoughts on this in terms of IBD?

Any recommendations for particular brands of protein powders in the US?

He's still feeling great and going on 10 months in remission. His last labs were all normal except low albumin. Aside from that, all is well and he's excited about this training program and building some muscle after being skin and bone for so long. It's amazing how quickly he's gone from boy to manly boy this last year. My baby's growing up!

 

[worriedboy]

That's some great news :mario2:
I have been thinking about it myself, found few threads here at the forum which related to protein shakes with Crohns.
Basically I settled for occsional rounds of Ensure.

I'd recommend it instead, however, I get to think that maybe it's not ideal to consume with Crohns for 2 reasons :
1) I read here somewhere that it contains Polysorbate80 or some other thing that may aggrevate inflammation
2) It's very sugary and I often feels it's not doing good to my guts (I feel it not only woth Ensure but also with other very sugary foods and drinks)

Would love to hear what you are going to go for.

 

[Tesscorm]

I'll be interested in hearing about this too. My daughter (no crohns) does a lot of fitness training and adds protein powders(in smoothes, adds to yoghurt, etc.) and protein bars to her diet. I'm sure it's safe but, not knowing much about it, it does concern me that her intake of protein is 'higher' relative to normal intake through diet?? Not sure how much will be too much and what issues may be associated with it but, generally, too much of anything can lead to something. But, she's been doing it for about a year and hasn't had any issues. (She's also 21, so developmentally at a different stage.)

When S was 17-19ish, he was/had just regained the lost weight pre-dx and was anxious to start putting on (muscular) weight. While he was on supplemental EN (elemental formula, thru NG - I know your son doesn't need to do this though! ), he swore he was able to build up muscle quickly because of the protein absorption from the formula?? Not sure if he was right or wrong?? But, once he stopped using the NG tube, we moved to 2 Boost shakes per day and, I was able to convince him to stick with it because I bot the hi-protein version. I felt safer doing it this way (compared to the powders used by my daughter) because I think the amount of protein was a bit more balanced given it was given through the shake which contained other nutrients/vitamins.

Something to consider as you'll be able to get more calories into him (if that's a concern?) and more vitamins/minerals.

 

[alex_chris]

I have tried protein bars and protein powders in the past briefly, both were problematical sweetened and had detrimental effects on my intestine (I assume because they are that much sweetened).

From all my experience, "bulking up" works best with a good healthy diet. What I also added in the past was liquid medical nutrition. They highly caloric, but do not just include protein, but basically everything that is required (suitable for liquid diet only). If you add 1-2 bottles per day at 300kcal per 200ml bottle, you build up your weight in a healthy and Crohn's friendly way.

 

[my little penguin]

There are a lot of smoothie shake recipes with protien that don't need extra store bought powders.
Dairy free or low sugar etc...
We use these for my oldest ( non Ibd kiddo).

 

[Jmrogers4]

We've used beneprotein (unflavored) and added it to various things although this was when we were just trying to put weight on him but also used smoothie recipes off line that didn't call from protein powder.
So glad he is at a point to even think about all these things figure it's good for them if anything goes off kilter at least their bodies will be in a stronger position to help fight things off.

 

[Melissadempsey728]

I drink a meal replacement protein shake every morning, its not a large amount meant for building muscle, but just as a supplement. The main reason I do it is because I am vegan and the powder I use is made from organic non-gmo soy, and it doesn't bother me (I mix it with almond milk and frozen fruit).

 

[Sascot]

That's great that he's feeling good enough to train. I would also be a but concerned about what's in some of the fitness protein shakes/powders. Could you make up some green smoothies or use high protein nutritional shakes?

 

[my little penguin]

I found orgain vegan version( no gluten no dairy and no carragean)
Plus 16 g of protein .

 

[Mehita]

I would LOVE for him to get all his protein from food naturally. That is my goal! The powder is for back up. I think we might try the BeneProtein. Since it's supposed to have no taste it might mix well with a lot of food.

Unfortunately, ever since his liquid only diet when he was really sick and only having smoothies, he hasn't been a fan. He equates smoothies with feeling bad and can't understand why people CHOOSE to drink smoothies. He's just blown away that there are smoothie stores at the shopping mall and people actually pay money to eat/drink there.

Side note: if anyone is curious, his trainer said healthy teens and adults should eat 75% of their body weight in grams of protein. He weighs 100 pounds, so he needs 75 grams of protein a day. Of course there are caveats to that, but generally a good rule of thumb.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Jmrogers4]

Unfortunately, ever since his liquid only diet when he was really sick and only having smoothies, he hasn't been a fan. He equates smoothies with feeling bad and can't understand why people CHOOSE to drink smoothies. He's just blown away that there are smoothie stores at the shopping mall and people actually pay money to eat/drink there.

Jack feels the same way :lol2:

 

[kiny]

I think sometimes people overestimate the amount of protein you need and underestimate the amount of carbs you need. Protein can be made money from, carbs can not, so the media and milk industry like to promote protein. Instead of the media who should say to lower calorie intake, it is "in" to bash carbs, even though study after study will tell you a healthy diet is centered around carbs, not protein.

A diet should be 60% carbs, 20% fat and 20% protein. If you look on EN, you'll find that ratio. You don't need to know the amount of grams of protein you need this way, you count your calories, use that ratio, and you'll have a balanced meal this way.

Those sports companies don't care if you eat healthy, they also won't tell you that carbs are needed for protein synthesis. One of the best sources of protein is albumin, since it has a really good amino acid profile, all you need to do is eat an egg white with your meal for that, and you will have much higher quality protein than from powder which is usually cheap casein or whey that is denatured, and they often usually add maltodextrin for the taste, which is not good for crohn's.

 

[araceli]

My older son is into body building.( He is the one with no issues) He gets his protein intake from chicken, turkey, quinoa, brown rice, edamame, eggs without the yolk, etc. He eats about 5 small meals a day. You may want to check the body building sites and you will find a lot of recipes with all the calories, protein and fats in exact quantities.

 

[Mehita]

Thanks, Kiny. His trainer said 50% carbs, 20% fat, and 30% protein, mostly because he's trying to build up muscle. We only translated the protein to grams for him because it's an easy number for him to remember and keep track of in his head throughout the day. Getting a teenage boy to even think about this stuff is a miracle in itself. The plan I'm on is 60/20/20 like you said.

Since you brought up albumin, another question...

His albumin was low on his last set of labs (3.6, normal is 3.9-5.1) and his GI said "Slightly decreased albumin may suggest intestinal inflammation versus decreased oral protein intake. Recommend repeat labs in 3-4 weeks." He did have a vigorous workout the night before labs and the labs were done just before his Remicade infusion. All other lab values were normal, even CRP which is generally his indicator of inflammation.

Any thoughts?

Is the protein his GI is referring to the same protein he gets from food? Or something different? I thought albumin was a protein?