Do NOT buy protein shots/bullets -- REPOST

I'm in "minimal visit to OH" mode.

I go through phases.

I've been feeling SO LOUSY (24/7) that I have little tolerance for anything at all right now (in real life and online)..... shaking hands, overheated all the time (but my temperature is often two degrees below normal at the same time) ...... Half the time I want to bite the heads off everyone around me. SOMETHING isn't right. Whether it's my thyroid, or something else. I'm just not good company

Also, aside from my not feelign well, I have my stepson visiting.

As to your colleague, it wouldn't surprise me one bit to learn that her heart has been permanently damaged by the lack of protein.

People get defensive when they make choices, especially ones attached to a monetary investment. They'd rather believe the investment was wise than admit it was not.

Sometimes you have to hear something two or three (or four or five) times before you are willing to make a change.

for myself, when a supplement... protein, vitamins, etc.... is at all questionable I usually opt out of it.... I'd rather avoid something that may actually be okay in deference to my health, than risk my health at all.

My health is too important to risk on anything!

"People get defensive when they make choices, especially ones attached to a monetary investment. They'd rather believe the investment was wise than admit it was not."

Yeah, I can see that.  I guess because I am more like you -- if there is any question, I do not want to take a chance -- and because I had to throw a whole box of the "bullets" away myself (and they were far more expensive back then!) once I found out that they were useless, it still throws me a bit.

I hope you can find out what is going on with you and start feeling better soon.  We miss you!  Well, *I* miss you, anyway, LOL.  

Lora

For those of you who are reading this and saying trhat YOUR "shots"/'bullets" are WHEY rather than COLLAGEN... go directly to your kitchen and pull one out and LOOK AT THE INGREDIENT LIST, NO MATTER  WHAT THE BOX OR THE FRONT OF THE TUBE SAYS.  Some of the manufacturers have changed their packaging/advertising in a very deceptive way because they are realizing that people now know that these collagen things are useless... so they are advertising the TINY bit of whey in big bold letters, but if you look at the INGREDIENTS you will see that COLLAGEN is still the primary protein listed.  If it says COLLAGEN do not use them.  You are NOT getting the protein you think you are!

Please do not risk your health by NOT checking the ingredients on your protein supplements!\

Lora

OMG!  My whole world has just turned upside down!  My surgeon's office recommended a test tube protein called "ProSlam" that looks a lot like the New Whey liquid protein people were talking about.  I have been drinking one of those every day for the past 2 months since I had my surgery thinking I was getting enough protein!!  After seeing your discussion I checked the label and it is collagen protein.  I am so upset!

Can I please get some suggestions on what protein to use now?  Are there any that are clear or unflavored that I can mix with water or Crystal Light??  Please help!

When I was in the losing phase, I would purchase the Nectar Syntrax Fuzzy Navel, mix it with orange crystal light and about 20 oz of water, put it in a sports bottle so I couldn't smell it. 90 calories (10 if you add the calories from the crystal light) and 23 g of protein, plus 20 oz liquid..... yum

Unfortunately, some surgeons and dieticians/nutritionists simply have not looked at what these things are made of and/or are not aware that they do not have the necessary amino acids...

Anything where the first protein component is whey protein is fine.  The fruit flavored Syntrax Nectar protein powders mix up as a just slightly thick "Crystal Light" type of drink, and some of them are quite good.  (The non-fruit flavored ones  -- like the Vanilla Bean Torte, which I LOVE -- are the milkshake type powders.) There are a BUNCH of different fruit flavors and you can get samples from www.vitalady.com to see whihc ones you like before you buy a big tub of anything.  I personally like the Roadside Lemonade (VERY much like CL lemonade!) and the Twisted Cherry (and HATED the Fuzzy Navel), but as with the milkshake type protein powders, everyone has VERY different tastes when it comes to these.

Isopure and Cytomax also make clear protein waters that are whey protein (but they are a bit pricey).  I tried mixing unflavored protein powder with Crystal Light once and it was beyond disgusting, so I don't personally recommend that!

Lora

Thanks for the suggestions!  I ordered some Syntrax from Amazon.com already.

Here was my original post on what I found out personally on the Body Fortress SHOTS:

Just out of curiousity because I know some surgeons recommend protein shots to their patients, I wrote to the people who make the Body Fortress Protein Shots and asked them what percentage was whey isolate protein and what percentage was collagen. This is how they responded:

"Thank you for contacting Body Fortress. All of our product labels list the nutrients and amounts in the "Supplement Facts" box found on each label. Some of these products contain very unique blends. The ingredients in our proprietary blends are listed in order of predominance. We are not able to divulge the precise amounts of each ingredient in these blends because they are proprietary--or in other words confidential. Use of proprietary blends helps us deliver unique products at the best value to our customers. "

So I then asked if they could at least give me the PDCAA score of the protein that was in the protein shots. They responded with:

"We apologize for the delay in our response as we were researching the most accurate information for your request. The PDCAA score for the Body Fortress Whey Shot 26 gram fruit punch is .08"

.08. POINT ZERO EIGHT. Hmmmm. So lets's now look at the definition from Wikipedia for PDCAAS:

Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) is a method of evaluating the protein quality based on both the amino acid requirements of humans and their ability to digest it. The PDCAAS rating is a fairly recent evaluation method; it was adopted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) in 1993 as "the preferred 'best'" method to determine protein quality. These organizations have suggested that other methods for evaluating the quality of protein are inferior.[1]
And now the PDCAAS rating system:

A PDCAAS value of 1 is the highest, and 0 the lowest. The table shows the ratings of selected foods.[2][3][4]
1.00 casein (milk protein)
1.00 egg white
1.00 soy protein
1.00 whey (milk protein)
0.92 beef
0.91 soybeans
0.78 chickpeas
0.76 fruits
0.73 vegetables
0.70 legumes
0.59 cereals and derivatives
0.42 whole wheat

So the .08 that the people from Body Fortress claims is in their protein is pretty much ZERO. Notice they don't say that is the collagen portion. They say that is the PDCAA score for all of the protein in their whey protein shots.

So for the people that are still saying, well it's better to get SOME protein than none....you are getting none.

Bumping because there have been a lot of newbies commenting on using these shots/bullets lately...

Lora

It's always funny to see a bumped thread that I commented on so long ago.

That was just before I was fully diagnosed with my RH, and before I was put on the Elevil which evenedd out my moods, helped me sleep, and diminished my pain by 90%. Reading how miserable I sounded then reminds me of why the Elevil is worth the side effects. Controlling teh RH and the insomnia were the major cures that helped.