Can Whey Protein Shakes Damage Your Digestive System?

Whey protein shakes have surged in popularity in recent years as it's becoming a lot more popular to try and build muscle. The main concern is whether having these protein shakes on a daily basis is actually unhealthy. While many places say that there are no problems with high protein diets, it may be found in the future to actually be damaging in the long run.

In order to eliminate the waste products of protein, the body uses the liver and kidneys. Those organs will probably be under more stress than someone who has a low protein intake. That doesn't mean that the individual with a low protein intake will have healthier liver and kidneys in the future, or that the person with large protein consumption will have damaged organs. There's a variety of factors that will influence the healthiness of your organs. It seems that most people who have high protein intakes are perfectly healthy, and that large protein intake mainly affects individuals with a pre existing condition.

However, it is logical that having masses of protein every single day could potentially be bad for you.

So a worry is that by supplementing with whey protein all the time, will this be putting the body's organs under unnecessary stress? It's very easy to have too much protein without realising in a single shake. If you do a couple too many scoops of whey, the shake could have too much protein for the body to digest in one sitting. This will probably not be a good thing for your body to have to undergo every time you have a shake.

It's best to make sure that the shakes that you do have aren't going overboard in protein. It's much easier to realise the quantity of protein you have just eaten when it's a solid bit of meat, for example a big and juicy steak. Now compare that with a glass of a thick protein shake, even though the protein shake may look like less protein, it could easily have way more grams of protein than the steak. It can be a misconception that whey protein has less protein than a slab of meat.

It's best to limit your servings of protein to 30-40 grams at a time to take the stress off your digestive system. You should also not solely rely on whey protein. Focus on having a diverse diet which will be better for your liver and kidneys compared to being overloaded with the same source of protein each day.