Whey Protein for Leaky Gut

I have enjoyed using whey protein for over ten years now, but my perception on what type of whey protein to use has changed dramatically in the last several years. I now use whey protein to help get my protein needs for the day, to help promote intestinal healing, and to help support antioxidant status in my body. Whey protein can be extremely healing if you choose a clean brand of product. The glutamine and support of glutathione is what does the job of boosting intestinal health, and reduces inflammation.

The biological components of whey, including lactoferrin, betalactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin, glycomacropeptide, and immunoglobulins, demonstrate a range of immune-enhancing properties. In addition, whey has the ability to act as an antioxidant, antihypertensive, antitumor, hypolipidemic, antiviral, antibacterial, and chelating agent. The primary mechanism by which whey is thought to exert its effects is by intracellular conversion of the amino acid cysteine to glutathione, a potent intracellular antioxidant. A number of clinical trials have successfully been performed using whey in the treatment of cancer, HIV, hepatitis B, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and as an antimicrobial agent. Whey protein has also exhibited benefit in the arena of exercise performance and enhancement.
(Altern Med Rev 2004;9(2):136-156).

This article linked here is a great read for all things whey protein and possible health benefits.

This post contains information about a product that I have been compensated to write a review for. I very rarely accept paid reviews unless I 100% believe in the product and use it for myself everyday. I only share my honest opinion.

Clean Whey Protein

What do I mean when I say clean whey protein? Various brands of whey protein have been reported to contain contaminants and high levels of heavy metals! Yikes. If you buy a whey protein, you want to make sure you can find out how pure it is. This is especially important to me because I am a breastfeeding mama.

Which Whey Do I Use?

I love my Vital Whey protein (vanilla). It has a very fine powdery consistency compared to other proteins. Well Wisdom (Vital Whey company) works hard to maintain the nutritional value, amino acids, and antioxidant levels in the protein duing production so that by the time you go to eat it, all the nutritionals are still intact! It is  the most minimally processed protein I know of.

Vital Whey is extremely pure. The founder himself had chronic fatigue, and created a very minimal way to process the protein so that the protein maintains the highest amount of glutamine and glutathione. Side note: glutathione is like the master antioxidant in our body. Anything we can do to support glutathione can help boost antioxidant status!!

Taste

The taste of this particular protein is more “plain” to me which I like so that it is versatile. I will usually add a little stevia to whatever I am mixing it with. You are not supposed to heat the protein (like in a recipe), and you are not supposed to blend it up excessively. You can do this, but you will lose a few health benefits. You want to make sure you are still getting all of the amino acids and antioxidants, so taking care before consuming it is important. I would recommend mixing it simply with a little stevia and a cold “milk” of your choice–maybe an unprocessed nut milk or coconut milk without any gums. Sometimes I the will blend it with some frozen fruit, but be advised, the company does not highly recommend doing this because the protein may lose a few nutritionals.

Isn’t Whey Protein Dairy?

Technically, yes. Dairy is made up of both whey and casein protein. I find that those who do not tolerate dairy mainly have issues with the casein protein. Many of my clients do very well with whey protein only. I have heard so many reports of gas, bloating, and discomfort from the casein. You can always get tested if you don’t want to have to guess if you are sensitive or not!

Nutrition Facts

Nutrition facts for the Vital Whey look perfect to me. You want to look for protein that does not contain Splenda, also listed as sucralose. Avoid it! Artificial sweeteners may promote the growth of the bad bacteria in the intestinal tract. This does not help autoimmune conditions, and certainly does not help weight loss. I consider stevia neutral. It does not negatively affect the intestinal tract. This whey protein does not seem to use much stevia because it does not taste too sweet. You barely notice it in my opinion which I prefer.

Also look to avoid fillers. This protein uses gum acacia which you may think is “bad” because it is a gum. However, gum acacia is one of the ones that should not negatively affect the intestinal tract. We do not have a ton of info on it, but as far as I can tell it acts like a typical healthy fiber source.

You can purchase Vital Whey with free shipping directly from the website, but I would recommend purchasing in bulk because you save a lot. It is much more expensive to just buy one tub. You save and buy the bulk bag here.