Is There Is Protein in Your Protein?

Sadly, this (Is There Protein in Your Protein?) is a REAL question. 50% of supplements are mislabeled, and 30% are contaminated. (Here is a fascinating article on the practice of protein spiking – which is something that protein manufacturers do to make their products appear to have far more protein than they actually do.)

Muscle toning/building requires 2 things:

#1. Stimulus – the workouts.

#2. Nutrition support – protein.

We (your coaches) are in charge of #1, so that variable is controlled. The only variable outside our control is #2 – protein.

For your protein there are 2 layers:

(A) how much do you think you are getting,

(B) is that real?

Your InBody will answer (B) conclusively. If you think you are hitting the basic protein goal* and muscle mass is going down then your protein supplement is mislabeled. (I will post an article on how this can be in the comments section below.)

*Basic goal for protein is 1 gram per pound of lean body mass (LBM – top of your InBody sheet)

If you are in this situation, then you will get better results if you switch to a protein that we KNOW for sure has:

(A) the quantity of protein it claims and

(B) delivers it in the forms that research has shown are optimal for muscle development.

With these criteria in mind, here are our top 2 choices for you if your primary goal is weight/fat-loss and/or increasing strength without gaining weight

1. Lean MR is a meal replacement – it is designed to replace a meal (or most of it). So it has more than just protein and is designed to keep you feeling full for long periods of time with very few calories.
2. Whey Smooth is just extra protein. You can add it to anything, or just mix with water.

How Do I Know What’s What?

Good supplements have 3 basic things in common:

1. Independently 3rd party tested
2. NSF certified for sport
3. Research documentation. Label and forms must match proven positive clinical trials.

What’s that mean?

1. 3^rd party tested to make sure that what’s on the label is exactly what’s in the bottle, good manufacturing practices are in place, etc.
2. NSF certified for sport takes #1 to a higher level and is a double guarantee on what is in the bottle, and that the supplement is not contaminated intentionally or unintentionally. (I’ll put an interesting article on this below.)
3. Is there independent research on humans that this stuff works? And making sure that the specific forms of the ingredients in the bottle are the ones the research was done on.

So, to be clear, there are protein supplements that are not made by dotFIT that are legit. If what you are doing right now is working in terms of your muscle mass then we want you to keep doing it!

This is an eye-opening list of the tip of the iceberg of what’s in some supplements:

https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/MedicationHealthFraud/ucm234592.htm)