Sorry to bust your chop....please do your own research before
you take it....
Read this article.
Like i said do more research.....
June 3, 2010 -- Popular protein
drinks with names like Muscle Milk and EAS Myoplex -- favorites of
teens, gym
rats, boomers, and pregnant
women -- can contain potentially unsafe levels of heavy metals and
other harmful substances, according to an investigation by
Consumer Reports.
''Consuming these kinds of protein drinks on a regular basis can
in some cases create the risk of chronic exposure, even at low
levels, to heavy metals such as cadmium and lead that can pose
health problems, particularly to vulnerable people," says Andrea
Rock, the Consumer Reports editor for the investigation.
Among vulnerable people are children under age 18, pregnant women,
and people with diabetes or
chronic kidney
conditions, she says.
Makers of protein drinks disagreed and said there were flaws in
the investigation.
While the protein drinks are marketed as convenient, Rock says,
"Most people can meet their protein needs through diet. And that
can be better for both your health and your wallet.''
The full report will be in the July issue of Consumer
Reports.
For the study, Consumer Reports had an independent
laboratory test 15 protein drinks, including ready-to-drink
formulas and powders meant to be mixed with milk, juice, or water.
Three servings of the products tested provide from 27 to180 grams
of protein.
Testing for contaminants -- including arsenic, cadmium, lead,
and mercury -- found most products to be in the low to moderate
range. But three products cause concern, Rock says, because people
who have three servings a day could be exposed to higher levels of
three substances -- arsenic, cadmium and lead. Some products
surpass the maximum limit proposed by the U.S. Pharmacopeia
(USP). The USP sets voluntary standards for health products.
Excess cadmium can accumulate and gather in the kidneys, and
excess protein can also damage the kidneys.
Protein drinks are considered dietary supplements, so the makers
are not required to test the products before sale to ensure they
are safe and effective, according to the report.
Consumer Reports says these three products are of
special concern:
Just one of the products, Six Star Muscle Professional Strength
Whey Protein, specifies a maximum daily intake, Rock found. Other
makers use vague language, the researchers say, which could promote
high consumption levels
Heavy metals are natural components of the Earth's crust.
They cannot be degraded or destroyed. To a small extent they enter
our bodies via food, drinking water and air. As trace elements,
some heavy metals (e.g. copper, selenium, zinc)
are essential to maintain the metabolism of the human body.
However, at higher concentrations they can be toxic. Heavy metal
poisoning could result, for instance, from drinking-water
contamination (e.g. lead pipes), high ambient air concentrations
near emission sources, or intake via the food chain.
Heavy metals are dangerous because they tend to bioaccumulate.
Bioaccumulation means an increase in the concentration of a
chemical in a biological organism over time, compared to the
chemical's concentration in the environment. Compounds accumulate
in living things any time they are taken up and stored faster than
they are broken down (metabolized) or excreted.
Still, food poisoning from heavy metals is very rare and in most
cases only occurs after environmental pollution. The most
well-known example of such an environmental pollution occurred in
Japan between 1932-55.
Since 1932 sewage containing mercury was released by Chisso's
chemicals works into Minimata Bay in Japan. The mercury accumulates
in sea creatures, leading eventually to mercury poisoning in the
population. In 1952, the first incidents of mercury poisoning
appear in the population of Minimata Bay in Japan, caused by
consumption of fish polluted with mercury. In total 500 fatalities
were recorded in the 1950s. Since then, Japan has had the strictest
environmental laws in the industrialised world and the disease is
known as the Minamata Syndrome
*****************************************
Heavy metals are also present in normal daily life foods like
seafood, fruits, etc.
