Allergic to Whey Protein: BCAA's The Answer? Need Help

[Breeze]

Hi guys, need a bit of advice here.

I'm allergic to whey protein (and eggs milk and soy as well). I was wondering what alternative I have as a protein supplement.

Preferably I would prefer no supplement and do it naturally, but I just find it too hard and time consuming to get 1.5g/lb of protein with just natural food. My gains in the past have always been better with supplements. But becasue of my allergies I stopped training. But I want to lift again badly.

I'd like to gain lean muscle mass and I'm thinking branched chain amino acids would be a good source. I've read some good info on it as a good source for building lean muscle mass.

Will that help me reach my goal?

I appreciate any feedback thanks.

[Andrew69]

BCAA's (Specifically Leucine) have been shown to increase protein synthesis in high doses, but if youre not taking in any protein, then I dont think they will be of benefit to you.

[Breeze]

BCAA's (Specifically Leucine) have been shown to increase protein synthesis in high doses, but if youre not taking in any protein, then I dont think they will be of benefit to you.

Thanks Andrew, so if I have consuming protein in whole foods (like I'm planning on doing), then BCAA's would be a good alternative then?

[Andrew69]

Thanks Andrew, so if I have consuming protein in whole foods (like I'm planning on doing), then BCAA's would be a good alternative then?

Yes, then its fine.
As long as your getting a reasonable amount (min 1g/lb), then BCAA's should help nicely

[TanTheMan]

no milk, eggs or even soy?! man no milk, i think i would die...mmm mooo, oh how i love you my moo cow!! :'( anywho. wow that reallys, i wonder how you can be allergic to all those and be fine with the protein in foods, they arent that different. but anywho im sure its possible, im not willing to research at this time (brain dead)

whole foods SHOULD ALWAYS be your main source of protein, and sure the BCAA could help in addition to any protein source. but man that sucks, all three ouch. but yea BCAA's are a good supplement to protein sources, but they in no way could ever take over the complete proteins you find in other proteins.

oh question, have you tried the protein in froms that are derived from the sources, milk, soy, eggs? sometimes during the process of say, making cheese, structures often change, but the nutritional value remains the same. perhaps even denatured proteins may work? i honestly dont know. are you also allergic to yogurt, cheese, tofu, etc type of products?


well, best of luck to you, nuts, chicken, fish, beef, pork, legumes, are all excellent non-dairy, non-egg, and non-soy sources for protein.

[Steve_W]

Which whey did you try? WPC is known to effect some people, perhaps you will be ok from an isolate.

[AbAbber2k]

There's no substitute for complete protein sources. Proteins are composed of Amino Acids and those proteins are broken down into amino acids after being absorbed by the body. Later, the body reasembles those amino acids as body protein in the form of muscle tissue and various other body components (anti-bodies and other stuff). That said, BCAAs (3 of the 20 essential amino acids) are apparently prime components of muscle tissue and thus, regardless of low complete protein intake, taking such supplements should at the very least help prevent muscle breakdown.

So to sum up... just get more complete protein from your diet (meat and dairy) and supplement with BCAA's instead. You don't need Whey to make gains... if anything it's just an easy source of protein (or amino acids if you want to look at it that way). BCAA sups are just a select few amino acids that are supposedly more important for muscle maintanence.

Still, it kind of sucks that you're allergic to Whey. Awefully convenient to suck down a shake after you workout than have to fix yourself a tuna sandwich or chicken breast or something.

[MantisShrimp]

Wow, you're actually kinda screwed as far as supplementation goes. Whey, egg, soy, and casein are the big 4. Have you tried WPI as opposed to WPC? What's the nature of the allergic reaction?

A whole protein is comprised of 8 essential aminos. BCAA is only three, Valine, Leucine, and Isoleucine. You coult try to supplement the rest in order to "complete" your proteins, but at least one of them, L-Tryptophan, is no longer available as a supplement (at least in the US) due to an inane scare back in 1989. I don't know about the rest.

Looks like it's either whole foods or incomplete proteins for you, unless you're willing to experiment with whey some more, or unless I've overlooked another widely available power/pill supplement with all 8.

edit: Wow, you learn something new every day, ever tried Rice Protein Powder?
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Google it

[Breeze]

Hey thanks a lot guys for the info,you've been A LOT of help. Yeah its tough. But I get skin breakouts, swelling, and other problems when i take whey, and dairy so I think I'm going to have to tough it out with whole foods and BCAA's. A least I know I have options. Great advice on this thread though.

Thanks for the info all of you!