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Don and Rachel Matesz <[log in to unmask]>
Next Generation Nutrition


 Wally Day wrote:
>I am somewhat confused. In most of the bodybuilding
>magazines and a few lists I'm on, whey protein is
>lauded as being the "perfect" protein. And I have to
>admit the amino acid profile and other protein quality
>measurements generally quoted *are* impressive. How
>can this be? Is whey protein somehow fundamentally
>different than other milk proteins? Anybody got an
>opinion about this?

Rachel: the argument is that since whey is the most abundant protein in human mother's
milk that consuming whey protein is the next best thing or is therefore very suitable for
humans.  (Cow's milk is higher in casein than whey protein; human milk is the reverse.)
Whey protein is an isolate, taken from cow's milk. It is for more delicious than soy
protein powders, but there is a down side......
>
From Don's anwer to similar question via e-mail:
The protein powder is cow milk whey not human whey.  There is some evidence  that cow milk
whey may promote higher counts of immune system cells.  Is this because consuming cow whey
promotes immune function, or because it challenges immune function?  I believe that it is
the latter--i.e. when people consume cow whey, they shows signs of increased immune system
function because their immune systems are reacting to the foreign protein, i.e. cow whey
protein.  My belief is supported by numerous studies showing that cow milk
consumption and cow milk proteins in the blood are both associated with increased risk and
incidence of auto-immune conditions, where the hyperactive immune system attacks the
body. In addition, the more purified a protein is the less value it has for non-protein
nutrients.

A related question:
>Could you give me some more info regarding your cow whey idea??

This is how the immune system works.  When it encounters a bacteria or  virus, for
example, it knows that the foreigner is foreign by checking out the proteins of which it
is constructed.  If the proteins are not your own, it reacts by increasing the number of
white blood cells produced, which engulf and destroy the invader.   If the load of foreign
proteins is small, the immune system responds and you may not even notice. If the load of
foreign proteins is large enough, past a certain threshold, you notice the response, as
you will produce so many white blood cells that you get a throat and stuffed nose full of
them--in the form we call mucus.

Cow milk proteins are known allergens in humans.   There are more than twenty five
different proteins in cow milk that may induce allergic reactions in humans  [S. Bahna,
Allergies to Milk, New York:  Grune and Stratton, 1980].

The allergies come about by the immune system reacting to the bovine (foreign) proteins.
Certainly there
are such proteins even in the most purified of whey proteins. If they pay attention, most
people will notice an increase in mucus release in the throat and/or sinuses soon after
eating any kind of cow milk product, including  whey. This mucus is nothing but white
blood cells released in response to the foreign cow  milk proteins. [There have been
studies documenting increased white blood cell activity (i.e. mucus production) in the
tonsils and adenoids immedieately after consumption of  cow milk (but I don't have the
references on hand, sorry).] This increase in immune system activity will naturally go on
internally also.

For example, if I take just one serving of cow milk whey during the day,  shortly
afterward I get mucus in my throat and during the night time I will get such sinus
congestion that I find it difficult to breathe normally.  In my experience, once people
eliminate all dairy products, including whey protein, from their diets, they experience a
reduction in sinus problems, seasonal allergies, and colds/flues.

IMO many "colds" and seasonal allergies are the end product of an ongoing  battle between
the human immune system and bovine proteins.  When the load of foreign  proteins is small,
the symptoms are small and not noticed unless pointed out; but after a time,  or
seasonally, the load of foreign proteins (cow milk plus bacteria, viruses,  or pollens)
increases to a threshold level that results in the huge mucus (i.e. white
blood cell) production that characterizes colds and allergies.

Don