If you use protein powders and shakes to supplement your intake of the macronutrient, you might also be getting an unhealthy dose of lead. That is especially true if you choose the wrong product.
Consumer Reports says more than two-thirds of the 23 powders and ready-to-drink shakes it tested contain enough lead in a single serving to be potentially harmful. In some cases, a single serving of these products contains more than 10 times the lead than the publication’s experts say is safe to consume in a day.
Additionally, the average levels of lead found in these products are actually higher than they were the last time Consumer Reports tested protein powders and shakes 15 years ago.
In a summary of the findings, Tunde Akinleye — the CR food safety researcher who led the testing project — says, “It’s concerning that these results are even worse than the last time we tested.”
CR reports that there are now fewer products with undetectable amounts of lead compared to previous testing.
Exposure to high levels of lead can result in lead poisoning. In turn, this can trigger chronic and debilitating health conditions.
The World Health Organization notes that lead can affect almost all organ systems in the body and that studies have not identified any level of exposure that has no harmful effects in children or adults.
Young children whose nervous systems are still developing are especially vulnerable to lead’s harmful effects.
Consumer Reports placed its level of concern for lead consumption at 0.5 micrograms per day. In its testing, Consumer Reports identified two products that had the most lead and that, therefore, should be avoided:
- Naked Nutrition Vegan Mass Gainer: 1,572% of CR’s daily lead limit
- Huel Black Edition: 1,288%
Consumer Reports says Naked Nutrition’s Vegan Mass Gainer powder had nearly twice as much lead per serving as the worst product from its 2010 analysis.
In a statement, Naked Vegan Mass noted in a statement that it was the only vegan weight gainer included in Consumer Reports’ analysis. It added that as a weight gainer, it has a “significantly larger serving size” than standard protein powders.
It concluded: “When viewed on a per-gram basis, our results are consistent with other plant-based protein products.”
On the other hand, seven products earned praise for having much lower levels of lead. They are:
- Owyn Pro Elite High Protein Shake: 88% of CR’s daily lead limit
- Transparent Labs Mass Gainer: 87%
- Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey: 56%
- BSN Syntha-6 Protein Powder: 46%
- Momentous Whey Protein Isolate: 30%
- Dymatize Super Mass Gainer: 25%
- Muscle Tech 100% Mass Gainer: No lead detected
Products made with dairy proteins such as whey typically had lower levels of lead. On average, plant-based proteins had lead levels that were nine times higher than those made with dairy proteins.
However, half the dairy-based products tested still had levels of lead high enough that Consumer Reports recommends against using them every day.
In the summary of the findings, Akinleye says:
“We advise against daily use for most protein powders, since many have high levels of heavy metals and none are necessary to hit your protein goals.”
Protein powders are not the only products possibly tainted with lead. For more, check out “Most Cinnamon Is Tainted With Toxic Lead, but These 6 Brands Are Safe.”
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