Thursday, September 22, 2011

Allergic to Whey Protein

When my wife and I went to a nutritionist to lose weight in a healthy way, she told us, "After someone is over 40 or 50 years of age people don't usually lose weight unless they first get enough protein. This seems to be the single most important factor in losing weight. Since many people in our present day western world culture are carbo-loaders(people like to eat a lot a pasta, pizza and carbohydrates) which make them feel good but don't really feed their muscles and organs like protein does. So, often people can't lose weight because they simply are not getting enough protein for their bodies to feel safe to lose the weight. So you sort of have to trick your body into losing weight by first making sure you are getting enough protein while you lessen your carbs. In this way the body can start to lose weight successfully.

However, after the first month of starting the day with two scoops of Whey Protein in my milk and orange juice smoothie I started to have problems with pain in my right hand like I was getting arthritus or something. So, since the only real change was this protein smoothie to my diet I only did whey protein smoothie about every other day or every 3rd day. Though the problem in my hands and joints lessened it did not go away. Now the other day I went to talk to our nutritionist and she said, "I think you might be allergic to whey protein." She said, "When you were growing up a lacto ovo vegetarian did you eat cheese?" I said, "Yes." Then she said, "Well. Swiss, Monterey Jack and cheddar don't contain any Whey protein at all." Then I realized it. "Yes. I think you are right I think I'm allergic to whey because Swiss, Monterey jack and cheddar were the only cheeses I ate growing up. Once in a while I will eat more exotic French or Swiss or other cheeses but usually it is only Jack and cheddar and Swiss. Before the nutritionist had thought that it was the nightshade family(as in tomatoes and potatoes) that was causing me joint problems but now I'm pretty sure it is the whey protein I'm allergic to. I guess that is the problem of getting really serious about trying to lose weight. You begin eating all sorts of different things you don't ordinarily eat which can cause complications because your body just isn't used to these new things and might be allergic to some of them especially if you are over 50. I wasn't allergic to anything until I was about 50 but then I discovered I was allergic to mold and dust and especially black mold. So, I guess as we grow older we have to adapt to all the changes both in the world and in our bodies. I never thought that just trying to lose weight could be potentially life threatening. However, I guess there is a first for everything.

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