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October 27, 2000
Issue #18

2

Questions on Protein
by Dr. Seth Elliot

Question:  I just wanted to say that I loved your article on proteins.  I must admit that it was the most informative article that I have read in years.  I have been avidly hitting the cliffs now for 20 years and make weight training an integral part of my preparation.  I am always looking for something to improve my strength and ability.  Contrary to all of the whey hype, several years ago I realized that when I combined soy, egg and whey, I just felt a lot better.  I thank you for your insight and for confirming what I’ve known for so long.  Before I go though, I want to ask you one question.  What do you think of the casein/whey blends that are cropping up on the market?  I’ve been thinking about getting one of these but have been hesitant because of all the hype.

Answer:  Thank you very much for your kind words.  My team and I have been studying the nature of proteins for many years now and it is clearly obvious that combining many different protein sources is the very best thing to do.  I definitely recommend against just consuming protein from one source as it will ultimately reduce your results.  I am very glad that you found out years ago what I am now exposing to the nutritional world.  In regards to your question, I think that casein/whey combinations are ok but there is definitely more to be desired than just this.  To be totally honest, the soy, egg and whey combination is much better than the casein/whey that you mentioned.  I am also glad that you are using soy as it has many benefits that athletes are missing out on.  Soy is a very high quality protein that shouldn’t be left out of any protein supplement.  Now, I don’t want to wet you whistle too much but my lab is currently working on two proteins that are very groundbreaking.  These gems specifically stimulate muscle tissue to grow and become more massive.  This is an amazing discovery and we are hoping to patent and license this technology very soon.  I have included a chart below which demonstrates some of our findings on combining proteins.  The higher the score, the better the combination performed at stimulating muscle anabolic processes. 

There are several trends that are noticeable upon studying the chart.  In general, the more types of protein you combine, the better the results.  Secondly, some proteins combined better than others.  We are still trying to figure out why this is happening and have some ideas but we are still not sure.  As you can see, the whey/casein combination only received a score of 41 while the whey/soy/casein combination received a 48.  Your whey/egg/soy would have received about a 43 or 44.  The best scores were the combinations of 4 and 5 proteins from different sources including the two novel proteins we’ve been working on.  I hope this helps and keep keeping the variety; as you know it is the spice of life.

Question:  Dude, I’m an addict when it comes to bodybuilding and I read everything I can get my hands on.  Not too long ago, me and my buddies were hearing a lot of good things about soy.  I haven’t heard too much in a while.  The other day I stumbled across a website that had bad things to say about soy protein.  They mentioned something about estrogens and bitch tits.  I didn’t trust the information since they do nothing but hype their own products.  Bro, do me a favor and tell me the real scoop. 

Answer:  Sometimes I sit back and just laugh at all the posturing, maneuvering and lying that is done by the entities in this industry.  All I can say is read everything with a critical eye and ear.  Remember to only believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.  Most of the information that you receive about proteins and supplements is so biased that it is pretty much useless.  If the information comes from a  source that is selling a protein product then you can be pretty much sure that the information is useless. 

Regarding your concern, I can most certainly assure you that you have nothing to worry about with soy protein.  Will it cause bitch tits as you call them?  NO!  Will it decrease testosterone levels?  NO!  Is it harmful in any way?  NO!  I don’t want you to just take my word for it, so I’m going to explain this whole thing to you and back it up with proven research and opinions of other industry leaders that are nonbiased.   

When I say Tamoxifen, most of you will clap your hands.  In the bodybuilding community it is regarded as a compound that is both beneficial and useful as an anti-estrogen.  I have to tell you though that this compound is actually considered a weak estrogen.  But wait!  How can this be?  Well, this weak estrogen competes with the binding of stronger estrogens to the estrogen receptor.  However, Tamoxifen elicits an insignificant estrogenic signal which you notice as being antiestrogenic.  It is no different really with the isoflavones in soy.  Yes, they are estrogens but they are extremely weak estrogens.  If anything, they will act as anti-estrogens in your body.  Besides this, these isoflavones have some profound beneficial properties including lowering your cholesterol, increasing androgen production, decreasing cortisol production, increasing lipolysis and decreasing lipogenesis.  The benefits go on and on!  A fairly new study was performed at the Nanjing Dept. of Veterinary Medicine and looked at the effects of Diadzein administration on muscle growth and hormone levels in rats.  The researchers administered the Diadzein for 16 days continuously and all the rats were fed the same diet.  In the male rats which received Diadzein, lean body weight gain increased 14.7% over the control group which did not receive supplemental Diadzein.  Serum testosterone, Beta-endorphin and growth hormone all increased as well.  This is a groundbreaking study and shows just how potent these compounds are at positively stimulating the metabolism.  For your benefit, I am also listing below a few studies and their abstracts which demonstrate the safety and beneficial nature of these compounds.  

Reprod Nutr Dev 1999 Jul-Aug;39(4):497-501

Effect of some phytoestrogens on metabolism of rat adipocytes.

Kandulska K, Nogowski L, Szkudelski T

Department of Animal Physiology and Biochemistry, University of Agriculture, Poznan, Poland. kakandu@jay-au.poznan.pl

The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the direct effect of genistein, daidzein and zearalenone on basal and hormone-induced lipogenesis and lipolysis in isolated rat adipocytes. In lipogenesis, daidzein and zearalenone were used at concentrations of 0.01, 0.1 and 1 mmol x L(-1) and genistein at concentrations of 0.01, 0.3, 0.6 and 1 mmol x L(-1). In lipolysis, concentrations of tested compounds were 0.01, 0.1 and 1 mmol x L(-1). All tested compounds clearly inhibited basal and insulin (1 nmol x L(-1)) stimulated lipogenesis. Basal lipolysis was particularly enhanced by genistein and daidzein at its higher concentrations. The ability of zearalenone to potentiate of basal lipolysis was less marked. Epinephrine (1 micromol x L(-1))-stimulated lipolysis was inhibited by genistein at 1 mmol x L(-1). At a concentration of 0.1 mmol x L(-1) daidzein also augmented epinephrine-stimulated lipolysis and at its highest concentration exhibited an inhibitory effect, similar to genistein. Zearalenone reduced stimulated lipolysis, particularly at the highest concentration.

J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1999 Jul;84(7):2443-8

Phytoestrogens alter adrenocortical function: genistein and daidzein suppress glucocorticoid and stimulate androgen production by cultured adrenal cortical cells.

Mesiano S, Katz SL, Lee JY, Jaffe RB

Reproductive Endocrinology Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0556, USA.

Phytoestrogens influence a variety of biological processes. As 17beta-estradiol alters adrenocortical cell function, we examined whether the dietary phytoestrogens, genistein and daidzein, have related effects. In cultured human fetal and postnatal adrenal cortical cells, genistein and daidzein (both 0.4-40 micromol/L) decreased ACTH-stimulated cortisol production to basal levels (ED50, 1-4 micromol/L). In the adult adrenocortical cell line, H295, genistein, daidzein, and 17beta-estradiol (10 micromol/L) decreased cAMP-stimulated cortisol synthesis in a similar fashion. Neither genistein nor daidzein altered basal or ACTH-stimulated dehydroepiandosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) production in fetal adrenocortical cells, whereas in postnatal adrenocortical cells, DHEA and DHEA-S were markedly increased (ED50, 1-4 micromol/L). In H295 cells, basal and cAMP-stimulated DHEA production were similarly increased by the phytoestrogens and 17beta-estradiol. Genistein and daidzein did not affect the expression of steroid-metabolizing enzymes. However, genistein and daidzein specifically inhibited the activity of 21-hydroxylase (P450c21); the activities of other steroidogenic enzymes were not affected. Thus, phytoestrogens may decrease cortisol synthesis by suppressing the activity of P450c21 and, as a consequence, increase DHEA/DHEA-S synthesis by shunting metabolites away from the glucocorticoid synthetic pathway. Therefore, consumption of foods containing phytoestrogens may alter adrenocortical function by decreasing cortisol and increasing androgen production.

Mol Cell Biochem 1999 Apr;194(1-2):93-7

Anabolic effect of daidzein on cortical bone in tissue culture: comparison with genistein effect.

Gao YH, Yamaguchi M

Laboratory of Endocrinology and Molecular Metabolism, Graduate School of Nutritional Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Shizuoka City, Japan.

The effect of daidzein on cortical bone in vitro was investigated. Femoral-diaphyseal tissues obtained from elderly female rats were cultured for 24 h in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (high glucose, 4.5%) supplementation with antibiotics and bovine serum albumin. The experimental cultures contained 10(-7) to 10(-5) M daidzein. The presence of daidzein (10(-6) and 10(-5) M) caused a significant increase of alkaline phosphatase activity, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and calcium contents in bone tissues. This effect was equal to that of genistein (10(-6) and 10(-5) M). Daidzein (10(-5) M) or genistein (10(-5) M)-induced increase of calcium content and alkaline phosphatase activity in bone tissues was completely prevented by cycloheximide (10(-6) M), an inhibitor of protein synthesis. Anabolic effect of daidzein and genistein on bone components was equal to that of 17beta-estradiol (10(-8) M). The effect of isoflavohoids was not enhanced by the addition of 17beta-estradiol. The combination of daidzein and genistein did not have an additive effect. These findings indicate that daidzein has an anabolic effect on bone metabolism in tissue culture in vitro, and that this effect is equal to genistein effect. Isoflavonoids may stimulate bone formation and mineralization.

Nutr Cancer 1997;29(1):24-8

Enhancement of immune function in mice fed high doses of soy daidzein.

Zhang R, Li Y, Wang W

Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

High soy consumption leading to high exposures of soy isoflavones has been associated with a reduced risk of cancers at many sites. As part of a study focusing on the chemopreventive mechanisms, we have investigated the modulating effects of daidzein, a prominent and more bioavailable isoflavone in soy foods, on murine immune function. Swiss mice were fed daidzein at various doses daily for seven consecutive days. At high doses (20 and 40 mg/kg), daidzein exerted a stimulatory effect on nonspecific immunity, as shown by increases in the phagocytic response of peritoneal macrophages and thymus weight, in a dose-dependent manner. Augmentation of spleen immunoglobulin M-producing cells against sheep red blood cells demonstrated an-activation of humoral immunity. Enhanced cell-mediated immunity was also observed as increases in lymphocyte proportion of peripheral blood. However, no significant immunoregulatory effect was found when mice were fed 10 mg/kg daidzein. These results demonstrate for the first time that daidzein at high doses enhances several immunologic functions and suggest a novel approach to understanding the mechanism(s) by which soy foods may contribute to observed cancer prevention.

I hope all of this helps and that you begin to combine soy protein along with your other protein sources.  I believe you will see a big benefit.
 

Question:  I hate to buy meal replacement powders in those packets because there seems to be a lot of my money going for packaging.  I picked up a jug of meal replacement powder the other day and it claims to contain calcium caseinate.  What is going on here?  I have sent you the label for your review!

Answer:  There are a few disreputable companies that are claiming that their MRP contains the beneficial aspects of casein when in fact this is not the case.  What do I mean?  Most people don’t know this but casein comes in several forms.  One is caseinates in which there are sodium, calcium, and potassium.  These are all basically the same thing and function similarly in the body.  The other form is micellar casein which is an entirely different entity.  Caseinates are extremely cheap and unfortunately they are 100% inferior to micellar casein.  This form of  casein has been denatured by acid precipitation and is totally unlike the casein that naturally occurs in milk.  Supplement companies use this because it’s cheap but the fact remains that it is an inferior protein source.  What we should be using is something called micellar casein.  The problem with this is that it is very expensive and can only be obtained by ultrafiltration of milk.  This means that the casein is undenatured and has full biological potency.  Everybody that is reading this, I want you to go and get your bottle or box of meal replacement powder and look at the ingredients.  Does it say caseinate?  Or, does it say casein and have lots of sodium, potassium or calcium in it.  If one of these things hold true then you know that you have an inferior product that just won’t work that well.  I recommend that you throw that product away right now and try to get a product that is high quality.  Remember, if you want the anti-catabolic, muscle-building benefits of casein, demand only micellar casein.

A couple of other problems that I see from the label that you sent me is that this product contains maltodextrin and fructose which are both detrimental to what you are trying to accomplish.  They will make you insulin insensitive and promote fat gain.  Finally, this product contains sweet dairy whey and malted milk powder.  Let me decipher what this means.  Both of these products are inferior ingredients that are full of detrimental sugars.  All I can say is to throw this product away!

Question:  I hate to ask you this because you are such a professional, but do you know anything about the products produced by VPX sports?

Answer:  I don’t know exactly how to answer this one.  Normally, I like to keep myself neutral on issues like this and not mention in anyway companies or their products.  However, this time I will break my rule since I happen to have some detailed specifics about this company and one of their products.  Unfortunately, the results are not good.  Seemingly, they produce a product called Paradeca which is supposed to contain many different ingredients; some of which are very expensive.  Now, this product contained the ingredients that were cheap to produce but the expensive ones such as methoxivone and norandrostenediol were hardly present or not present at all.  With information like this, I would  recommend to stay away from this company.

I have scanned and enclosed the independent analysis report on this product for your review:

Dr. Seth Elliot is one of the leading minds in developing efficacious dietary supplements that are based on sound science.  One of his special areas of expertise is in the area of various proteins and their effects on the human body.  If you have any questions, please go to our CONTACT US section and send him an email. 

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