Protein Powders in Pregnancy

[Emmiedarling]

Is anyone using protein shakes? If so, what ones are safe to use in pregnancy?

I have GD and have been told to reduce my carbs and up my protein. But I'm veggie and I hate cheese.

I thought the powder might be a good idea but obviously want to find a brand that is safe...

The Sanatogen one is ok apparently. Avoid the flavoured drinks as they are usually very high in sugar and chemical sweeteners.

www.chemistdirect.co.uk/sanatogen-high-protein-powder_1_6551.html

Sanatogen High Protein Powder helps to provide the energy our bodies need and is beneficial in helping to build up strength - in particular, after illness or injury, but also for expectant and nursing mother and growing children.

I use reflex natural whey all the way through my pregnancy. No chemical sweetners. I justed added a little bit of Xylitol to sweeten. www.amazon.co.uk/Reflex-Natural-Whey-Protein-Strawberry/dp/B003BNO45K/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1343327088&sr=8-14

I've been having one that's sweetened with sucralose, no sugar/carbs. I blend it with frozen berries, almonds and milk, or cocoa powder, milk and natural peanut butter. Started at about 24 weeks, have had a growth scan at 32 weeks and no issues at all, baby fine.

Here in Canada the advice is that sucralose is fine in moderation, even in 1st trimester. I only have one serving of the powder a day, so I reckon that's fine.

I tried to find one with no chem sweeteners but they were all soy-based, and soy just makes me too ill. The one I have is whey protein (i.e. milk protein)

The Zita West nutritionists (www.zitawest.com/fertility/treatments/nutrition/) recommend Solgar's "Whey to Go" protein powder (I used it during IVF and found the vanilla one was best, made up in a milkshake with fresh banana). As lambina said, you need to make sure you have a natural whey-based protein, not a soy-based one.

I've been using it since before the birth - totally safe and actually a very good idea.

Like the other said go for the more natural ones like solgar "whey to go" or Pulsin.

I love the solgar chocolate one but I seem to remember it has some stuff to sweeten it; not horrible nasties but still. Pulsin are also good and only do unflavoured powders do you don't have to worry about the sweetening agent.

I'm not keen on shakes so I make my own bars or buy peanut Bounce Balls or Pulsin Protein Sport Bars. They're both yummy but quite pricey if you're having one per day.

Parmesan cheese is extremely high in protein for an additional protein boost

yes but in 20g of parmesan you'd only get 7.6g of protein as opposed to between 16 to 20g of protein in 1 scoop (20g) of protein powder

Whey powder from myprotein.com is good and cheap. Just mix with milk. The flavoured ones have sucralose as a sweetener.

Honestly, what you need to get is plain, unflavoured, unsweetened whey isolate. It's completely safe and good for you, unlike most of the other ones that have been mentioned which still have loads of artificial flavours/sweetners etc. My husbands a bodybuilder and we go through huge bags of the stuff. The cheapest place to buy is myprotein.co.uk. Will be cheaper than pretty much anything retail and normally arrives next day (promise I'm not affiliated with them!)

I had terrible PCOS and the thing that worked for me to concieve was to cut carbs and up protein. I blend a big scoop with some spinach, blueberries, yogurt and water for an awesome breakfast.

I bought some hemp protein from a health food shop and occasionally put a scoop into a homemade banana smoothie - ie banana and milk.

Thank you all for your replies! I have gone with the plain, unsweetened powder LolaAnn recommended.