Your Protein Powder Might Be Full of Lead

Protein powder is unnecessary for most people. Unless you’re pregnant, struggling through an illness like cancer, or are trying to become so muscular that most of us can tell you have a hard time wiping your butt. It also may not be worth risking the concerning levels of heavy metals that are often found in over-the-counter protein powders, like lead and cadmium.

According to the research conducted by an organization called the Clean Label Project, on average, protein powders labeled as “organic” had three times more lead and twice the amount of cadmium than nonorganic powders. Plant-based powders are usually made from rice, peas, or soy. Those tested had three times more lead than whey-based powders.

Many Protein Powders Are Filled With Heavy Metals Like Lead And Cadmium

In case you’re wondering, according to the EPA, there is no safe levels of lead exposure. All lead exposure is bad. Whether you’re ingesting it through a protein powder or lead-based paint or a Gen Xer who sniffed leaded gasoline fumes throughout your childhood… it’s all bad for you.

The question, of course, is why so many of these powders contain these heavy metals. A lot of it can be attributed to the plants used to make these powders, which have been grown in soil that was contaminated by pesticides, industrial waste, and mining. It’s also worth noting that chocolate flavoring used in protein powders contains four times more lead and up to 110 times more cadmium than vanilla-flavored protein powder.

I wrote an article about lead in Lindt chocolate recently. In that article, I mentioned that Consumer Reports found that the soil cacao trees are grown and can also be polluted with heavy metals. And the long and winding process that converts cacao seeds into chocolate is riddled with points of contamination—from harvesting to processing.

On the bright side, the report found a huge decrease in the amount of BPA contamination, likely due to companies shifting toward using plastic containers that are BPA-free. The report is intended to scare you off from using protein powders at all, it’s just saying to choose a little bit more wisely until we collectively figure out better ways to filter out heavy metals.

The easiest way to do it is to stick to whey protein powders, as they’ve been studied way more than any other type of protein powder. And maybe stick to vanilla until we figure out what the hell is going on with chocolate.