Protein shakes and nausea

A

A_Acolyte

New Member
I seem to get extremely nauseous immediately after drinking my protein shakes. Its so extreme that I often have to lie down to get over it and it lasts about 30 minutes to an hour. This happens with all brands and I don't have them with milk - always water.
Anyone else experience this?
What could be causing it?
How should I get around it?
Its so bad that it discourages me from taking them, so a solution would be very useful - as a hardgainer, I can't exclude these things from my diet.
Any thoughts?
Thanks guys.
 
first of all, you're not a hardgainer, you just don't eat enough.

secondly, what kind of shakes do you have? Whey, casein, egg albumen? With carbs or without?
 
Have you ever tried adding milk instead of water?
I HATE shakes made on water - gotta have milk!

And in addition to BoSox's questions is it the taste or is it just a feeling that comes after you've gulped down the shake?
 
Some people are extremely sensitive to aspartame and acesulfame-K. Sucrolose can be a culprit as well.

Check for those ingredients. Try and find shakes without them. Molecular nutrition makes some. Solgar as well. Look around.

I can tolerate sucrolose, but aspartame and ace-k cause headache and nausea for me.
 
You should try taking it with some form of carbs, maybe even try an MRP. If you are the type of "hardgainer" that is skinny and never seems to get fat no matter how much you eat or what you eat, you could certainly use something like NLarge2. Massive amounts of calories and since it has carbs and fats, it eats more like a meal. Me, I can't take stuff like that, or I'll gain too much fat. Another thing to try, try drinking it very slowly over a half-hour period. Even post workout, your window of opportunity will allow for that.

BoSox - I don't know if I agree about there being no such thing as a hardgainer. Just as there are people who are genetically gifted and have an easy time getting huge muscles no matter what program they are on, there must be people at the opposite end of that spectrum. And all kinds in between. Take me for example. I have a hard time building muscle, even on my first cycle of HST. I tried upping my food intake and noticed gains in muscle and much more fat than I would like. So I cut back on my calories to the point where the fat gain has stopped but the muscle growth also slowed quite a bit. For me, even though I eat clean, it is not as simple as eat more to stop being a hardgainer, I have to eat just the right amount and even then the gains are slow. Everyone is different and it is simply more difficult and will take longer for some of us. (Maybe...maybe you are right and I am still doing something wrong, I am still a beginner).

Brak
 
Perhaps its more accurate to call my shakes MRP's. 600 calories per serving, mostly, of course, from carbs, but there are 32 grams of protein per serving.

Its not the flavour thats the problem, I actually quite like the taste! Its something else - I don't know what.

It claims to be aspartame free, and doesn't mention containing acesulfame-K nor sucrolose.

Any other ideas/input? Thanks to all those that responded so far.
 
I would suggest diluting it. You'll need a lot of water. I would also suggest you sip it and take 60 minutes to drink the whole thing.

Eating saltine crackers or pretzels with it will also help.
thumbs-up.gif
 
Interesting response, Bryan.

I'll definately try diluting it more. Why do you suppose that'll help? What do you think is actually the problem here? And lastly, why might eating saltine crackers help?

Thanks again.
 
i don't think it's nessasarily the shake making you nauceous... right after working out eating anything tends to be a bit of a task some times...

after a work out, i get the impression my stomach is less distended then normal, as the majority of blood is in your skeletal muscles.. JUST a hunch.

i've always wondered that myself.
thumbs-up.gif
 
I know my MRP (Prolab's Lean Mass Matrix) tastes great, but is...I dunno...too thick. With my Whey shakes I usually try to use as little water as possible so it tastes good. But doing this with my MRP makes it thick, not thick like a delicious milkshake, but thick like some gelatinous fluid. It's gross. Mixing it with extra water really helped give it a much easier to handle texture.

For some reason crackers are often used to sooth an upset stomach...not sure why it works but it does. A piece of bread works sometimes for me too.

Also, it sounds like you do need to get lots of calories, and you do need a signifigant amount of protein right after a workout. But 600 calories, sheesh. Just the sheer volume of what you are trying to take in right after a workout might be making you sick. Try a smaller dose of pure whey protein post workout and save the MRPs for when your stomach is more likely to accept a meal of that size.

Brak
 
My take on it (may be what Brian was saying too)

Maybe its just that your stomach is simply too small and can't take all that at once. Its like if you absolutely stuffed yourself at supper, you would feel nausious. Which is why you would take it over a longer period of time.

Who knows, its a thought.
 
Well, its not so much about the size of the meal, instead it has to do with the concentration. When you hit your stomach with a highly concentrated solution, it can cause nausea. When I was in grad school we used to have guys from Gatorade come around and try to sell us on the "the whole world must drink gatorade" thing. Although gatorade is just a little bit of salt and sugar, they did do a lot of research along the way in the area of how the concentration of a solution effects gastric emptying.

Long story short, the more concentrated the solution, be it just carbs or an MRP, the slower it will empty from your stomach. Gatorade found that a 6% solution (meaning 6% sugar & salt and the rest water) was just about ideal for rapid emptying of the stomach.

When you pack 600 calories worth of sugar and whey into a drink and down it all at once, it can make you feel a little nauseous in the same way that eating too much Halloween candy makes kids sick to their stomach. Its the same situation.

About the crackers, honestly I believe its the salt that helps buffer the sugars effect on the lining of the stomach. Not sure exactly, but in over 25 years of chugging sugar/protein drinks right after training, the salt thing really does work for some reason. I'll have to look into it. :D
 
Drink it with a straw and drink it within an hour not all at once.
The straw keeps the air in you stomach down.
So not as much bloating
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]BoSox - I don't know if I agree about there being no such thing as a hardgainer. Just as there are people who are genetically gifted and have an easy time getting huge muscles no matter what program they are on, there must be people at the opposite end of that spectrum
Click to expand...
eat more. it's that simple. If you aren't gaining weight, you have to eat more. Too many people eat 2000 cals a day and call themselves hardgainers because they are still weak and small.

Obviously, eating TOO much more will make you too fat. But if you're gaining nothing, eat more.
 
Thanks for the repsonses, guys.
As for the 'hardgainer' issue - I think its all really a matter or semantics - word-meaning. I believe I'm a 'hardgainer' because I find it really HARD to GAIN weight. Any weight. Fat, muscle or otherwise. I do, however, have a medical reason for it - I have a bad case of Cystic Fibrosis - which causes EXTREMELY poor absorption of nutrients from food etc. I need to eat a shitload just to prevent myself from looking anorexic, nevermind to gain weight.
Also, I have a few perfectly healthy friends that are really skinny and they eat just as much as anyone else - they also don't gain weight easily.
However, with all that said, I know guys that eat nearly NOTHING, and yet are strong, neatly-built, strapping chaps.
I believe hardgainers DO exist, but its not necessarily a big, complex issue - if you eat appropriately, but still gain weight extremely slowly, you're a 'hardgainer', surely?
On another note:
Unfortunately I'm trying to get over a major lung-infection (6 weeks in hospital on IV's). As soon as I can, I'm gonna be hitting the weights, MRP's, protein shakes, etc, and I'll be trying out all this advice to keep my nausea in-check.
Thanks for all the responses.
David.
 
the whole idea is that you're not eating "appropriately" if you aren't gaining weight. people tend to underestimate how much they need to eat. If I only ate when I really NEEDED to and only had as much as what is comfortable, I'd reach about half the amount of calories I need to grow.
 
Well, Acolyte, it sounds like you need to eat more, given your condition, lots more. And since you have a hard time gaining muscle and fat, there is hope, because you can just take BoSox' advice, eat a ton, and not worry too much about gaining fat along with your muscle. Just eat, eat, eat, perhaps more slowly and try them crackers.

I wish it was that easy for me. If I just eat lots more I will start gaining mass and end up gaining fat too, and I don't really want to go buy a bunch of new pants just for a bulk cycle. So, although I may not be "skinny" or typically "hardgainer" in appearance, I certainly have a harder time putting on quality muscle than other people who can simply eat more. We will see, I am getting ready to SD, then I will bulk for another cycle, this time I will try to eat big again (perfect timing for holiday meals...hello Thanksgiving!).

Brak
 
A_Acolyte said:
I seem to get extremely nauseous immediately after drinking my protein shakes. Its so extreme that I often have to lie down to get over it and it lasts about 30 minutes to an hour. This happens with all brands and I don't have them with milk - always water.
Anyone else experience this?
What could be causing it?
How should I get around it?
Its so bad that it discourages me from taking them, so a solution would be very useful - as a hardgainer, I can't exclude these things from my diet.
Any thoughts?
Thanks guys.
Click to expand...

I would not recommend using protein shakes. It is best to use a natural products: eggs, fish, meat and others, which contain lots of protein. :);)
 
h.hulk73 said:
I would not recommend using protein shakes. It is best to use a natural products: eggs, fish, meat and others, which contain lots of protein. :);)
Click to expand...

I would not recommend necro-posting. It's best to reply to current threads: i.e. not questions that were asked over a decade ago. I'm pretty sure this guy figured out his dilemma sometime between now and 2004.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top