whey protein giving you headaches?

[buselmo]

A friend of mine was complaining that when he used whey protein he got very bad headaches, but when he stopped, they'd go away. i told him to switch to pure isolate and mix it in water. He told me that the headaches came back.
Honestly, i've never heard of such a thing. I just wanted to know if anyone else here has ever experienced this?

 

[Big A]

It HAS to be something else.

 

[pdogg7]

How is his water intake? Maybe he is dehydrated. Have him increase his water intake by a good bit and see what happens.

 

[buselmo]

He's drinking 5 liters of water (around 1.25 gallons). his protein intake isn't high at all. it's around 200 grams only. and he only takes in 22 grams of egg protein with breakfast, and 35 grams of whey isolate post workout.
I'm pretty sure it's something else... but i just wanted to make sure if anyone ever heard about this before.

FYI, the isolate he's using is PVL Iso-Gold (35 gr of protein per 40 gr scoop)

 

[hiddenbelow]

I know when I carb deplete I get pretty bad head aches if I do not get my next meal in time. This is normally when I am on a pretty high protein diet with low amounts of carbs. So this is pretty much a shot in the dark for your friend as we don't know if he is taking anything and what kind of nutrients he has coming in.

DW

 

[buselmo]

he's on an isocaloric split. equal parts of carbs, proteins, and fats... he eats every 3-4 hours... he's not on any kind of super supplement... never was... he's not even a bodybuilder... just a guy trying to fix up his physique... doesn't take any supplements other than a multi-vitamin and his egg and isolate protein.
I'm pretty sure it isn't the protein... although, when i drink my LBAs without diluting it with water, i get this slight headache for about 3-5 minutes... and that's it... but i attribute that to the concentration and taste... kinda like taking a shot of vinegar (never tried that, but judging from the smell, if you did it you'd probably get a headache for a while)...
oh well...

 

[pdogg7]

What about artificial sweeteners? My wife gets bad headaches from some of them.

 

[thedonker]

What about artificial sweeteners? My wife gets bad headaches from some of them.

ditto on that one, many sweetners can cause a problem like this with certain people, tell him to try natural whey un flavored isolate, i am pretty sure this problem will subside, it does not taste so good, but it does the job bigtime. I have known people who have had problems with bloating etc with some products and switched to natural whey and this subsided. if this contiues to be a problem for him try LBA's or EAA products, this should sort it out.

 

[hiddenbelow]

Aspartame could be the issue.. it is a artificial sugar that has been documented to cause many people head aches.

DW

 

[thebrick]

If it is the sweetener and you must use one, might be worth trying one using stevia instead of the artificial stuff

 

[da smasher]

What about artificial sweeteners? My wife gets bad headaches from some of them.

That's what I was thinking.

 

[buselmo]

well, if it were aspartame or any other artificial sweetner, wouldn't diet sodas cause him to have a headache?

 

[littlemack]

Could he have an allergy to it? Is it a sinus headache?

 

[Big Danny]

Just tell him to try synthepure, he may have a nice surprise.

 

[aw1218]

aspartame should not be blamed. Since the amount of Methanol as aspartame's metabolites is so trivial, believe or not, the methanol created in a cup of diet coke is much lower than in an apple.

 

[aquaholic]

A friend of mine was complaining that when he used whey protein he got very bad headaches, but when he stopped, they'd go away. i told him to switch to pure isolate and mix it in water. He told me that the headaches came back.
Honestly, i've never heard of such a thing. I just wanted to know if anyone else here has ever experienced this?

...i thought this said, ... HEARTACHE!
LOL
And i was going to say, 'dude, protein won't give you a heart ache. that's what relationships are for!!!'

 

[despo]

does he drink it just by itself ? whey and isolates mixed in water digest very quicky , could be causing a blood sugar issue, he probaly feels hungry too.. he should try a blended protein or eat a tablespoon of natural peanut butter when he drinks the shake

 

[buselmo]

he takes his isolate with water, peanut butter, and cranberry juice...

anyway... i think i figured out what the problem was... i asked if he had any family history of high blood pressure (since i have relatively high BP... whenever it goes up, i get major headaches), and the guy said everyone in his direct family has hypertension and are highly susceptible to type 2 diabetes... i guess now we know what the problem is... i told him to go see the doctor and make sure he's fine..

thanks a lot for the great replies guys and gals... they helped alot.