In this case, it all started at the YMCA. You see, I'm a member of my local Y, and it never fails to irritate me when I walk into the weight room and see plastered all over the bulletin board articles and ads torn from muscle magazines—all extolling animal protein (particularly whey supplements of every sort) as necessary to get huge muscles.
(Of course, the fixation on bulging, vein-popping biceps is an irritation in its own right, but I'll save that for another day.)
The issue, for me, is the Y's promotion of all this cruel, not to mention unhealthy, whey. I guess what I really need is to get up the gumption to talk to the Y director and see if, at the very least, some plant-based information can be included to balance out all the animal propaganda. In the meantime, I decided to pen the following article for TDIV:
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| Derek Tresize, vegan body builder |
It’s
what bodybuilders are famous for: pumping iron, posing in front of
mirrors, and choking down tons of whey. Why whey? Because whey
protein—a by-product of the cheese industry—is known for its
ability to help build lean muscle, which is exactly what muscle mavens are after.
And
even though vegan bodybuilders have been wildly successful (just
check out the amazing Robert
Cheeke),
there’s been a decades-long perception in the bodybuilding
community that plant-based protein supplements were somehow inferior
to animal-based ones.
Of
course, vegan body builders have always known the stereotype was
bogus. But now there’s proof. A newly released double-blind study
has concluded that plant protein (specifically the one found in
whole-grain brown rice) has the same muscle- and strength-building
power as the long-lauded whey.
The
study,
conducted at the University of Tampa’s Department of Health
Sciences and Human Performance, found that rice protein
"decreases fat-mass and increases lean body mass, skeletal muscle hypertrophy, power and strength comparable to whey protein isolate."
In
other words, rice gives you all the benefits of whey without
subjecting you to whey's dark side—not the least of which is the
way that whey, like all milk protein, nourishes cancer growth.
And
it's not just bodybuilders, or would-be body builders, who stand to
gain from the transition away from whey. The dairy industry—which
confines, rapes, drugs, and forcibly separates millions of mother
cows from their calves before eventually slaughtering them—is one
of the cruelest forms of factory farming. And whey, the supplement of
choice for generations of body builders, has helped to support this
terrible practice. Fortunately, this new study proves there's no need
to choose between having magnificent muscles and a compassionate
heart.
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| "Downer" veal calves (essentially dairy cows babies who are too sick to stand up and be slaughtered); like whey and cheap "hamburger," they are the by-products of the dairy industry |
