Whey protein makes me sleepy?

[iamadave]

Hey all, I've got a weird thing going on and I'm wondering if anyone can explain it. I've been lurking for a while and I was hoping that my first post would be something more awesome, but here we are.

I use MyProtein's Whey Isolate (unflavored) and their regular whey (Vanilla).

Sometimes I'll have a shake of 1 vanilla and 2 unflavored mixed with water. I usually drink this around 3-4pm and then for about 2.5 - 3 hours afterwards I get insanely sleepy & tired.

Other times I've mixed up a heavier shake of whole milk, greek yogurt, a bananna, quick oats, the same protein amounts and a bit of peanut butter or nutella. This is a much bigger shake but I've never gotten the same reaction. It's a lot of liquid, but I don't feel like sitting quietly in a dark room afterwards.

Anyone else experience anything like this? Some kind of reaction when I get all those other calories that keeps me from being totally zonked?

[iamsmu]

Sometimes I'll have a shake of 1 vanilla and 2 unflavored mixed with water. I usually drink this around 3-4pm and then for about 2.5 - 3 hours afterwards I get insanely sleepy & tired.

That's nap time. If you have a J-O-B, quit so you can nap at 3 every day. . . .

You have 3 scoops at once? I can't drink NOW Whey with just water. My blood sugar will crash, for some reason. I'll get brain fuzz and want to die. I have to mix it with Fage yogurt and some frozen strawberries to make it tolerable.

[Murelli]

Two iams back-to-back in the same thread...

adave, whey has lots of tryptophan. Maybe that makes you sleepy and the rest of the add-ins dampen its effect a bit? I would dial down the amount of scoops or take them mixed with something else.

smu, maybe your insulin responds too quickly to protein, while fiber (strawberries), fat (yogurt) and carbs (both) both slow the protein digestion and give the insulin something to "attack" other than your already circulating blood sugar.

Just took this two thoughts out of my head without any processing and research, so please correct me, oh mighty Exodus.

[cwd]

I have weird reactions to pure whey also. I always eat it with other food, so I get some fats and some fiber with it. Smooths things out.

[brkriete]

Anyone else experience anything like this? Some kind of reaction when I get all those other calories that keeps me from being totally zonked?

I don't notice whey makes me tired although I also don't usually have 3 scoops at once. I guess it's possible there are some quick digesting carbs in your fancier shake that give your blood sugar a pop and helps offset any soporific effects of the pure whey.

[iamadave]

It's good to know I'm not the only one. I'm wondering if it could be the sugar/insulin thing that gets iamsmu too.

I read about the Whey/Tryptophan thing but couldn't find any info about how much tryptophan was in the My Protein products. I've had the non-isolate protein mixed with milk & oatmeal in the morning and that doesn't make me sleepy (but it's less protein than my problem dose).

I skipped the afternoon protein yesterday and didn't have the same intense sleepiness, so I'm going to assume the protein is definitely a factor.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll try mixing it up as others have done. That seems to work in the super high-calories shakes I make so maybe there's a smaller subset of ingredients (or just less protein) that won't knock me out.

[iamsmu]

Two iams back-to-back in the same thread...

An iam prefix is kind of like wearing a funny hat around the house that you keep locked in a closet. People IRL that know you, won't know the hat. They couldn't predict what it looks likes. But people who see you in the hat could pick you out in real life. That's all I need to keep this log out of the first 50 pages of Google search results for me. . . .

It's become popular on Twitter nowdays. My old handle on SS had an iam prefix as well. My Twitter handle does not. I don't mix Twitter and pleasure. . . . My Instagram handle is just an extension of my log here. That's pretty much all it's for.

In retrospect something a little more obscure would have been better. CatManDidDo or something like that would be preferable. Hindsight. . . .

[TheCheat]

Whey is pretty insulinogenic. Have some carbs with it to keep your blood sugar up. Or some fat to slow down digestion. Or some fiber. So basically, have *something* with it. Anything will do.

[ebb]

Not sleepy, but it does give me a mild type of reflux indigestion. I use a pure, no additives or flavoring brand, and about a 50g of protein serving per shake. I choose not to believe in the pessimistic ideas about limits on MPS.

[Wilhelm]

Not sleepy, but it does give me a mild type of reflux indigestion. I use a pure, no additives or flavoring brand, and about a 50g of protein serving per shake. I choose not to believe in the pessimistic ideas about limits on MPS.

Welcome to the site, @ebb \o/

Yeah, the "you can only absorb 30 grams of protein in a sitting" thing is a myth.

How much exactly goes into each bout of eating induced MPS, i'm not sure, but your body uses it one way or another.

I do 3 meals in an 8 hour window, and get 200 grams protein a day, so yeah, definitely more than 30 grams at a sitting.
Getting magnesium (not oxide form) and vitamin D3 along with that helps with MPS (as well as with a vast array of other functions).

I do my mag glycinate and D3 with my first two meals everyday, so i figure i have plenty on hand already for that third meal.