protein powder differences

[Steve Cox]

For some time I've been using protein powder to supplement my protein intake. When I began my training, at first I would start my day with a glass of lowfat chocolate milk just after my morning coffee and right before my training, but felt like I could get more protein other ways so switched to adding whey isolate and creatine to a glass of milk instead, which doubles and nearly triples the amount from what I was getting. From what I've read, whey isolates are supposed to be the best choice for a pre-workout source. Later in the day and evening, I do like a snack of lowfat cottage cheese, which is supposedly a good source of casein, and also keeps me from munching on the unhealthy junk before bed.

My question is around the different protein powders. The powder I currently enjoy is Dymatize, which is very low in cholesterol. Other powders, which I'm unsure what type protein they are, are listed as "very high" in daily dietary cholesterol. Searching the forums here, I've gathered that the intake of dietary cholesterol doesn't affect one's blood cholesterol, which I don't have trouble with and not worried about anyway. So what affect, if any does the addition of dietary cholesterol in protein powder do to my diet? Are there actual benefits to increased dietary cholesterol, like there can be with some fats, eg - whole milk actually being better for you than skim? Curious and trying to better understand the whole nutrition game.

Thanks.

[Robert Santana]

Dietary cholesterol is not necessary to add and easy to accidentally obtain. How much cholesterol are we talking about?

[Steve Cox]

Thanks for replying Robert. The powder I use right now, the Dymatize ISO100 label shows I get 10mg (4%) of my daily cholesterol in one scoop. Another popular brand, sold at Walmart, the Body Fortress powder, shows it has 90mg (30%) of daily cholesterol. These are just the figures for the powders themselves, not the addition of milk or anything else. I've seen other powders listed with higher amounts. Made me wonder if this is this something to be concerned with since people who are supposedly concerned with their health buy and use it, and why I was asking if it really matters or if maybe some intake was beneficial in other ways and I should ignore the labels here.

[Robert Santana]

That's not very much and I wouldn't worry about it. When was the last time you got it tested?

[Steve Cox]

Thanks for the info. As for me, last time I got tested was 2019. The VA here didn't do any testing last year, and all annual checkups were over the telephone, for what that was worth. But in 2019 my numbers were:

CHOLESTEROL, TOTAL (FV) 171 mg/dL 118-200
TRIGLYCERIDE (FV) 70 mg/dL <200
LDL CHOLESTEROL (CALCULATED) 105 mg/dL Optimal <100
HDL CHOLESTEROL (FV) 52 mg/dL >40

My LDL looked a bit high as did my overall, but I can't recall now if I was fully fasted or not - I might've had 2 or 3 lifesaver mint on the drive down, I don't remember.

[Robert Santana]

LDL is barely high and it is estimated. Ask for a direct measurement last time and fast accordingly. These are stellar labs in my book and I don't see a reason to be worried about dietary cholesterol based on what you have shared from 2019.