Protein Shakes make you a macho giant. DRINK ME.

creatine

Protein shakes. Teenage boys love ‘em. They collect their pocket money together swing into Holland Barrett – it bills itself as a health food  shop so if they sell it  it must be good for you. Here the young guys part with their cash to purchase powder to mix with water to gulp down to turn them  into Quade Cooper – or which ever sporting hero they are particularly keen on.

We have had a stramash in our house over this. The first time a giant white plastic container arrived it was a gentle protein muscle builder. I wasn’t happy about it but it was his money and it seemed fairly innocuous whey powder. Yuk. When he tasted it he wasn’t impressed so it fizzled out.

Then yesterday he came home, ran  upstairs with his friend and a paper bag which put my level of suspicion to high. On asking one reluctant Teenwolf what it was, it seems he has graduated to  a red  tub which he reluctantly showed me so I could have a good look at the ingredients.  This is what they are.

Dextrose. HPLC Pure Creatine Monohydrate, Taurine, Disodium Phosphate, Trimagnesium Phosphate, Monopotassium phosphate, citric acid, Grapeskin exatract, aspartame, starch flavouring, malodextrin, Butylated hydroxytoulene.  100g contains 301 cals. Each scoop 130 cal – 32.3 cab, 32.1 fat – might as well be in heiroglyphics. So …

I googled  it. And the first god knows of the 14,800,000 results  are all PR for the product from the manufacturer or distributors various. So what the hell is this stuff? How does it effect our kids? What are the longterm effects on kids or adults for that matter?

As girls want to get tall, slender and have bodies like The Saturdays – boys want to develop muscles , be tall, broad and built like a brick outhouse.  Teenwolf’s  particular passion is rugby . And professional rugby players generally tend to be monstrous these days.. Big, beefy, machines.

Dave is 6ft I am 5 6 1/2” we are not going to breed an official giant but a giant is what he wants to be. So he eats well, and tons of it too, he exercises a lot, training, running, playing but at what point do you interfere with what nature is doing. My, perhaps naive attitude is if you eat a well balanced diet then why stuff all this artificially created rubbish down your throat. As a Mum I can’t turn a blind eye to the great red plastic tub (red danger red danger) and the fact that it is hidden in the bottom of the wardrobe you know there has to be reason.

On reading the label it appears it is not to be taken by people  under 18 – so Holland And Barrat should be asking for ID should they? Well they wouldn’t sell them beer or cigarettes so why should they sell this shit?

So what would you do?
What do you do?

Answers on a postcard please. Actually postcards not required just leave a comment here…please…

AlisonsDiary

Writer & broadcaster.

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