THE new sunday express Voices Pushpesh Pant Devdutt Pattanaik Ravi Shankar Anuja Chandramouli Shiv M Sahai Swami Sukhabodhananda MAGAZINE Buffet People Wellness Books Food Art & Culture Entertainment jUNE 15 2025 SUNDAY PAGES 12 40,000 cases were registered against unsafe protein powders and dietary supplements in 2022-23 36 protein product samples contained fungal toxins like aflatoxins—a known carcinogen, a 2024 study revealed `3,600 crore is where India’s protein supplements market is expected to reach by 2030 Shaken & Stirred The Great Protein Supplement Hoax By Tej Prakash Bhardwaj P rotein shakes have become the muscle malaise of India. The explosion of new gyms opening across the country and innumerable exercise videos popularised during pandemic time and the Holy Grail of Wellbeing—weight loss— are driving the indiscriminate and unregulated consumption of protein supplements that include powders, pills and liquids. It is a common sight at a gym protein bar to find sweaty gym rats gulping down banana smoothies loaded with a few scoops of protein powder. Even local medical shops sell smuggled protein powders to the muscle-mad who have at best a hazy idea of what they contain. They contain poison, to put it simply . At least, some of them. They play havoc on the liver, kidneys, gut, private parts and at worst, can cause death in rare examples. Delhi fitness fanatic Pramod Kumar’s passion for his local gym is a perfect example of mass ignorance about protein supplements. The 32-year-old furniture shop owner had no idea that equating a healthy lifestyle with consuming protein shakes would land him in hospital. Soon after joining the gym, the trainer advised him to go for a few scoops of protein supplements every day “This will help in muscle gain,” the . trainer advised. Happy over the quick results, Kumar diligently continued to take supplementary protein powder as recommended. “Two months later, I started feeling some discomfort. I would feel the urge to urinate but could not do it. The doctor advised some tests, which showed that my uric acid levels had shot up,” recalls Kumar. Further tests confirmed that his urine contained a high concentration of protein, which his body was excreting due to the excessive intake of the supplements. “The urologist said that continued consumption of protein supplements could lead to kidney failure. He explained that the excessive protein intake was placing significant strain on both my kidneys and liver,” reveals Kumar. A first-of-itskind study in April 2024—Citizen Protein Project—published in the peer-reviewed journal Medicine concluded after examining 36 brands of protein powders, including herbal and dietary supplements that 70 per cent of the popular protein supplements sold in India are mislabelled, while 14 per cent contain toxins. The authors of the study—clinical researchers associated with Rajagiri Hospital in Kerala and a technology entrepreneur from the US—noted that “most Indian-made herbal protein-based supplements are poor quality and contain liver toxic botanicals”. In the Ayruveda-driven health landscape of India, anything ‘herbal’ is considered safe and pure. The study says otherwise: “We demonstrate that the protein-based herbal and dietary supplement industry requires stringent scrutiny regulation, , and basic safety studies before being marketed,” the authors noted Like many newbies in the bodybuilding world, Kumar obviously had no idea. He bought his first few protein supple- ments and got diet suggestions courtesy his gym trainer. The instructions were simple: exercise six days a week and immediately switch to a high-protein diet. “ After facing health issues, when I checked my protein supplement container, I noticed the original dates and bar code had been scratched off. I realised I had been duped into buying and consuming fake protein.” Kumar’s story is not unique. Last year, The Indian Council of Medical Research emphasised that protein supplements for building body mass should be avoided. The Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition under the top health research body released revised ‘Dietary Guidelines for Indians’ last week to meet the Turn to page 2
Express Network Private Limited publishes thirty three E-paper editions of The New Indian Express newspaper , thirty two E-paper editions of Dinamani, one E-paper edition of The Morning Standard, one E-paper edition of Malayalam Vaarika magazine and one E-paper edition of the Indulge - The Morning Standard, Kolkatta.
