Paul:

We can take that principle even farther.

Real food doesn't have ingredients: real food is an ingredient.

Meat.  Ingredients: meat.

Blueberries.  Ingredients: blueberries.

Egg.  Ingredients: egg.  May contain traces of egg.

And so on.

Howard:

In this particular case, I believe it's because hydrolyzed wheat protein is a lot cheaper than whey protein!  But the appetite-stimulating effects of gluten exorphins are indeed intriguing.

Marilyn:

On a similar note, I've seen "Fat-Free Half and Half" on store shelves.  I'm almost afraid to look at the ingredient label.

Note that the whoop is how spotted hyenas (and gnolls) communicate over long distances.  There are inflections which communicate meaning, but it's mainly an attention-getter on the order of "I'm over here," "Pack, I have something to say," or "You'd better leave our territory, whoever you are."  So any important discovery, good or bad, would probably start with a whoop -- followed by a conversation made of all sorts of ominous noises.  

Spotted hyenas are very vocal, but it takes practice to understand them...their vocalizations aren't the same as those of dogs or cats.  Their facial expressions and body language, however, are remarkably transparent to an attentive human.

Kassandra:

The better brands take such issues seriously, and will usually say "Gluten-free" or "Contains no gluten" on the packaging.

More soon!

JS

pam:

Thank you!  I''m glad I''ve been able to turn my wasted money into useful information for my readers.

Alex:

That one's probably fine.  I'm a bit skeptical about the health claims, though...I'm not sure cow proteins do our own guts any good.  Mainly whey is good because our enzymes break the proteins down very quickly, letting us absorb the protein quickly.  (If that's indeed what we want.)

Daniel:

I know our intestines suck up most of the L-glutamine we ingest…I''ll have to ask her about what it actually does for gut health.

Yes, gluten is pervasive, as are corn and soy.  They''re pervasive because they're cheap, and they''re cheap because our government pays Big Ag billions of dollars every year to overproduce them.

eddie:

Most likely.  The more ingredients, the easier it is to hide cheap fillers like hydrolyzed wheat protein.

EDouble:

Ethiopia?  Wow!  Going to Harar to hang out with the city''s hyenas is on my bucket list.

Can I ask what you''re doing in AA, and how you came across The Gnoll Credo?

Angel:

It''s possible that you had a reaction to the whey itself…but it''s more likely that you found one that had been "fortified" with "glutamine peptides".

As I said in the article, that''s one reason I always buy unflavored…because I can tell by the taste if it''s been adulterated.  And unflavored whey, while it''s not delicious, isn''t a bad taste at all…at least it shouldn''t be.

I''m glad I could help solve the mystery, and I hope this helps you if you ever decide to buy some more in the future.

Jeffrey:

I''ve heard that Jay Robb is good stuff: thanks for the confirmation.  And do let us know what you find out.

On the cheap end of things, I can personally vouch for NOW unflavored whey isolate: though it''s not pastured or organic, it's definitely gluten-free, cold-filtered, etc. I linked to it one comment up.

Thanks, everyone, for your comments and suggestions!  Please forward this article on to other, non-paleo sources — as there are a lot of people with wheat allergies, intolerances, or frank celiac, and most people who consume whey protein are at least trying to work out and be healthy.

JS

Kenneth:

The BCAA content doesn't depend on the processing method: even hydrolyzed whey will contain the same proportion of amino acids (unless it's been otherwise adulterated).

There may be other benefits to certain proteins that tend to appear (or appear in greater quantities) in cold-filtered whey, but they don't markedly change the amino acid composition.  So while I agree that it's best to consume sustainably raised ingredients, I'm very skeptical of the health benefits claimed.

Marilyn:

I very much doubt that free glutamic acid, by itself, is the source of MSG issues.  You can't eat a paleo diet (or any diet) without encountering some amount of free glutamate — that's why they're called "amino acids".

For example, parmesan cheese contains a huge load of free glutamate.  So does Roquefort…yet I don't see anyone complaining of headaches when they eat Roquefort.  Other sources include green tea, grape juice, cured ham, and peas.  Furthermore, no double-blind study has shown that people can tell whether they've eaten MSG -- even people who claim to be sensitive to it can't tell!

Given this, I tend to believe that other additives in cheap Chinese food, and cheap processed food, are the source of "MSG reactions".  But I'm open to being convinced otherwise.

JS

It's probably fine -- but I don't like their baloney about "dead proteins" and how they're hard to digest.  Of course they're dead...they're a powder in a jug!  And I see no evidence that pasteurization denatures proteins in a way that makes us not digest them.

Note that it's fortified with L-glutamine, which isn't the same thing as "glutamine peptides", and should be fine (though I'm not sure why you need it, as whey is naturally high in glutamine).

That said, their price isn't ridiculous, and they do carry an unflavored version...but if I'm not getting grass-fed dairy cows I'll just go for the NOW stuff.

Also note that pure, non-"fortified" whey protein doesn't taste bad at all!  The reason companies need to flavor it is to cover up adulterants.

JS