The Great Singapore Sale is in full swing
It’s the Great Singapore Sale (GSS) this month. Overheard on the radio that Singaporeans take this opportunity to stock up on bulk items and also on Christmas gifts. (I did try that gift trick last year but came Christmas, I still went holiday shopping and the “cheap” gifts are still in the closet. What a waste!) This year’s GSS though, supplements are on the top of my list. This week in particular was mostly about protein.
Probably the lesser known protein source is Spirulina and this is one of my protein supplement choices.
GNC is selling at buy 1 take 1 @ S$42.95 (1 bottle = 90 caps, 500 mg per cap)
while Guardian is selling the Red Sun (Japan) brand @ S$99.00 (1400 tabs, 200 mg per tab)
so Red Sun is cheaper by more than 50%! That’s quite a deal and it should last me 1 month @ 7,500 mg per day [20 cal per day, 4g protein]
Soy is another protein supplement choice. I need variety so I don’t get bored.
Guardian is selling both types of Shaklee Soy Protein @ S$73.30 – 20% discount = S$58.64
36 servings @ 3 Tbsp. per serving [110 cal per serve, 14g protein]
Compared to Spirulina, Shaklee is 550 cal per day, 70g protein. But in terms of price instead of calories, Shaklee is still cheaper (S$0.12 per protein gm) compared to the already discounted Spirulina @ Guardian (S$0.66 per protein gm).
I guess I’ll be switching to soy protein (from Spirulina) as I’m starting a high protein diet (BFFM) @ 112 protein gm per day. For those of you who know about BFFM, that explains why I’m “counting calories”. BTW, if anyone out there has tried a vegan version of BFFM, I would appreciate protein tips and other vegan tips. I haven’t seen any rice protein products yet which is another option. ‘Will keep on shopping!
scvegan said
I don’t know about BFFM specifically but be careful when eating a diet like that. A vegan diet has plenty of protein already, and too much protein in the diet can cause havoc to the bones and kidneys while making your body’s ph very acidic. Everything you eat already has protein in it; broccoli for example is over 40% protein, oatmeal 15%, potatoes 11%, mushrooms 12%, beans/peas/lentils 28%, Spinach 51%, lettuce 40%, brown rice 9%, strawberries 8%, zucchini 17%, oranges 9%, white flour 11%, etc, etc… You get the idea. Only 5% of our daily calories is recommended to be protein as part of a healthy diet (according to the World Health Organization), which is double the minimum requirement (2.5%). At 112 grams (assuming you already calculated the protein from the rest of the food you’re eating, and not just the supplemented protein), if you are eating a 2,000 cal/day diet you are over 22% protein.
We can’t use or save the excess protein, so our kidneys have to work extra hard to eliminate what we can’t use. The proteins being made of amino acids, make our bodies acidic. In order to bring our ph back into balance our body will dissolve bone material, using the calcium to balance out the acid. Over time our bones can become weak and brittle if this is allowed to continue. All of that extra bone material gets flushed through the kidneys, where it settles and forms stones. Kidney stones.
I think I have typed too much already, so I’ll stop for now. Just use caution if you insist on eating a high-protein diet, that’s all. What is the purpose of the diet?
6monthstofreedom said
Thanks for the heads up scvegan. I’m actually trying BFFM as a fat loss diet. I recently went for a body analysis and the results said I was actually obese. You wouldn’t know that by looking at me though. I have a small frame so I can get away looking like your average female. I have a high fat percentage and I guess it’s from years of eating junk food so you can say, going vegan is one way for me to avoid those. And BFFM is to help me lose fat while toning up. I’ve started reading up on protein. I actually find it fun learning about nutrition. Anyway, I’ve created a new category of links about protein called “All About Protein” mostly for myself to refer to from time to time. So thanks for the warning and getting me started on protein education. =)