{"id":53592,"date":"2025-07-10T08:03:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T08:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/53592\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T08:03:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T08:03:12","slug":"think-you-are-getting-a-good-deal-with-cheap-whey-proteins-sold-online-instead-of-muscles-all-youll-be-gaining-is-weight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/53592\/","title":{"rendered":"Think you are getting a good deal with cheap whey proteins sold online? Instead of muscles, all you\u2019ll be gaining is… weight!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 \u2014 Recently there has been a flood of cheap whey protein supplements being sold online which should immediately ring alarm bells.<\/p>\n

With some products priced as low as RM60 for a one-kilogramme tub \u2014 a fraction of the RM240 to RM300 typically charged by more reputable brands \u2014 many Malaysians have been drawn in by flashy deals and aggressive online marketing.<\/p>\n

Whey protein, a by-product of cheese production, is valued for its high nutritional content and is widely used to support muscle growth and repair.<\/p>\n

But producing it requires specialised machinery, skilled labour and strict quality control \u2014 making it an expensive process.<\/p>\n

To reduce production costs, some manufacturers allegedly substitute much of the whey content with cheaper alternatives such as soy or pea protein \u2014 or even sugar and other fillers \u2014 while still labelling the product as premium whey protein supplements.<\/p>\n

Nutritionist Nurul Farhana Syazreen from Aspen Nutrition told Malay Mail that prolonged consumption of such mislabelled products may lead to health issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou must be careful because if there\u2019s a lot of sugar in it, you may develop diabetes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her comments follow a series of TikTok videos posted by the account @musclemaniaclub \u2014 operated by fitness brand Muscle Mania Club \u2014 which claimed the company had sent several low-priced whey protein products sold in Malaysia for laboratory testing.<\/p>\n

According to the videos, which have since been widely circulated online, some of the tested products \u2014 including locally manufactured ones \u2014 were found to contain little to no actual protein, despite labels claiming 20 to 30 grams per scoop.<\/p>\n

Retired national bodybuilder and six-time Mr World and Mr Asia champion Datuk Syarul Azman Mahen Abdullah, better known as Mike Mahen, said dodgy supplements have long existed, but the rise of online brands has made the situation worse.<\/p>\n

He said consumers should question bold marketing claims, especially when it comes to price, ingredients and \u201czero sugar\u201d claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cBest to do a ton of research first before purchasing anything, and if it\u2019s online be more vigilant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink first, can the product be so cheap and deliver? Check labels and everything else, and if it says zero sugar, ask: is it glucose, artificial sugar, less sugar maybe two to three grams instead of zero?\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Nurul explained that all locally produced supplements and food products are required to undergo labelling verification by the Ministry of Health \u2014 either through the Food Safety and Quality Division for food items or the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency for supplements.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a product is made in Malaysia, it must follow local labelling guidelines but imported products sometimes bypass this, which is a loophole,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n

\"Retired <\/p>\n

Retired national bodybuilder and six-time Mr World and Mr Asia champion Datuk Syarul Azman Mahen Abdullah, better known as Mike Mahen. \u2014 Picture via Instagram\/mikesyarul<\/p>\n

\u2018Just eat some chicken\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mike said most gym-goers are better off sticking to proper meals, rather than relying on supplements, adding that regular servings of meat already contain what their bodies need.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave a good 150-200 grams of chicken and 150 grams of carbs and fibre as you\u2019re working out just for fitness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also cautioned parents against giving protein supplements to teenagers or children in hopes of speeding up weight gain.<\/p>\n

\u201c[For people aged] below 17, I won\u2019t recommend taking creatine or protein or anything else because your natural hormones and testosterone is there and you\u2019re growing naturally.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo just add good food, good solid beef, mutton, red meat, you know, and everything is good enough already,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Associate Professor Mahenderan Appukutty from Universiti Teknologi Mara\u2019s Faculty of Sports Science and Recreation supported the view that concentrated protein is usually only helpful for those involved in high-intensity or competitive training.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf let\u2019s say you are doing [competitive] weightlifting, you cannot eat 10, 15 eggs in one go. So that\u2019s where concentrated protein becomes helpful. But normal people don\u2019t need it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can take soy, concentrated soy drink, or chicken,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As consumers navigate a protein supplement market crowded with bold claims on nutrition and performance benefits, experts agree \u2014 for most Malaysians, a pricey powder is unnecessary.<\/p>\n

A plate of chicken is all they need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 \u2014 Recently there has been a flood of cheap whey protein supplements being sold…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":53593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[3231,39829,1728,13160,210,11659,39827,1182,2796,67,132,68,39828],"class_list":{"0":"post-53592","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-benefits","9":"tag-cheap","10":"tag-exercise","11":"tag-gym","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-muscle","14":"tag-myths","15":"tag-nutrition","16":"tag-supplements","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-whey-proteins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114827900106272058","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}