Are There Dangerous Levels of Lead in Greenberry Shakeology?

The REAL Story

Recently, Dr Oz featured a show on protein powders containing heavy medals and painted Beachbody in a bad light over not only that, but, the company’s response… which was only HALF the real response the company issued.

Read the response here: Shakeology

Our friend and Environmental Scientist Tommy Doran recently had this to say:

Okay with all the news about lead in Shakeology, I thought I would bring some sanity to the fear. In my real job, I’m an Environmental Scientist. I deal with toxicology calculations for soil, water and air all day long.

The first thing people need to realize is that the presence of something, does not equal danger from it. That goes for solar radiation, as well as metals in food.

Secondly, lead is a metal. It occurs in nature. It’s in the water, the air, and ESPECIALLY in the soil, everyday, everywhere. Plants absorb nutrients from the soil and water through there roots and assimilate them into their tissues. These nutrients include naturally occurring metals.

The thing that people need to be concerned about is HOW MUCH of these metals are found in the foods we eat. EVERYTHING is toxic…AT A CERTAIN CONCENTRATION. Again, presence does not equal danger.

So at what concentration does lead start to become dangerous? According to the World Health Organization, the Provisional Tolerable WEEKLY Intake (PTWI) for lead is 25 micrograms of lead per kilogram of body weight per WEEK (25mcg/KGbw/Week) (http://www.who.int/ifcs/documents/forums/forum5/pronczuk.pdf).

Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWIs): The amount of the contaminant that can be consumed weekly over a life time WITHOUT APPRECIABLE HEALTH RISK.

The average American Male weighs 88.3 Kg (194.7 lbs), and the average American Female weighs 74.7 Kg (164.7 lbs)…we all know America is too heavy. This means that the average male and the average female can safely consume the following amounts of lead weekly over a lifetime with no risk to health:

Males:25 x 88.3 kg = 2207.5 mcg Lead per week or 315.36 mcg Lead per day
Females: 25 x 74.7 = 1867.5 mcg Lead per week or 266.78 mcg Lead per day

CONCLUSION: The Consumer Labs report that Dr. Oz mentioned found only 12.7 mcg of lead per daily serving of Shakeology. You could have 20 servings a day (254 mcg) and still not reach the limit. So everything is toxic in the right concentration (even water), but just because something is present, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily concentrated enough to be toxic. 

Tommy Doran