Meps and Protein Shakes

[Lombardist]

I would like to start this out by saying thank you to all who are serving and have served in the Marine Corps. I have two questions regarding the meps process.

1. I have been seeing a recruiter for a few weeks now. I have taken the asvab, filled out the enlistment application and the background check papers. I also did my medical pre evaluation. The only problems I had to list were that I had eye surgery as a baby to correct an extremely mild case of strabismus and I had a very small pilonidal cyst that went away on its ow after a few days about 3 and a half years ago. My recruiter sent my pre evaluation to meps about 4 weeks ago. Is it common for it to take this long for them to clear someone or should I begin to worry.

My other question has to do with whey protein. Is it okay to be taking this before I go to meps? A friend of mine said that someone he was at meps with was DQed because of excess protein in his urine. I only take it once per day after a workout, but I will stop if I need to.

Thanks in advance for taking time out of your day to answer these questions.

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[Rocky C]

Question 1 Yes. 2 no. 3, everyone has protien in their urine. If it is too high to my understanding you will not be DQ'd but retested in a few weeks by an outside Dr. to see if it is a health problem/drug by product or not and the results will be looked at by a MEPS DR.

I would stop taking it as you really don't need it if you are eating a balanced diet.
Also why go through all those unneeded steps from MEPS.

Note * We are not Drs. here so the answers you will receive are only opinions unless the information comes from an Acitive Duty Recruiter we have on the forum or someone who has gone through this at MEPS.

Best of luck to you.

[Lombardist]

Thank you for your prompt response. I will stop taking it and instead take in a more balanced diet. I had liked taking it because it seemed to allow me to push harder in the gym but if it will affect my potential career then I will remove it from my life as there is nothing more important to me than joining the Marine Corps.

[josephd]

There is no need to stop taking your protein. One protein shake a day after your workout will not effect anything. And eating a "balanced diet" will not give you the proper protein you need to build muscle the you want so keep at it.

Your body burns through protein so fast that it doesn't matter. If excess protein shows up on a urinalysis that is because you are taking in more protein than your body can handle or you have some sort of health problem that keeps your body from breaking down protein.

If you are taking any sort of pre-workout though, that I would suggest you stop taking. Many of those pre-workouts have a ton of stimulants in them and derivatives of other illegal substances. Those will show a spike in different things on a urinalysis and a false-positive. The doctors at MEPs can distinguish between things with a little research and further testing(I have one of my Marines dealing with right now) but as a new potential Poolee you are not going to want to deal with that kind of mess.

[Lombardist]

Thank you all for your posts and replies! The stuff I am taking is called six star elite series whey protein. The only extra stuff it contains is creatine and a bit of l-glutamine. I will switch to just the regular whey protein and keep it to once a day to avoid a false positive

[doc h fmf]

You know what it means if you have protein in your urine,most of the time it means you have diabetes. So there shouldn't be any protein just because you do protein. So if you have protein in your urine you have diabetes. Good Luck.

Stephen Doc HansenHM3 FMF

[Lombardist]

Thank you for your reply, I actually have not taken the urinalysis exam yet as I am still waiting for my meps physical date, I was just worried that I would have some issues because of the things I read on the Internet about protein and other people's stories with it. I thank you all for your replies and for your time!

[Rocky C]

If it's on your mind this much go have a urine test done before hand.
Then you will have no second guesses.

[Lombardist]

That's a good idea I actually live across the street from a urine/blood lab so that wouldn't be a problem at all. Thanks for the great suggestion!

[Rocky C]

Your welcome. It will eleviate all the stress for you.
Please let us know how you make out.

[Huklebuk]

Do not, I repeat do not, take any supplements, protein or anything else. Dont even eat the eggs in the morning. Stop taking it two days prior to going to meps and you will be ok. You will pop on the urinalysis for too much protein. Which will result in a consult and possibly a bumed. So it can delay your enlistment substantially.

[Rocky C]

Straight from the recruiters mouth.

Thank you Brother.