Whey Protein Intervention and Inflammatory Factors and Oxidative Stress: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

This article systematically reviews and meta-analyzes randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effects of whey protein (WP) supplementation on inflammatory markers and oxidative stress in healthy adults. Despite WP's proposed antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, the pooled analysis of 19 RCTs involving 784 participants found no significant impact of WP supplementation on key inflammatory factors—C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)—or oxidative stress markers such as glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC). Subgroup analyses considering dosage, intervention duration, and body mass index (BMI) did not explain differences in outcomes. The study concludes that current evidence does not support a significant effect of WP supplementation on inflammation or oxidative stress, highlighting the need for larger, higher-quality RCTs to confirm these findings.