You can answer the question Yourself with a few

You can answer the question yourself
with a few facts and some simple math
By J im Stoppani, P h. D.
110
MUSCLE & Fitness — 12.11
H
ow do you
choose a protein powder?
Do you go on
the recommendation of your
buddy at the
gym and take
what he takes? Do you pick the bottle
with the shiniest, most cutting-edge
­label, or do you choose what tastes good
or what’s on sale at your local GNC?
These are serious questions. You
know that taking whey protein at the
right times can make all the difference
between building an extra half-inch
on your arms or adding 20 pounds
to your personal best on the bench
press. But not just any whey will do.
There are great whey protein products and there are not-so-good whey
products. And being able to tell the
difference between them can be
critical to your gains.
Whey Good
The first step in determining the
worthiness of your protein is to
give yourself a pat on the back. You
recognize whey’s benefits and are
including it in your daily regimen.
It’s enormously advantageous for
several reasons, including amino acid
and ­microfraction content (more on
that in a minute) and digestion rate.
Whey is one of the richest sources of
BCAAs, which include the three amino
acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine.
These bad boys have been shown to
be absolutely key for muscle growth
and even for energy during workouts.
Whey protein also contains biologically
active protein microfractions, such as
alpha-lactalbumin, beta-lactoglobulin,
glycomacropeptides, immunoglobulins,
lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase, and various growth factors. These provide antioxidants, boost immune function, and
enhance muscle recovery and growth.
Probably the most important factor
that puts whey protein miles ahead
of other forms of protein is digestion
rate. It breaks down very rapidly. In
fewer than 30 minutes it can fasttrack a good portion of its aminos to
your muscles, and that quick delivery
to muscle cells has been shown to be
vital for pushing growth.
From Cow
to Jug
This flowchart gives
you a simplified rundown
of how milk
goes from the
cow to whey
protein.
Whey is
filtered to
remove
carbs and
fat, forming
whey
concentrate
Louis Pasteur
revolutionized milk
production in 1864.
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Supply and Demand
It’s the first thing you learn in Economics 101, and the
supply and demand model is what you need to understand
when it comes to understanding why protein powder prices
are at a premium.
According to Vince Andrich, president of Vandrich Performance
Nutrition Inc. and author of Sports Supplement Review (Mile
High Publishing), “On the supply side of things, New Zealand, the
world’s largest exporter of milk, experienced terrible weather
conditions in 2010 and 2011 that significantly cut milk production. At the same time, both China and Russia were importing
milk at an all-time high. One reason for the increased demand in
China was the melamine-contaminated milk incident. Worried
about receiving tainted milk from local sources, Chinese companies looked elsewhere for their milk. China has increased their
importing of powdered milk by more than 50%.”
With supply low and demand high, it doesn’t take an economics
professor to understand why protein powder prices are rising.
Milk is generally expensive, regardless of whether it’s used to
make cheese or protein powder. That expense trickles down to
the protein powder manufacturers and, of course, to you.
Milk is
pasteurized,
or heated
to temps
that kill
harmful
bacteria.
Casein and
whey are
separated.
Milk Made
Whey is one of the proteins found in
milk, and whey protein production
starts with dairy cows. Milk is the
originating source for most protein powders. But if you think that
supplement companies like Optimum
Nutrition, CytoSport, or Nature’s
Best are out in the back milking
cows to make their protein powders,
you’ve got another thing coming.
Until the 1960s, many considered
whey a waste by-product of cheese
Cow is
milked—
the raw
form has a
lot of sugar,
in the form
of lactose,
and plenty
of fat.
Whey
concentrate
is dried to
form whey
protein
concentrate
powder.
Whey goes
through more
filtering, such
as cross-flow
microfiltration,
to form whey
isolate.
Whey
isolate is
dried to
form whey
protein
isolate
powder.
Whey is
hydrolyzed
to break
protein into
smaller
pieces.
The finished
product is a light,
water-soluble
powder.
Whey
hydrolysate is
dried to form
whey protein
hydrolysate
powder.
does your protein suck?
production that was routinely dumped
or fed to livestock. Today dairy companies recognize its value and have set
up factories to concentrate and purify
the protein. Due to the limited number
of suppliers, most supplement companies acquire raw, unflavored protein
powders—whey protein isolate, whey
protein concentrate, whey protein
hydrolysate, calcium caseinate, or
micellar casein—from the same handful
of manufacturers, including Glanbia,
with headquarters in Ireland, and
Hilmar Ingredients, in California. Then
they add their proprietary blend of
ingredients, including everything
from additional nutrients (like
extra aminos and enzymes to help
digest the protein) and flavoring
to coloring and other ingredients
to produce their final blend—
which ends up in the jug
on your kitchen counter.
Surveying the Field
Great Whey Protein Powders
When you buy a protein powder,
your intention is to buy protein and
not carbs or fat, because they’re easy
to get in your diet. So when you’re
laying down your hard-earned cash
for a jug of protein, skip the blends
with high amounts of carbs and fat.
A quick glance at the supplement
facts panel will show you how
much of each are in the product.
You’re not done yet. Keep scanning down the label until you get to
the ingredients list. The information
contained here is the key to knowing
whether a protein powder is really
amazing or simply passable. First,
you might notice that most whey
protein products contain more than
one type of whey. You might see whey
protein isolate, whey protein hydrolysate (aka hydrolyzed whey protein),
or whey protein concentrate.
To be considered a great whey
protein, the product must list whey
112
MUSCLE & Fitness — 12.11
Check the label.
The very first ingredient
must be a high-quality
protein source.
protein isolate or hydrolyzed whey protein isolate as the very first ingredient.
That’s because whey protein isolates
are the purest forms of protein you
can get, with some being more than
90% protein. And hydrolyzed whey
protein isolate means that the highquality whey has been predigested
into smaller protein fragments for
even faster digestion than regular
whey isolate. Whey protein concentrate, on the other hand, goes through
less filtering, which means fewer
of the natural carbohydrates found
in milk are removed. The result is a
whey product that is much lower in
protein content. Although most whey
protein concentrates are somewhere
between 70–80% protein, some can
be less than 35%. This is why most
Whey protein
concentrate goes
through less filtering,
meaning fewer carbs
are removed.
companies make a big deal about
their whey protein isolate powders.
(This is also why isolates and hydrolysates generally cost more.)
But to really know whether a whey
protein powder is top-notch, you’ll
need to do some math. Take the grams
of protein per serving listed on the
supplement facts panel and divide it
by the serving size (in grams). This
will give you the percentage of protein
in each serving. To be considered
a great whey protein powder, the
percent protein per serving (or scoop)
should be 80% or greater. For example,
if a whey protein powder provides 25
grams of protein per 28-gram scoop,
that protein powder is about 90%
protein and is a great powder for
the money.
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On its own, whey protein powder
is far more effective than any other
protein form on the market. But the
efficiency of individual products containing whey protein varies widely,
mostly due to the type and amount
of whey and the other ingredients
mixed into the final blend.
great Whey
Protein Powders
These 10 whey protein powders made
our list for delivering 80% or more
protein per serving:
AST VP2 Whey Isolate
Source: hydrolyzed whey isolate
Body Fortress Super Advanced
Whey Isolate
Source: whey isolate
Dymatize Iso-100
Source: hydrolyzed whey isolate
GNC Pro Performance Whey Isolate
Source: whey isolate
MuscleTech Nitro Isolate 65 Pro
Source: whey isolate and hydrolyzed
whey isolate
Nature’s Best Isopure Zero Carb
Source: whey isolate
NOW Whey Protein Isolate
Source: microfiltered whey isolate
Optimum Platinum Hydro Whey
Source: hydrolyzed whey isolate
ProLab Isolate
Source: whey isolate
Ultimate Nutrition Iso-Sensation 93
Source: cross-flow microfiltered whey isolate
Good Whey
Protein Powders
These supps pack 70−80% protein per
serving, slightly lower than the “greats”
due to added whey protein concentrate:
Champion Pure Whey Protein
Source: micro-filtered and ion-exchanged
whey concentrate and isolate
CytoSport Complete Whey
Source: whey concentrate and hydrolysate
Dymatize Elite Whey Protein Isolate
Source: whey isolate
EAS 100% Whey Protein
Source: whey concentrate and isolate
Met-Rx 100% Ultramyosyn Whey
Source: ultra-filtered whey concentrate
MRM 100% All Natural Whey
Source: ultra-filtered whey concentrate
and cross-flow microfiltered whey isolate
Optimum Gold Standard 100% Whey
Source: whey isolate
Twinlab 100% Whey Protein Fuel
Source: whey concentrate and isolate
Universal Ultra Whey Pro
Source: ultra-filtered whey isolate
Whey
Protein
Powders
That Suck
C
ompanies like
Glanbia and
Hilmar start with
high-quality milk, but
not every company
does the same. To cut
costs and make their
powders more affordable, some manufacturers use questionable suppliers. These
lesser-quality powders may also contain
impurities and toxins.
The easiest way to
spot a powder that’s
using cheap raw protein is its price. If it’s
much cheaper than
the major brands, it’s
likely something is
up. There’s only one
way for a company
to undersell all other
reputable brands,
and that is by buying inferior protein.
So, be careful of
protein powders that
are off-label brands,
that you can’t find on
bodybuilding.com or
at GNC or the Vitamin
Shoppe, or that are
incredibly cheap.
As they say, you get
what you pay for.
Another way to spot
a low-quality protein
powder is by checking the nutrition label.
Most good whey
protein concentrates
are around 70–80%,
but some can fall as
low as 35% protein—
meaning the “protein”
is actually more likely
a blend of carbs and
fat. If a protein powder lists whey protein
concentrate first on
the ingredients list
followed by whey
protein isolate and/or
whey protein hydrolysate but has less
than 70% protein per
serving, then it likely
contains only a small
amount of whey.
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