Whey Protein: What It Does and Why You Need It

Whey protein powder is the most important muscle-building supplement you can take, with essential benefits for everyone from casual gym-goers to elite sportsmen. But with so many choices, each with a variety of other substances and bewildering acronyms propping up their ingredients list, it can be difficult to know what you’re actually putting into your body – or if it’s even helping your training. Here's what you should look out for next time you reach for the scoop.

The benefits of whey protein

A study published in the Journal Of The International Society Of Sports Nutrition found that subjects who consumed whey protein after training experienced improved blood flow to their forearm muscles, enhancing the delivery of muscle-building nutrients such as oxygen and hormones. It is also generally understood that the anabolic effects of weight training are increased through the consumption of whey protein because amino acids are rapidly driven to skeletal muscle tissue. This helps your muscles get larger and stronger in less time than if you weren’t taking whey protein.

How much protein should you consume?

This debate has raged for years, but one thing that virtually everyone agrees on is that 2g per kilo is a good idea for the average gymgoer. This is also the ratio that was used in a 2015 study in which subjects lost fat while gaining muscle, long regarded as impossible for those not already eating enough chicken.

When to take whey protein

Take whey straight as soon after a workout as possible for a quick hit of muscle-building nutrients. Casein is the bedtime protein, and you should take it before you hit the hay for a prolonged release of protein to aid muscle recovery and growth. Soy protein is a vegan option derived from soya beans, and studies have shown that it, like the previous two, supports muscle hypertrophy.

What should I look for?

The word to remember is “bioavailability”. This pharmacological term refers to how much of your scoop – or rather, the amino acids in it – can actually be used by your body. It’s linked to biological value (BV), a unit of measurement that compares different protein sources via the nitrogen they allow to be stored in the body (bonus fact: if your powder causes, ah, emissions, that’s nitrogen being under-used). Eggs are the usual comparison unit, with a BV of 100. A typical “good” value for whey is about 104.

The difference between isolate and concentrate whey protein

Both isolate whey and concentrate go through a microfiltration process – basically a really fine sieve – but isolate goes through it more times. This produces a powder containing more than 90% pure protein, compared with around 75-85% for concentrate.

Which brand of whey protein should you buy?

If you’re trying to bulk up, it can be tempting to grab a pile of bargain-shelf cow remnants, but you wouldn’t expect them to provide the same glorious results as a grass-fed, 28-day aged ribeye steak. Similarly, when you’re looking for a powder, it can be tempting to head to your health food shop’s bargain aisle and grab the bucket of protein that offers the highest powder-to-pounds ratio, but by doing so you’re probably short-changing yourself. Go for quality, and the gains will come.

Reference: http://tinyurl.com/z7p8e8l