Whey Protein

I want to start my “whey protein journey” with something I read a few weeks ago. “A study was made of 100 overweight people to determine how much weight will they lose for 30 days. Fifty of those people had specially made exercise and diet program, and the other fifty had the same program, but they also had a whey protein added to it. The results were more  than convenient. All of the 50 people that had the protein added to there weight lose program were lost more weight than those 50 people that didn’t have protein added to there programs. “My long experience only proves that study. With the right diet and the right exercises, protein could stimulate weight lose. Of course protein will only help you lose weight, when you have  established a calorie plan, that will have you burn more calories than you receive.

Protein can help us gain muscle mass. Everyone who wants to start exercise and change his lifestyle by working out needs to think of adding a protein to his diet. But what exactly is the whey protein, and why we need it?

Whey protein is a mixture of proteins isolated from whey, the liquid material created as a by-product of cheese production. That means the whey protein is made of natural products as milk and cheese.

For vegetarian diets there is the soy protein. Made of soy, the soy protein is a good source of amino acids necessary for good nutrition, but you should know, that whey protein will help you add muscle more quickly than soy. The whey protein will increase glutathione levels in the body. Gluathione is an anti-oxidant that boosts the immune system (Whey Protein Institute, 2007).

Bio-active components in the whey protein may help to reduce cholesterol. The way protein has just a few disadvantages. Some people are allergic to whey protein, and it’s not suitable for vegetarian diet.

When it comes to  choosing a whey protein, there are so many kinds and three different forms. So how we choose the right protein? I Always look in the back of the bottle. I always look for low amount of sugar (carbohydrate), calories and cholesterol. We also have three forms of whey protein-concentrate, isolate and hydrolyzed. The difference between the whey protein forms is the process used to filter the proteins.

Whey isolates have had their base component (water) removed and are generally considered almost lactose and cholesterol free — they are at least 90% protein by weight. Whey isolates go through a filtration where the membranes of the filters are about one micrometer. Because of their filtration methods, whey isolates tend to be less allergenic and priced higher then the other forms of protein.

Whey concentrate protein doesn’t go through such a stringent filtering process. That’s why whey concentrates have more fat, lactose and less protein-around 80%. That makes whey concentrate way more cheaper than whey isolates.

Whey Hydrolysate undertakes higher processing than either whey isolate or concentrate. Whey hydrolysate is easy on the digestive system and has a high absorption rate. So you get the high quality protein, fast absorbing (anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes), but really high priced.

So in your way of choosing the form of protein, I will suggest you to go with your needs. If you are planning on adding protein to your weight lose program I would go with Whey isolate (you get good quality protein low on fat and calories). If you are planning on adding protein to your muscle building program, I will suggest you to think with your wallet. If you have money to spend you should go with whey hydrolysate, but you will also get good results with the less priced whey concentrate.

I hope a lot of people will learn something new about whey protein and will help a lot of you understand the goods of adding protein. I want to finish my article with a few facts and ongoing researches.

 -Whey protein is a source of amino acids(building cells and repairing tissue, they form antibodies to combat invading bacteria & viruses).

-Whey protein may reduce cholesterol.

-Whey protein may reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer.

-Whey protein may speed recovery and adaptation to stress (exercise).

-Whey protein can increase glutathione (antioxidant) levels.

See also what are nutrients-carbs, fat and protein for more info. on the subject!