More about Whey Protein

What is Whey Protein?

Whey is a component of cow's milk that is isolated in the standard cheese-making process. Whey contains proteins, peptides (or protein segments), lactose (a type of sugar found only in milk), fat, salts and water. Whey protein is a group of three main proteins that are distilled from whey into a powder containing little or no fat and lactose and used in a variety of protein supplements.

Whey protein is widely considered the highest-quality natural protein. All proteins are made up of some combination of the 20 amino acids. Individual proteins contain different numbers and proportions of amino acids. Scientists have various methods of measuring protein quality. Biological Value (BV) is a measure of a particular protein's effect on nitrogen balance (the more positive the better). The protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) is a measure of how well a particular protein supplies the nine essential amino acids (the more completely the better).

Proteins from animal food sources (meat, fish, eggs, dairy) have higher ratings than plant proteins on both scales. First, animal proteins are structurally similar to human proteins than plant proteins are.¹ For this reason, our bodies are able to make more efficient use of animal proteins.¹ Second, unlike most animal proteins, most plant proteins contain very small amounts of, or are missing entirely, one or more of three essential amino acids: tryptophan, methionine, and lysine. This, too, makes plant proteins less effective in the body. Finally, animal foods tend to contain much larger amounts of protein than plant foods.

Fastest "Whey" to absorption

Whey protein is a complete protein that contains all 20 amino acids and all nine essential amino acids (i.e. amino acids that must be obtained in the diet because the body cannot make them using other amino acids). Its protein digestibility corrected amino acid score is 1.14, as compared to 0.94 for beef protein, and its BV is 104, compared to 100 for eggs. In addition, whey protein empties from the stomach and is absorbed into the bloodstream from the intestine faster than other proteins.² Moreover, whey protein contains especially high concentrations of amino acids that are metabolized at high rates during exercise—most notably glutamine and leucine.

Other Benefits of Whey

And that's not all. Whey proteins contain other critical components with proven health benefits. Its low molecular weight peptides are natural antioxidants potentiators that may protect body tissues from aging and certain cancers. In particular, three whey peptides are known to boost the immune system by increasing production of glutathione, the most important antioxidant in the body. Finally, growth factors known as IGF-I and IGF-II promote gut health and wound healing.

Not all proteins are created equal. Whey protein may be more beneficial to the human body than any other protein. When it comes to boosting growth, health, and performance, whey protein outperforms soy, egg, fish, beef, casein (another whey protein) and any other protein you can name.

(This information taken from the website WheyProtein.com.)