What I want to do, is help you decide the best whey protein for beginners.
I will start from the lowest grade to the highest grade. Please, even though I use the term low-grade, whey protein, at any level really, whe protein is not low grade. As long as it doesn’t come from China, India, or some 3rd world country it’s a good quality protein.
Best whey protein for beginners.
This is a whey protein that is 80% protein or lower, which means if you took 100 grams of the powder only 80 gram is actually going to be protein. The rest is typically fat, lactose, and moisture. This is the stuff you do not want your whey protein powder to have. That is why typically most people want a whey isolate because the lactose is not present, thus it does not cause bloating or gas. However, whey isolate is NOT what the companies selling whey protein want to use because it costs more to make. Thus, their profit margins are lower. Companies selling whey protein concentrate will go as far in their marketing to say that whey protein concentrate is “better” than whey isolate because it is less processed. But this is complete bullshit. Whey protein concentrate does not have any advantages whatsoever (unless you consider farting fun) over whey protein isolate. The protein subfractions in whey concentrate are not any higher than in a whey protein isolate. If they were, then you would actually see NUMBERS to back this statement up. But the companies that are saying this to try to convince you that whey concentrate is better than a whey isolate, can NEVER back this statement up by actual numbers because they know if they did then they would be shown to be wrong. Here are some numbers for you. Whey protein concentrate is LOWER in BCAA’s than whey protein isolate. One of the reasons whey protein works so well to build muscle is because naturally it is over 30% BCAA’s. BCAA’s are the building blocks of muscle. Whey protein isolate is typically over 10% to 15% higher in BCAA’s than whey protein concentrate. And as far as I know, most people are buying and drinking whey protein powder to gain muscle. Thus one of THE most important factors is the BCAA content. Makes no sense buying a whey concentrate thinking it’s better than a whey isolate when factually whey isolate has more BCAA’s. Speaking of BCAA’s and marketing, do not be fooled by this type of crap. See how they try to make you think that they added BCAA’s, glutamine, and glutamine pre cursors. Well they didn’t. This is all naturally occurring amino acids. This would be the same as seeing an orange in the grocery store and it says on it. “With VITAMIN C”. Well yea duh, everyone knows that oranges contain naturally occurring vitamin c. Well, the same goes for whey protein, BCAA’s, glutamine, and glutamine pre cursors are all naturally occurring in the whey protein. The company selling it did nothing to add to it. They simply used some slick marketing to jack up the label to make it look better than it really is.
Ok, so now we know factually that a whey protein concentrate is NOT better than a whey protein isolate in any category such as protein subfractions and amino acid content. Companies claiming this can only yell and scream this, but they cannot back it up with factual numbers.
And by the way a whey concentrate tastes exactly the same as a whey isolate, so no biggie there either.
The ONLY reason you would buy a whey protein concentrate over a whey protein isolate is MONEY. There is nothing wrong with a whey protein concentrate. It is a great protein powder to use. Still has one of the highest biological values over any protein powder. It tastes good and supplies large amounts of BCAAs to the body. So do not think that whey protein concentrate is a crappy protein, because its not. It’s a great protein. However whey protein isolate is better and that is a fact!
Whey Protein Isolate
Whey Protein isolate means that if you have 100 grams of whey protein powder 90 grams of it or higher will actually be protein. You have have a whey protein isolate as high as 97% protein (this is made by Davisco foods in Minnesota). I have never seen whey protein that is 99% or higher in protein. Most whey isolate’s will be 90% protein. It will have zero fat, lactose, and carbs. This make whey protein isolate a great protein to use by anyone from kids to old people. It tastes good, mixes good, and no bloating or gas problems. You can add it to anything and it’s very easy to drink. Thus, it’s very user friendly, however, that is not the only reason why whey protein isolate is so popular.
Again, I go back to the fact that the building blocks of muscle are the BCAAs. Whey protein isolate is about 30% BCAAs. That means if you took 30 grams of powder from whey protein isolate you’d have 9 grams of BCAAs. If you would use a whey protein concentrate you have about 5 grams of BCAAs per serving. And also keep in mind that the body cannot make BCAAs. You must get them from food, like whey protein and other protein sources.
At Proteinfactory.com, we have the worlds highest quaity protein. If you want a basic whey isolate get our CFM whey isolate or Molkegan Whey isolate, both are 90% protein.
Native Whey Protein Isolate.
Ever hear of the expression, “They don’t make things like they used to?” Back in the early 90’s when whey protein first came out it was a very effective muscle building protein. Let me correct myself. SOME whey proteins were very effective, but not all. I was about 22 at the time when I first started bodybuilding and I remember first using a particular whey protein and let me tell you, when I was using this particular whey protein I was growing some serious muscle. This was because of two reasons. The whey protein back then that I was using was bioactively anabolic, and #2 it was almost 100% undenatured. Let me explain further.
Back when I was twenty-two (just a little wee-protein guru), even though unbeknownst to me, I was using a whey protein that was made from skim milk. It tasted great and had no funny after taste. I got stronger in a quick period of time and I grew lean muscle. Why was this? Let me explain…
Whey protein is a dairy product which by law is required to be pasteurized. Pasteurization involves heat. Heat denatures whey protein. It’s a FACT THAT ALL WHEY PROTEINS MADE FROM CHEESE ARE PASTEURIZED TWICE. WHEY PROTEINS MADE FROM MILK ARE ONLY PASTEURIZED ONCE! I’m sure most of you have heard of the term undenatured and denatured. Denatured means in layman’s terms that the protein was damaged somewhat during manufacturing. When the protein is damaged, it loses some of its muscle building effectiveness. The whey protein I used back then was only slightly denatured because it came from milk. This meant that the anabolic serum albumins, growth factors, subfractions and immunnoglobulins are mostly intact. Because of this, the whey protein I was using was producing some results. But as the years went on, whey protein manufacturers started to get their whey protein from cheese. And when whey protein comes from cheese it must by USDA law be pasteurized twice. Once coming from the cow to the milk and then again from the milk to the cheese. By doing this, it was literally diminishing the muscle building effects of whey protein. Years and years went by and nutrition company’s, including ProteinFactory.com® were selling whey protein made from cheese. Granted whey protein made from cheese is still a very, very high quality protein. You still get all your amino’s, and the protein has a great biological value compared to all other protein sources. But here at ProteinFactory.com® we are NEVER satisfied and are always looking to make protein better. We dominate the protein nutrition industry. And now we bring to you the latest development in whey protein.
NATIVE WHEY PROTEIN ISOLATE. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY YOU CAN USE A WHEY ISOLATE MADE DIRECTLY FROM MILK! AND POTENTIALLY UNLOCK THE TRUE POWER OF WHEY PROTEIN!
To sum things up, Native whey protein is going to be your top of the line whey protein. Hard to find but well worth the price.
Hydrolyzed whey protein
One of the best protein powders you can use is a hydrolyzed protein. A hydrolyzed protein powder is pre-digested protein. Meaning it is broken down to a certain degree from its whole food form, thus making it faster and easier to absorb. (Keep in mind that whey protein concentrate and isolate are whole food proteins.) And this is great for muscle building. Manufacturers can hydrolyzed any protein powder, but in this case we are talking about hydrolyzed whey protein. Hydrolyzed whey protein is sold VERY infrequently. If you can find 100% hydrolyzed whey protein on the retail shelf you are lucky. Why is this? Because it tastes HORRIBLE. The horrible taste is due to the peptides themselves. The peptides that are broken down from enzymes added to the whey protein by the manufacturer give off the bitter taste, the smaller the peptides the worse the taste. That is why it is impossible to drink a hydrolyzed whey protein. However if you can find a way to drink it (like your taste buds can tolerate anything) then you are really helping your muscle building efforts. Efforts to build muscles are enhanced because the hydrolyzed whey protein is absorbed much more efficiently than whey protein isolate or whey protein concentrate. Additionally hydrolyzed whey protein is absorbed faster as well. Thus using a hydrolyzed whey protein pre and post workout is a good idea. What you would do is take about 25 to 40 grams of a good high quality hydrolyzed whey protein and stack it with around 50 to 70 grams of carbohydrates. Again remember how to find a good high quality hydrolyzed whey protein. Just don’t buy one that says NOTHING about molecular weight average. Because hydrolyzed whey protein products are digested so fast your body releases insulin. Insulin is a very important anabolic hormone. Technically you do not have to use hydrolyzed whey and good carbs, you can just use chocolate milk pre and post workout. But chocolate milk consists of fructose (slow digesting carbs) and milk protein (slow digesting protein with lactose). Its common sense to know that better quality ingredients, like Proteinfactory.com’s hydrolyzed 520 and the carb Mod6, produce better results than the average post workout formula that a lot of supplement companies are selling. These products are usually just maltodextrin, whey protein concentrate and sometimes some added free form amino acids. However their advertised as being the best post workout you can buy. NOT! A good quality post workout would be something like high quality fruit and vegetable in a blender or a powdered carb like Proteinfactory.com’s Oat muscle, and a hydrolyzed protein powder. In addition you can get something like our leucine peptides and use pre and post workout. We know that the amino acid leucine is a major player in protein synthesis. Using it in your pre and post workout meal is a great idea. Keep in mind I don’t recommend L-Leucine. This free form amino acid has never been proven to build muscle. Not only that but take this into consideration. Free form amino acids have been around since the 1980’s. Can you say ridiculously old? Never use a free form amino acid over a hydrolyzed protein product.
But before you buy a hydrolyzed whey protein you MUST know the molecular weight average of the powder you want to buy. If you do not then under no circumstance should you buy the hydrolyzed whey you are looking at. Why do I say this? Because the QUALITY of hydrolyzed whey protein can vary drastically, so drastically between good hydro whey’s and bad hydro’s whey’s its not even funny. Good quality hydrolyzed whey protein will taste very, very bitter. So bitter that you cannot even drink them. If you have purchased a whey protein that claimed to be hydrolyzed and it didn’t taste bitterness you just got ripped off. If you bought one of those kind so-called whey protein blends and you read the back of the ingredient deck and you see “hydrolyzed whey protein”, but then once you mix it with water and drink it you cannot taste one hint of bitterness and instead you’re like, “Wow this tastes like a Milkshake!”. Then you have yourself a low quality hydro whey or a protein powder with virtually no hydrolyzed whey protein whatsoever and the company selling that product just put that on the back of the ingredient deck to make it seem like it has hydrolyzed whey when it really doesn’t. Trust me this happens all the time. If you have a whey protein concentrate for example and it says contains “whey peptides” this is the hydrolyzed whey. However if you cannot taste any bitterness then you know that there is barely, if any at all hydrolyzed whey protein in it. Thus it makes it very easy to know if you have a good hydrolyzed whey protein, simply look for the bitter taste.
So let’s get to it and I’ll give you a lesson on hydrolyzed whey proteins.
Our very first hydrolyzed protein that Proteinfactory.com offered I called Hydrolyzed 520. This is a hydrolyzed whey protein with a molecular weight average of 520 daltons. This means on average this powder is 5 amino acids linked together. Not to bad being that di and tri peptides (two and three amino acids) is the final phase of absorption through the small intestine and into the blood stream. To date our Hydrolyzed 520 is the highest quality hydrolyzed whey protein available today. After that it is my Hydrolyzed 1400 (14 aminos linked together).
A few years after we started selling Hydrolyzed 520 and 1400, a new hydrolyzed protein hit the market called Peptopro. Peptopro is actually a hydrolyzed casein. Now you may be thinking “CASEIN!!” isn’t casein a slow release protein? Yes in its whole food state casein is a slow release protein, but this is in its hydrolyzed (pre-digested) state. Thus it is broken down into di and tri peptides and has an average molecular weight of 250 daltons. This to date is the lowest molecular weight of any protein powder in existence. Not only that but Peptopro is somewhat de-bitterized. Hydrolyzed proteins are very bitter. Why? Because the small peptides have a very bitter taste. And the lower the molecular weight the more bitter the powder. And the powder can be so bitter that it is undrinkable. Our Hydrolyzed 520 by itself is UNDRINKABLE! Peptopro can be mixed with around 20 oz. of a juice and it is drinkable. However do not try to use Peptopro like a regular protein or you will not be able to drink it. Make sure you watch my video on Peptopro to see how to use the powder. Use it particularly pre and post workout with a high GI carb to really give yourself an insulin spike. If you are a beginner to lifting weights than do not take this approach. Instead use a natural carb like our Oat Muscle, sweet potato powder, or Mod6. Peptopro is a serious protein and it was the KING of hydrolyzed proteins for years. But in the last year we here at Proteinfactory.com have introduced some new hydrolyzed proteins and more are coming.
Leunox Leucine Peptides was the first new hydrolyzed protein to arrive after Peptopro. Leunox is actually a hydrolyzed whey protein isolate that is 50% Leucine. Leucine is one of the BCAA’s and it has a major role in protein synthesis. Leunox is probably one of my favorite powders that we sell. You have to remember that Leucine is a BCAA and BCAA’s are the building blocks of muscle. Why do you think whey protein works so well? Whey protein is naturally high in BCAA’s. It is made up of over 30% BCAA’s. Leunox contains 50% Leuince in peptide form. This means that the absorption is greater than free form amino acid L-Leucine. I still think free form amino acids are kinda worthless. Think about it! Free form amino acids have been sold as sports nutrition products since the 1980′s. I mean really why would you think a product from the 1980′s would be beneficial? You are always better off consuming whey protein powder or another powder hydrolyzed protein than consuming free form amino acids. Protein powders are cheaper than free form amino acids and they contain more aminos than free form amino acids. And that is what is so good about our Leunox (leucine peptide). Not only are you getting a hefty dose of leucine in peptide form but you are getting all the other amino acids to boot. Talk about an anabolic powder. Use Leunox pre and post workout as we have seen plenty of studies that recognize that leucine pre and post workout supports protein synthesis. (See my earlier blog post that cites the research) However keep in mind that Leunox is a hydrolyzed whey isolate. Being a hydrolyzed protein the taste is very bitter. Do not attempt to mix this product in water and drink it. You won’t be able to unless your taste buds are burnt off your tongue. Try to take something like our Peptopro, mix it with 32 oz of some sort of juice like Gatorade and put in a teaspoon or two of Leunox.
To sum things up for the best whey protein for beginners.
• Only buy a hydrolyzed protein if you know the molecular weight average (MW)
• Quality hydrolyzed whey proteins will taste bitter. No bitterness low quality
Prices of Whey Protein’s.
I feel its important to know the price of whey protein so you know if you’re paying a fair price or not.
As of today January 2015, the cost of raw whey protein concentrate from a quality manufacturer is around $4. to $5.00 per pound. The cost of a whey isolate is between 6 and 7 dollars per pound. Remember that whey protein is a dairy protein. It comes from cows. Thus it makes it a commodity and is effected by global events, such as a drought in New Zealand will raise prices. Stronger demand in China will raise prices. Cost of corn going up to feed the cows will raise the price of whey protein. So when your whey protein that you buy goes up in cost you can suspect that is just some global event that is occurring.
Steps for choosing the best whey protein which doesn’t include hydrolyzed whey.
1) Make sure the ingredients say whey isolate.
2) Avoid whey blends of concentrates and isolates.
3) Do the math to figure protein percentage. Take a calculator with you and divided the serving size in grams by the serving size. For example if the serving size is 30 grams and the protein per serving is 21 grams.
Alex Rogers is a supplement manufacturing expert. He has been formulating, consulting, & manufacturing dietary supplements since 1998. Alex invented protein customization in 1998 & was the first company to allow consumers to create their own protein blends. He helped create the first supplement to contain natural follistatin, invented whey protein with egg lecithin, & recently imported the world’s first 100% hydrolyzed whey.
