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Whey, Concentrate or Isolate? |
It is recommended to have anywhere from 1 - 3 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight
on a daily basis. It's also correct that you body can only absorb a certain amount
of protein, the rest is excreted and urea levels can get high, hence why we need
to replenish protein supplies often with good protein sources at each meal. We
do not store protein like other nutrients, the body happily stores up fat and
carbohydrates on our bodies for such times as there is a calorie deficit, these
stored calories are the bodies first line of defence against catabolism .
You may look at your protein powder or can of tuna and
read that it contains "75% Protein", this may
well be the case but if that protein only has 14 out
of the 22 Amino Acids present in the human body it means
our highly resourceful body must manufacture the missing
aminos from the ones we have ingested. the problem being
it is done so at the expense of these already eaten aminos.
So that 50 gram serving of tuna gave you 32.5 grams of
protein, but as it only had 14 amino acids present, so
by the time your body has chopped and re-built the aminos
you supplied it with back into the aminos it really needed,
you've only ended up with 20 grams of relevantly proportioned
protein making it through to the bloodstream, which in
turn takes it to your muscles.
As most of us do rely heavily on protein drinks, for
cost reasons as much as convenience, it is as important
to research the amino acid content of our chosen products
as it is to review the protein content. But it also is
worthwhile to find out about a products "protein
fractions".
I personally believe a quality whey concentrate is the
better of all the whey protein powders on they market
today, in my opinion, after reading a lot of information
supplied by rival companies in their marketing literature
and promotional material from potential suppliers of
various different forms of protein powder I have came
to this conclusion,
Today's concentrates now contain as 70-80% protein, with
greatly reduced amounts of lactose and fat compared to
the amounts they first contained. Many people are under
the impression that a whey protein concentrate is inferior
to an whey protein isolate. I do not, and I will explain
as follows.
Although concentrates will contain less protein on a
gram for gram basis than an isolate, a high quality concentrate
contains all sorts of interesting compounds not found
in the isolates. Good concentrates contain far higher
levels of growth factors, such as IGF-1, TGF-ß1,
and TGF-ß2. They contain much higher levels of
various phospho lipids, and various bio active lipids,
such as Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), and they often
contain higher levels of immunoglobins and lactoferrin.
Although scientific evedence is lacking as to whether
or not these compounds found in a good quality concentrates
will positively effect an athlete’s muscle mass
or performance, studies do suggest these compounds can
improve immunity, intestinal health, and have many other
effects that the whole population would find beneficial,
not only athletes.
The downsides of concentrate is that it has slightly
less protein gram for gram than an isolate, contains
higher levels of fat (though some of these fats may in
fact be beneficial), worst of all higher levels of lactose.
Lactose is a common source of allergy for at least 20%
of our population.
People should not be under the impression that a quality
concentrate is inferior to Isolate and may in fact be
a superior choice, depending on the goals of the person.
For example, some people don’t tolerate lactose
well or are trying to watch every gram of fat in their
diet, etc. while another may want the benefits of the
additional compounds found in a high quality concentrate.
Isolates can contain as much as 90%+ of protein. Research
has found that only whey proteins in their natural state
have biological activity. The necessary amount of processing
carried out upon a whey protein to remove the lactose,
fats, etc. without losing its biological activity takes
special care by the manufacturer, and incurs the relevant
financial penalty that accompanies this level of work.
Maintaining the natural state of the protein is essential
to its anti-cancer and immune stimulating activity, the
protein must be processed at low temperatures if it is
not to alter the natural state of the protein.
These processes are micro filtering, cross flow filtration
and ion exchange. These filtration methods create isolated
protein, but at the same time they take away some good
compounds found in a good concentrate and can also reduce
the number of amino acids present in isolate compared
to concentrate. It gets back to choice and what you goal
is. I know I'd prefer to have a concentrate and get the
added benefits that it brings rather than go for the
lower fats and miss out on my amino acids.
If your carbohydrates are under control then a little
extra fat shouldn't be a big concern, if you're training
hard you'll burn the extra fats no problem. When it comes
to cutting up for a comp or an event where you need to
be really lean I'd advise you to swap to a multi protein
source product which would have less fat and an enhanced
amino acid content.
I hope the examples I've given you show that there should
be NO cheap whey isolates on the market, in my opinion
the ones that are taste like grit, and their quality
rhymes with grit and is also a 4 letter word!
Only you'll know if you've done the research into what
you're buying or listening to someone's advice who's
biggest concern is emptying your pocket. |
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