Article: Protein: Are You Getting Enough?

Protein: Are you really getting all that you think you are, you may be surprised?

Whey isolate proteins have seemingly overtaken every supplement store shelf in what seems to be an overnight success.

If you solely rely on a mere whey isolate proteins for your protein supplemental needs you may not be achieving your optimal requirements & results from your hard training.

Whey isolate protein by itself & in it self DOES NOT contain enough nor all of the necessary amino acid pool in order to achieve optimal results or to supply your body with all it needs to repair & mend itself.

Also, make sure you are using a whey isolate version that yields the highest amount of undenatured protein available. Many if the isolating processes, destroy much of the sub-fractions & do not yield as complete & high of an amino acid profile. So check on the process of which you chose to derive you isolates from. The above is why some people still claim that whey protein concentrate is still the best overall protein source. But WPC, does not yield nearly as high protein percentage per gram as does WPC, also WPC is higher in fat, carbs & lactose than a properly selected whey isolate. I can not go into detail here as to which isolate process is the best, as certain processes are licensed to particular manufacturers.

A properly selected whey isolate alone contains high amounts of ßeta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin, Glycomacropeptides, Immunoglobulins, Bovine Serum Albumin, Lactoferrin, Lactoperoxidase, Lysozyme and & a high amino acid profile All of which are very important in heavy training athletes, as these compounds can aid in reducing running the risk of over training & aid in the digestion process.  Whey isolate also gives a “quick” boost in aminos as it is digested very easily & rapidly, so it is good to use post training when your body needs that quick boost of aminos to replenish itself. But that does not mean that whey itself covers all the basis & aminos needed to optimally repair broken down muscle tissue.

Let's take a gander at the aminos needed by each & all of us:

Now as you can see by doing any research on whey isolate alone, in most whey alone will NOT significantly cover all these bases of amino acids one is required to optimally keep the amino acid pool in a positive state resulting in muscle growth.

Now, many of the protein sources many people shy away from are some of the best providers of the above mentioned amino acids, such as caseinate, I should say especially casienate. Casienate is extremely high in the amino acid glutamine. Caseinate may help other proteins become more digestible do to the prolonged, “time released” effect caseinate exhibits, which may prolong the time proteins are spent in the intestinal tract, which will in turn result in a prolonged anti catabolic effect for the body till the next dose of protein is taken in.

Another protein that is very often shoved to the side & overlooked it soy protein, being the best derived as soy isolate.

Soy isolate, has many qualities, bodybuilders & people generally trying just to stay healthy should be aware of, such as, soy isolate has the highest amounts of BCAA, Glutamine & Arginine. Soy isolate also has been proven to possibly aid in fighting off cancer.  For the “chemically enhanced’ bodybuilders soy also exhibits anti-estrogen effects, soy isolate may also increase the level of endogenous production of thyroxin, which in turn speeds up metabolism.

Not done yet, soy isolate also contains – Daidzein, one of soy’s isoflavones, which may raise the level of testosterone & growth hormone in bodybuilders.

Then to top off the mix we add in a little egg white protein, as egg white protein bridges the gap between whey isolate & caseinate & it is high in the sulfur producing amino acid which is crucial in anabolic hormone production & exhibits a very high usability.

So, now, my answer to all of this, and what I recommend based on the above information taken into consideration, is a protein that includes all of the above proteins listed, doing so, the result you will get is a fast digesting anabolic protein by way of the whey protein plus an anti-catabolic effect do to the sustained release of the caseinate protein along with the overall health benefits of soy, stick in the egg, to bridge the gap between the why & caseinate, as egg, falls in between both in the digestion process & this yields a damn near perfect amino acid profile.

Plus in addition the above all 3 proteins listed, soy isolates, whey isolates & caseinate, yield the highest % of proteins per serving, versus over milk & whey concentrates, meaning you will get more protein for your buck as well.

I would recommend an ideal ratio of close to (but not necessarily exactly) 40% whey isolate, 25% caseinate & 20% soy isolate & 15 % egg to achieve the optimal desired mixture of proteins to totaling 100%

Many companied also you will see add in “hydrolyzed” proteins, in my mind, to much is lost of the sub-fractions & aminos in the hydrolyzing process, so the trade off is not worth it in my opinion. About the one main thing hydrolyzed protein will do, is provide an ultra-fast digestion/absorption, this is to the fact that hydrolyzed proteins are in actuality pre-digested somewhat, which is also the reason so much of the important nutrients are lost during the hydrolyzation process.

Another item some companies will add, is a milk protein isolate, don’t get me wrong, I believe milk protein isolates can be a great source of protein, but in fact milk protein is simply a combination of whey & caseinate but in its natural form, it does not yield as high of protein percentage per gram as does individual caseinate or whey, so if one already has a combination of caseinate & whey added milk protein is not worth the trade off in the long run to add into the mix.

So in a nutshell if you rely solely on whey proteins for you protein supplementation, as you can see, you just may be shortchanging yourself & your goals in you bodybuilding career. All of the proteins listed above exhibit different properties unique to each one, so it is important to pull as many different sources of proteins into your system on a daily basis to make sure all of the amino requirements are met.

Diet is probably the most important aspect of bodybuilding, many people who live a sedentary lifestyle exceed to try to meet all their nutrient requirements, so it is a no brainier that heavy weight training athletes need to pay even more specific attention to their diet in making sure they are getting in all & as many amino sub-fractions from more than simply one or two protein sources, it is important in order to meet & exceed all the aminos needed to pull aminos & proteins from many different sources to make sure all the requirements are meet.