Whey, Casein, Egg, Ect.: Which Will Emerge Victorious

There's probably no need for me to waste telling you how important it is for you to optimize your protein intake. I'm quite certain that you address this issue with painstaking detail. In fact, many of you might turn to various protein supplements to ensure you get just the right amount. There is on thing I dislike the most, the question "what is the best protein?"  Of all the different protein supplements available to you, and each one claiming to be best, buyers can get confused. So how can you decide which one to choose? Are some actually better than others? And if so, how will that advantage manifest itself? In two inches on your guard? Twenty-five pounds on your bench press? Four inches on your vertical jump?

WHEY

Let's start with the three main powders out on the market today. Whey ("way") protein is probably the most popular. You might not realize that it makes up about 20% of the protein in milk. When milk is curdled, the whey ends up as a separate liquid. Unfortunately, this whey has a lot of fat, lactose, and cholesterol, but new manufacturing methods take care of them. 12  One way is via ultrafiltration and microfiltration, which use microscopic filters to physically separate the protein from fat and lactose. This results in a protein that's reasonably pure, with small amounts of lactose and fat. You'll usually see this on a nutritional label listed as "whey protein concentrate."  The other method is ion exchange, which puts the protein through a static electrical charge that separates the whey from the lactose and fat. You'll usually see this product listed as "whey protein isolate."

 

VALUE SCHMALUE

Whey protein is often considered the best because of its high biological value (BV). 11 BV is a measure of protein quality based on the percentage of protein retained by the body. Whey has a BV of 104, while egg is 94, casein is 77, and soy is 73. So, is 100 grams of whey protein are consumed, 100% will be retained by the body (the only reason whey's BV is over 100 is due to a margin of error in calculation). In comparison, only 77% of casein is retained.

Now, before you go out of your "whey" to stock up because of the whey's high BV, there are some things to consider:

It's obvious that whey's high BV isn't really important. But what about whey's other characteristics?  In a couple studies, whey protein concentrate enhanced the immune response in mice. 6.7 Does that mean whey protein might keep you from getting sick and missing workouts?

 

Maybe not!

Mice aren't humans, and an enhanced in vitro (in a test tube) immune response doesn't necessarily translate to an enhanced in vivo (in the body) immune response or a decreased risk of infection. In fact, in one of these studies, whey didn't keep the mice from getting sick when injected with a virus. 6

 

Whey may increase glutathione levels in your body. 5 This important antioxidant helps protect many of your cells from oxidative stress, which can contribute to muscle fatigue. 23 Some researchers therefore believe that whey might protect against fatigue, so you might be able to train harder.

 

Keep in mind that oxidative stress contributes to fatigue only during long endurance exercise, not short bursts of strength and power. So whey's effects on glutathione probably won't help you. In one study, whey supplementation did increase peak power and total work performed during an all-out 30-second bicycle sprint. 13 However, the subjects taking whey also spend more of their spare time exercising, compared to the control group, which might explain their better performance.

 

Some manufactures sell whey protein hydrolysates, meaning the whey is predigested into peptides (small chains of amino acids). These supposedly help the protein be absorbed better. However, the use of hydrolysates is based on a study involving enteral nutrition, 15 meaning the protein was supplied directly to the patients' intestines via a tube. Since you don't bypass your stomach when you chug down a protein shake, and since your stomach does a nice job of breaking the whey into peptides, a hydrolysate probably won't be absorbed any better than an intact protein.

 

Now, a hydrolysate might be absorbed faster than an intact protein because it's already broken down. It might therefore help recovery when taken after training. However, in one study, there was no difference in the anabolic response of muscle when amino acids, the building blocks of protein, were ingested one or three hours after a resistance training session. 22

 

Therefore, whether you get amino acids to muscle tissue quickly using a hydrolysate or a little bit slower using an intact protein, it probably won't make a difference in your strength gains over the long haul. Susan Kleiner, PhD, of High Performance Nutrition on Mercer Island, Washington, puts it this way: "I think that the exact protein probably doesn't matter as long as it's a high-quality protein."

 

Some people may also claim that a whey hydrolysate will result in better muscle growth, citing a study on rats. 21 In this study, the starving rats gained more weight when fed a hygrolysate as compared to an intact protein.

 

Since starvation and other factors change your body's protein metabolism, and since these are rats, not human athletes, this study doesn't rally offer much in terms of practical application.

 

THE CASE FOR CASEIN       

Casein has been termed a "slow' protein because it tends to clot in the stomach and is digested slowly, resulting in a more gradual release of amino acids into the blood as compared to a :fast" protein like whey. 8 In one study, Yves Boirie, PhD, and colleagues at the Universite' Clermont in Auvergne, France, measured the differences in protein metabolism when subjects ingested either casein or whey. 4 Whey protein stimulated protein synthesis by 68%, whereas casein stimulated it by 31%; casein decreased protein breakdown by 34%, while whey had no effect. The balance between protein synthesis and protein breakdown was higher in the casein group over a seven-hour period, meaning this group was retaining more protein.  

According to this study, it looks like casein might be better than whey, right? Not quite. We've got the same problems with study that we had with BV measurements. For example, the researchers looked only at whole-body protein metabolism. "The difference in whole-body synthesis reported by Boirie may or may not make  a difference on muscle," says Kevin Tipton, PhD, an expert on muscle protein metabolism at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. "There's just no way to tell. Often whole body protein metabolism isn't reflective of what occurs in muscle. Studies need to be conducted on muscle protein metabolism to determine if whey and casein engender different responses in muscle. Furthermore, the acute (short-term) response may not reflect a long-term situation with supplement and exercise.

Let's look at a study that involved lifting. Overweight police officers were divided into three groups and put on a reduced calorie diet for 12 weeks. 9 Two of the groups participated in a lifting program. One group consumed a drink containing a casein hydrolystae, and the other group whey hydrolysate. At the end of the study, the casein group lost an average of 7.0 kg (15.43 pounds) of body fat, while the whey group gained 4 kg (8.8 pounds) of lean mass, while the whey group lost 4.2 kg (9.25 pounds). The casein group increased in strength by 59%, while the whey group increased by 29%.

 

THE BIG PICTURE

I haven't gone into detail about egg protein. Nevertheless, the overall conclusion will be the same. Protein powders are all different in structure, in amino acid composition, and in the way they're digested and absorbed. Some protein may have certain health benefits that other proteins don't. But do these differences really matter as far as your performance and price is concerned? Probably not. There's no evidence that differentiates between the different types of proteins [in regard to performance]. There are so many factors that could affect the response of muscle to consumption of these proteins that we must be very careful before we tout theses supplements as magic anabolic bullets.

The bottom line is that you're not going to be lifting ten more pounds than your bubby just because you're taking a whey protein concentrate and your buddy an egg protein.  Proteins powders should be a matter of taste, digestion, and the way you feel. Each person has a different digestion system and taste buds. If you not digesting it you're probably not absorbing it. Also see: How to tell what kind of protein to use.

There's no research to support the notion that protein supplements are better that eating protein food. Protein sources need to be varied, and include plenty of high-quality protein from animal and soy sources. Protein supplementation is a convenient tool when eating protein food is undesirable or unavailable, or to boost protein calories without increases in fat and/or carbohydrates intake.   

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