What is Whey Isolate Protein

What is significant about Whey Isolate Protein?

What is Whey Isolate Protein? During the manufacture of essential dairy products such as curd, cheese, yogurt many by- products were thrown away in the early days. Whey is one of them. But when manufacturers realized its true commercial and biological value this process changed.

Whey proteins consist of α-lactalbumin, β-lactoglobulin, serum albumin, immunoglobulins, and proteose peptones. There are two types of whey protein, namely acid and sweet. Both been by products of hard cheese and other dairy products respectively. Now that is the definition of whey protein.

Whey Isolate Protein is simply the more purified and high protein concentrated version of whey. Therefore per serving you get lower fat. carb, vitamin content and higher protein. 23g to be precise.

How is it produced?

As mentioned earlier whey is mainly a by- product of dairy manufacture. So people who still question if “whey protein will harm your body?” “Do I need to drink more water”? can relax. Milk which is coagulated during the process of cheese manufacture makes whey to be separated and left over.

This whey is extracted and mostly filtered for lipids, minerals etc. So that whey protein is very much pure and does not contain any other ingredient. This purely extracted protein has no taste. Therefore natural additives such as vanilla, chocolate(our favorite), strawberry are added for flavor enhancing purposes.

Benefits of Whey Isolate protein

1. Daily calorie goals

Did you know that regardless of the fact that you are only an average gym attender or a die hard fitness freak you must consume 1g of protein per body weight. So if you are 150 pounds you gonna have to eat 150g of protein to keep up with your goals. Is this possible? It is with whey protein. Food such as egg, chicken breast, spinach, broccoli are whole proteins. Egg has 6g, chicken breast has more than 20g of protein and yet this numbers are difficult to achieve.

Therefore a scoop, more like two scoops are necessary if you are to balance the numbers. Whey as we know contains 18g of protein per scoop. Whey Isolate has 24g. This not only helps you build muscle but also stay active throughout the day.

2. It has the fundamentals for muscle build

You are probably aware of the fact that muscle tissue is mainly a combination of proteins(amino acids) and fibers. There are 20 amino acids essential for muscle growth and only 11 are produced in the body. Foods like egg, red meat and some plant nutrients provide the rest. But as pointed out earlier we cannot intake excess food to balance everything. Hence whey protein(mostly isolate) comes into play.

Whey protein contains all 9 essential amino acids, including an extra high dose of the amino acid leucine, which has been shown to effectively stimulate muscle protein synthesis and help build more muscle mass.

Research shows that whey isolate contains the purest of these 9 amino acids. It also contains a high but recommended amount of BCAA which is a pre-workout supplement for prevention of catabolic activity during high-intensity workout sessions.

3. Lower blood pressure, Reduce diabetes.

Research has shown that reduced blood pressure directly links to dairy products. This effect is brought out by a family of bioactive peptides in dairy, so-called “angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors” , which whey protein is abundant in.

Also when it comes to diabetes or blood sugar we know that insulin helps transfer blood sugar to cells.Whey protein has been found to be effective at moderating blood sugar, increasing both the levels of insulin and the sensitivity to its effects.When compared with other sources of protein, such as egg white , whey protein seems to have the upper hand.

4. Absorption by the body

If you are reading this then your goal is probably to build muscle mass. So would protein intake like a junkie help you? Of course not. The body only digests a limited amount of all your consumption. Some protein sources such as animal meat take hours to break down and get absorbed to blood. Therefore protein timing is important for optimum results as it also impacts on growth hormone.

In a study on the effects of whey protein on growth hormone levels, researchers studied a group of individuals that consumed whey protein orally for 6 weeks, combined with resistance training three times per week, to see if there would be a significant increase in the production of growth hormone. The end result:  The group that consumed whey protein in combination with regular exercise had higher growth hormone levels and built more muscle mass than the control group who did not consume whey protein. Both groups performed three resistance training sessions each week.The good news is these studies support the fact that whey protein and exercise may have a significant impact on anabolic hormones and muscle strength.

5. Help reduce inflammation

We are aware that inflammation is a result of an external hit or a damage to the body. Chronic inflammation can be harmful for your body and studies found that whey protein helps reduce this phenomena.In both rodents and humans, whey protein supplementation has been found to have beneficial effects on inflammatory bowel disease. 

Concentrate or Isolate?

Whey protein concentrate is the most common and popular type of whey protein powder and is produced when milk is filtered, and the whey protein dried. It usually contains around 80% protein, a small amount of fat, and some carbs. The carb and fat numbers aren’t high, so it’s going to be fine for anyone on a regular diet, a mass-gain diet or even a cutting phase.

Typical nutritional values of Pure Whey per 30g serving – 122 kcals, 24.2g protein, 2g fat, 1.5g carbs

Whey protein isolate has been filtered further than whey concentrate, and has more of the fats and lactose (carbs) removed. It therefore has a higher protein percentage and is absorbed more quickly than whey concentrate.

Because it’s low in lactose, it can be beneficial for people who have trouble with dairy products also for people who wants to see quicker results. Although It takes time for the protein to really kick in combines with your food intake.

Typical nutritional values of Pure Whey Isolate 97 per 30g serving – 112 kcals, 29.3g protein, 0.09g fat, 0g carbs

So which is better for you?

As a beginner my first choice was whey protein concentrate since its the most popular and most recommended. Also many consumers educated on how much it helped them with their journey on muscle gain. Personally I believe that concentrated whey is better. But the isolate has its benefits such as the quick absorption and good for lactose intolerant folks.

Also the whey concentrate is low in carbs which is good for guys who are bad at having a balanced diet(like me). And if you are a post-workout protein shake kind of person perhaps the concentrate is the clear choice.