I thought I knew the answers to these questions, but when I formulated all of the products for Ladder, I quickly learned that there’s a dark side of the supplement industry that has nothing to do with illegal ingredients or dangerous products.

In many cases, the “good” supplements you take might not be giving your body what you think. That’s because different types of whey proteins might make a difference in absorption.

And, more importantly, the number of loopholes on supplement labeling makes it almost too easy for supplement companies to lie about what’s on the label.

In the last 10 years, research shows that health officials have issued almost 800 warnings to dietary supplements containing dangerous ingredients. And, in nearly every case (98%), the USDA found that the ingredients in question were nowhere on the label.

If you want to make sure the label you’re reading is accurate, make sure you’re taking a product that has a third-party certification. Good options include NSF Certified for Sport, Informed Sport, and BSCG.

If there’s no third-party certification, just know that means no one has validated that what is says on the label is actually in the product.

Beyond smoke and mirrors on your protein label, here’s what you need to know about choosing between different protein powders and how to find the best whey protein for your needs and hard-earned money.

What is Whey Protein?

Whey protein is considered the gold standard protein for a few simple reasons: it’s high in protein per serving, lower in carbs and fat, and is loaded with all of the essential amino acids and high levels of the BCAAs. And, its absorption is very high, meaning your body can put that protein to work to help with muscle growth and recovery.

That doesn’t mean whey is your only protein option or that others aren’t good substitutes. After all, whey is dairy-based. So, if you have a dairy allergy, it could be an issue. If you’re just lactose intolerant (as you’ll find out), some whey options might not cause any issue.

But, if you’re looking for a convenient, affordable way to add more protein to your diet, whey protein is one of the best options you’ll find.

How Is Whey Protein Made?

Whey comes from milk and is a byproduct of the cheese-making process. When you turn a gallon of milk into a block of cheese, you add enzymes to the liquid. This causes the liquid to separate into liquid and curds. The leftover liquid is pure protein, which becomes whey.

Understanding how whey is made will help you make sense of why there are different types of whey, such as whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, and whey protein hydrolysate.

The more you process and filtrate the product, the more it makes little changes to the final version of the whey.

You’ll hear a lot of different benefits (and see that some proteins are more expensive), but most of it is just marketing hype.

Whey Protein Concentrate

Whey protein concentrate is the most basic form of whey protein. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, but there are regulations that mean whey protein concentrate can have a wide range of purity.

By law, being labeled as “concentrate” means that the product can be anywhere between 35 to 80 percent protein by weight.

This is a big deal if you’re worried about the amount of protein you’re using and absorbing. Put another way, if you scoop out 100 grams of protein powder, it can be called concentrate if anywhere between 35 and 80 grams of that scoop is protein.

That’s a pretty big range, which is why third-party certification is so important. If you don’t have someone validating the label accuracy and you see whey protein concentrate on the label, it’s harder to know exactly how much protein you’re really getting.

If the label is accurate, whey protein concentrate is a good option for most people because of its price and value.

But, it does have some limitations, if you need to consider smaller details like carbs, fats, and lactose in your protein.

If you want an idea of how whey concentrate is created, here’s a good visual: imagine liquid whey falling off a conveyor belt into a bucket. The liquid is filtered for impurities, dehydrated, turned into a powder, flavored, and there you go — delicious whey protein!

Because it’s such a simple process, whey concentrate tends to be the cheapest source of protein supplementation.

Whey Protein Isolate

Whey protein isolate, from a legal standpoint, provides a little more peace of mind about the purity of your protein. That’s because earning “whey protein isolate” on a label means that, unless your supplement provider is lying (which, unfortunately, does happen), means that your protein must be, at least, 90 percent protein by weight.

Going back to our 100-gram example, if you scoop out 100 grams of protein, then you will be getting a minimum of 90 grams of protein.

Many supplement companies tout that their isolates are more “pure.” They’ll use marketing tactics to brag about their filtration process, whether it’s ion exchange, cold-filtration, or microfiltration. All of these methods filter out different-sized particles to help you get a “clean” version of whey.

That’s not to say these don’t have different minor benefits (for example, most isolates have less than 1 percent lactose), but whey isolate is defined by protein by weight, not by filtration.

Because of the extra level of filtration and higher guarantee of protein by whey, whey protein isolate tends to have a higher price relative to concentrates. This is because whey protein isolate will have fewer carbs, almost no fat, and almost nonexistent levels of lactose. Additionally, whey protein isolate tends to have better solubility, which makes it easier to mix and creates a “smoother” drink.

Whey Protein Hydrolysate

Unlike concentrate and isolate, whey protein hydrolysate goes through a very different process.

Hydrolysate is a protein that is treated with enzymes and acids to reduce particle size and destroy “quaternary protein structures.” (That’s a mouthful, but it means removing bioactive immunoglobulins, which can help support immune function).

The origin of hydrolysis in dietary protein arose from a need to make baby formulas non-allergenic.

Research shows that whey protein hydrolysates are absorbed faster than isolates or concentrates. This is mostly due to no gastric digestion being needed for hydrolysates.

The hydrolysates also seem to increase muscle protein synthesis (MPS) quicker than other forms of protein. But, research suggests that it doesn’t necessarily result in more muscle.

That’s because total daily protein is more important for muscle gain than the speed of protein digestion. If you are focused on gaining muscle (or even losing fat), it’s more important to focus on how much protein you eat in a day than how quickly it’s absorbed. 

The speed of digestion does come with a few downsides. Whey hydrolysates tend to be more bitter because the amino acids proline and leucine are no longer being constrained in a protein structure, which means it hits your taste buds differently.

Whey protein hydrolysate is also the most expensive form of protein

What about Soy Protein?

Soy protein isn’t a variation of whey, but it’s oftentimes compared and criticized when compared to the popular dairy protein.

Most of the fear and concern are linked to phytoestrogens in soy protein. People worry that those phytoestrogens will decrease testosterone levels and not support muscle building.

But, if you decide to go the soy route (for whatever reason), the downsides are low. All soy sold in food products (except raw soy products such as edamame), including soy protein, are heat-treated before they are sold.

This heat treatment destroys select enzymes in the soy (such as trypsin), which prevents the digestion of protein in your stomach and small intestine.

Additionally, soy proteins are processed in two ways that are similar to whey.

If you’re creating a soy protein concentrate, manufacturers leech the protein with ethanol and neutralize the pH. This process removes most of the soy isoflavones, which are left floating in the ethanol and no longer in the soybean.

This is an important step because it means that soy concentrate supplements are incredibly low in soy isoflavones, and thus they are not really a concern.

As for soy isolate, the ethanol leeching is not mandatory (instead it is optional), so it’s possible that some soy isoflavones may be present.

As for the soy isoflavones themselves (let’s assume you do routinely consume them), they are not too much of a concern for male fertility and health. That doesn’t mean soy can’t have any hormonal impact. But, it does mean that you need to eat a lot of soy protein to potentially have any disruption of your hormonal levels, and it needs to be a soy protein isolate (which is less common).

For most people, having a soy protein shake per day wouldn’t come anywhere near the soy protein threshold, and, therefore, there’s not much need to worry if you choose soy as a whey protein alternative.

READ MORE: 

The Protein Guide: How Much Protein Do You Really Need? 

What is the Best Protein Powder?

The Curious Case of Why People Fear Protein

Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post The Different Forms of Whey Protein And What’s Best For You appeared first on Born Fitness.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I frequently do live Q&A sessions using the hashtag #AskBorn. As part of the process, I decided to review all of the questions and find the most popular, the most difficult, and the most bizarre. After all, when someone asks, “What’s the best way to build muscle,” you’d like to give a good answer. 

One of the most frequent question is, “How much protein should I eat?” 

The amount of protein needed for your body is debatable, as it depends on both your body weight and activity level.

You want to understand protein, and not just protein powders. (After all, there’s no magic dust in the protein.) You know protein is important for building muscle, but beyond that there are so many questions, such as: How much protein do you need? How often? And what sources are the best?

To provide he most thorough, research-based approach to eating protein, I teamed with examine.com to help you figure out what is ideal for your body. -AB

The Protein Guide: How Much Protein Should You Eat?

Protein is one of the three dietary macronutrients (we are excluding alcohol as the fourth), and by far the most popular macronutrient to be sold as a supplement. It is usually recommended that carbohydrates and dietary fatty acids (aka fats) be consumed through a healthy diet, but it is quite common that protein consumption be augmented with protein powder supplements.

As protein powder is the best selling supplement, there is a lot of competition around various powders. Highly unregulated and of questionable ethics, supplement companies regularly come up with the latest and greatest formula to continue to drive sales up to stay ahead of competitors.

Different sources of protein are used, different additives are used, and different processing techniques are used. Do these modifications live up to their grandiose claims? To answer that, we first need to understand what exactly protein is used for, how the various powders differ, and then deconstruct the modifications and whether they are supported both in clinical settings and practical settings.

Protein 101: Uses and Sources

Protein is known for being the critical macronutrient for muscle formation. It does more than that, acting in unison with a large amount of enzymes and transporters in your body in vital functions that support life and proper metabolism. In a sense, protein are bricks in the construction of your body.

Continuing our analogy, carbohydrates tend to be workers, cementing these bricks together, while fats are the managers, making sure this process is running smoothly. All three are of course critical, and work together in keeping your body in proper shape.

What does it all mean?

Protein intake is basically a daily quota. There are lots of amino acids that do a lot of things, and many of them can be converted to one another (ones that cannot be obtained via conversion are termed essential, familiar to anyone who has seen essential amino acids on sale). Without complicating things, you need X amount of protein each day to live and perhaps bump that up to Y each day given some circumstances (the actual values of X and Y will be elaborated on later).

The idea here is that there is a rough amount of protein you should be consuming every day to facilitate optimal body functions.

Protein Lesson #1: Protein are the bricks your body uses for all internal construction, be it building new muscle or maintaining existing functions. If you deprive your body of protein, there will be problems.

The RDA for dietary protein is currently set at 50 grams a day. A surprisingly low number, but if you meet this level of intake it is unlikely you will be deficient in dietary protein.

The RDA was set based on ‘normal’ people, which was a sample of sedentary people of somewhat normal BMI (18.5-25) with a mixed diet of adequate calories.

So if your goals are merely to live and not regularly partake in any physical activity, the RDA is enough. This does not mean it is optimal, but 50g is at least sufficient.

The amount of protein needed for your body is debatable, as it depends on both your body weight and activity level. Although there is no set of perfect guidelines, it seems that the scientific consensus has currently landed in the following approximate ranges:

• The base level (assuming no activity and no desire to change body composition) is around 0.8g per kilogram body weight (50g for a 137.5lb person) or above. More is not harmful, but this seems to be the bare minimum
• An athlete or highly active person, or a person who is sedentary and looking to lose body fat would do well with a range between 1-1.5g per kilogram. For a 200lb person, this equates to 91-136g daily
• An athlete or active person who wishes to beneficially influence their body composition (lose fat and/or gain muscle) or a very highly active endurance athlete should be consuming in the range of 1.5-2.2g per kilogram daily (for our 200lb person, this equates to 136-200g daily)

There are a few caveats to the above recommendations:

• The above assumes that you are of somewhat average body fat percentage. If you are a male above 20% bodyfat (or 30% for a female), then the above information would lead to a needless overconsumption of protein. Use your goal weight to calculate your protein requirements.
• Any recommendation above 1.5g/kg is, unfortunately, not too well supported by scientific literature. The limited evidence that there is suggests it adds more benefit, but most of the recommendation is derived from a history of anecdotal usage and general guidelines from practice. This isn’t a bad thing, just needs to be disclosed.

Protein Lesson #2: The base amount of protein you should take is roughly 1g/kg bodyweight. If you are active, 2g/kg is a good target. If you are obese, calculate that based on your target bodyweight, not current weight.

Complete Proteins vs. Incomplete Proteins

The bare minimum recommendation for protein is based on complete protein sources.

Remember that protein is a mixture of amino acids. A protein source is considered complete if consuming the 50g minimum would give you enough essential amino acids to support life.

Any protein source that is lacking in one or more essential amino acid is deemed “incomplete.” Rice is deemed an incomplete since it is low in the amino acid lysine. If you got all 50g of your protein from rice, you would be deficient in lysine.

So we have two options here:

1. Combine two incomplete protein sources that nicely cover each other. For example, rice is low in lysine but high in methionine, while pea is high in lysine and low in methionine; combining them gives you a complete source.
2. Just eat more. Rice gives you you some lysine, and so you could literally eat 100-150g of incomplete protein to get enough of the deficient amino acids.

Worrying about complete vs incomplete protein sources is only a valid concern if your overall intake of protein is very low. At higher intakes of dietary protein intake, you should be covered; it is highly unlikely you’ll fail to meet requirements on a mixed diet of incomplete protein sources if overall protein intake is higher than the minimum.

Protein Lesson #3: Your body can convert one amino acid into another. The ones it cannot convert are called essential amino acids. A protein source is considered complete if 50g of that protein will give you all the essential amino acids.

Want Personalized Diet Advice?

Still confused about what you should be eating or how to get more protein into your diet? Learn more about how you can work one-on-one with a Born Fitness coach to create a catered nutrition and exercise plan.

READ MORE: 

How Much Fat Should I Eat?

Do Carbs Actually Make You Fat?

The Curious Case of Why People Fear Protein

Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post The Protein Guide: How Much Protein Do You Need? appeared first on Born Fitness.