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Ah, so glad it’s Friday!!  I’m really looking forward to having an extra day off in addition to a special day with Chris.  Cue awwwwwhs here lol  Nah we don’t really have anything too crazy planned.  Our good friends are having a Valentine’s Party, my other friend is having a housewarming party and we are having a ‘cook together’ party for V day.  We were thinking about making reservations and going out, but we enjoy cooking together so much we finally decided it would be better to stay in  (and save money!)  But we’ll see if we change our minds last minute 🙂  On to the FYF topic for today . . .

Many athletes, especially those looking to build mass and bulk up, believe that whey protein is the magic bullet that will give them the optimal results they crave.  We see those giant bottles of whey protein in the health food stores and muscle men carrying their protein shakers and gallons of water, so I wanted to look into the specific topic of whey protein further to see if there really is any added benefit. . . .

Whey protein is basically the fluid portion of milk and contains high concentrations of the amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine important for recovery, and there are different types of whey protein available:

• WP Concentrates – 80% protein, also contain lactose
• WP Isolates – 90-95% protein, less lactose, more expensive
• Hydrolyzed WP – already broken down into individual peptides, usually in sports/recovery drinks, infant formula.  (There really isn’t any added benefit to having them broken down, but it can help with milk allergies).

There are also different methodologies used to measure protein requirements:

• Nitrogen Balance – there’s always a statement of wanting to maintain a positive nitrogen balance in order to build muscle mass, but really this form of methodology does not distinguish between catabolic and anabolic processes within the body.
• Stable Isotopes – This is a much more scientific method that measures the point at which one’s AA oxidation increases exponentially to determine one’s protein needs.  Basically it can see the point that you are no longer using ingested protein and are just exceeding your needs by oxidating the excess.
• Others include:  Urinary Creatinine and Urinary 3-Methly Histamine

What are the Recommended Protein Requirements?

• Sedentary – 0.8g/kg per day
• Endurance Athletes – 1.2-1.4g/kg per day
• Resistance Athletes – 1.4-1.7g/kg per day (no benefits have been shown above 1.7g/kg)

So an endurance runner who weighs 140 lbs would need anywhere from 76 – 89g of protein per day, which is very doable with real foods.  A resistance trained athlete of the same weight would need from 95 – 108g of protein per day. Many Americans today eat well within the required amount of protein, and excessive amounts of protein are not considered beneficial.  The kidneys have to work harder to process all that extra nitrogen from protein breakdown (hence the muscle builders with gallons of water), although there isn’t much research saying too much protein will harm the kidneys in a healthy person.  Also, if more protein is consumed for one’s calorie needs it can be made into fatty acids for storage!

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Other areas to pay attention to when considering the whole picture of increasing lean body mass are:

• Adequate energy intake is necessary for skeletal muscle protein synthesis!  You can eat a ton of protein, but if your not getting adequate calories to support that increase in muscle mass, nothing is really going to happen.
• Adequate carbohydrate is necessary to spare muscle protein from being broken down for energy, especially with endurance athletes.  No Atkins Diets, please!!!  yes, even resistance athletes need carbohydrates, but in smaller amounts.
• Weight training, in addition to protein consumption, is needed to see any benefits of course!  It’s not only the protein that chisels our muscles, but the actual work we impose on them.  All those little tears in the muscle from a workout causes them to build up bigger each time if we fuel properly.

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Optimal Protein Dosing/Timing:

• Consuming as little as 6-10g of protein before resistance training may increase protein synthesis.
• Up to 15% of energy needs during endurance events can come from protein (primarily branched chain AA) and some research has found it may be beneficial to include a small amount of protein during longer endurance events (Accelerade is an example of an electrolyte beverage w/ added protein).
• Protein synthesis increases 3-24 hours after resistance training.  20 grams of protein has been found to be the optimal dose after resistance training to increase protein synthesis and not contribute to AA oxidation.  I like to recommend refueling in general within at least 15-30 minutes of working out.

Now on to the real question here, is there a benefit with using whey protein in particular???

There are numerous studies out there claiming better gains with whey, while others do not.  Basically, I can conclude that there is not one single form of protein that appears to be absolutely the best for increasing skeletal muscle.  What is important is to make sure one is getting adequate calories and a variety of high quality protein for their needs.  If an individual finds that using a protein powder is more convenient for them to get their protein then that is fine, but it is always fairly easier and much cheaper to get one’s protein from high quality sources found in real food!  I am not opposed to whey protein because it does come from real food (milk), and is a great way to get adequate protein in one’s diet.  The only cause for concern with any supplement, especially if one is competing at the collegiate level, is contamination.  One always has to take supplements with extreme caution in this case.

Other sources of protein I’ve been interested in, particularly for vegetarian and vegan based diets, include hemp and brown rice protein.  I haven’t looked at the specific research with these products, but Sun Warrior sent me a few of their raw vegan brown rice protein flavors to try.  I was very interested to find that in one scoop there is 70 kcals and 16g of protein!  That’s pretty amazing coming from brown rice.  It also contains 1.3 g leucine which isn’t as much as found in whey, but is still a considerable amount.  I tried it after a body pump full-body weight training session and mixed one packet with about 1 cup of milk in the morning for my session later in the afternoon.  It was grainy to be honest and the taste itself was different to me than whey.  It might have been better if I mixed it right when I wanted to have it because grains swell when added to liquid?  Hmm . . . I think this would be much better in a smoothie with other ingredients because I wasn’t fond of the taste on its own.  I still need to try the Vanilla.

Another important thing to consider with all this protein supplement business is the considerable cost of all these products.  On average a large carton of whey protein will cost you anywhere from 30-60 bucks and that is quite a lot if you’re going through that stuff like water.  Potentially it could add up to $600 per year!  These prices aren’t exact, but just to give an idea:

Even though there has been some beneficial results shown with whey protein, many other studies don’t yield the same results.  It is important to get a variety of high quality protein sources in one’s diet, particularly from real food if possible.  Make sure adequate calories are consumed overall to see any kind of muscle mass increase.  In addition, actually engaging in challenging weight training is essential for any kind of ripped results.  So just because I like to add a scoop of whey mixed with about 6 oz of NF milk after my weight training sessions for added convenience and quick recovery doesn’t mean I’m automatically going to look like a bodybuilder . . . We must weight train pretty dang intensely for that!  Plus it’s just harder for some women to ‘bulk’ up and genetics play a large role in body composition.

What do you think about whey protein?  Do you use a protein supplement?

Any Valentine’s Day plans?  Even if you have or significant other or not, I hope it’s a day filled with LOVE!