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As you roam around a fitness store, you will see lots of protein powders in the rack. For a newbie these can be intimidating. All sorts of big guys with rippling muscles come into your mind.
Also you may think, are these going to make me fat? Or bulky at least! Not a good option if you are a lady.
Do you think ingesting protein powder can make you fat? Don’t think you are the only believer. Lots of people out there think like that.
Now is the time to discuss about the truth. Without much ado let us get down to the effect of protein powder in our bodies.
Types of protein powders:
Whey protein : This is the most popular protein powder and is derived from milk. It is obtained as a by product in cheese making. Human breast milk contains almost 60% of whey protein. That makes it easier for babies to digest.
Whey also have insulinogenic property. Like simple carbs, whey can raise insulin (lesser than glucose, of course) and has anabolic role. Insulin can help to shunt the blood glucose to the exercising muscles.
Thus best time to take protein is during or after working out. That is the best time when the protein synthesis hits the peak. This is perhaps the best time when your body can absorb protein like a sponge. Whey is your best bet here.
But, do not use it after having a full meal at night. There may be combined insulin surge by whey and the carbs at night. This can make insulin to store fat when you sleep at night (and hardly move a muscle!)
Besides, whey can also be used in other time of day (avoiding night time) to complete the macros count. It is commonly used when total protein intake is on the lower side. This is very common in vegetarians.
Most whole food proteins may contain carbs or fat along with whey (there are few exceptions like lean chicken breast and egg white). If you want to have only protein, without any carb/fat whey can be a good choice.
But without exercise, when muscle and liver glycogen are full, this insulin surge may lead to fat storage.
Whey is available commercially in 3 types:
Whey concentrate – This is a less pure form of whey. Purity of whey can vary from 25 to 90%. This is cheaper but contains lactose, fat, moisture etc. Good whey concentrates are above 80% pure. This may be problematic if you are lactose intolerant.
Whey isolate – This is the purest form of whey protein, almost 90 to 95% pure. This is extremely popular in fitness and bodybuilding industry. This will also have much lesser effect if you are allergic or lactose intolerant. But remember, the price is much more than that of whey concentrate.
Hydrolyzed whey protein – This is the pre-digested form of whey protein. It is absorbed very fast and can reach your muscles quickest. This is also the costliest. But you will have almost no chance of allergic or digestive problem with it.
For details, click more on whey protein.
Casein protein :
Casein is less popular than whey in the fitness industry. It is typically used as night time protein powder. This is the protein type, also available in milk and can be isolated. The advantage of casein is that it takes long to digest. (some form may take almost 8 hours to clear off the digestive system.)
As you sleep during night, the gap between dinner and breakfast is the largest amongst the meal gaps. Your body cannot have protein intakes in between. As you ingest casein protein, it is digested slowly and stays long in stomach. It keep you full, throughout. Also, it continuously supplies smaller amounts of amino acids in the night time. Thus it keeps you in the anabolic environment through the night.
Protein synthesis and breakdown is a complex and continuous process in your body. For maintaining muscles, during the night time catabolic period, you can smartly use casein protein to preserve your muscles. It has less insulinogenic effect than whey.
Thus casein is best used in the night rather than after workout.
There are also few varieties of casein protein too:
Micellar protein – This is the best casein protein option for you. Most big brands are bringing such micelle forms and even tricelle form (by ON brand which takes even more time to digest). These make proteins gel-like to stay in stomach for long time. Remember, more it stays in digestive tract, more useful it is as slow acting protein as you use them at night.
Casein isolate and hydrolyzed – These are pretty same as whey for purification. But as they get absorbed quickly, these forms are not as popular as their whey counterparts. The idea is to make it a slow absorption protein and stay longer in digestive tract.
Caseinates – They are usually first choice as primary source of casein in most products. Calcium, potassium and sodium caseinates are common forms of caseinates. The process of casein ate formation makes the powder powder more soluble, when mixed with a solution, giving it a much smoother texture.
For details, click more on casein protein.
Mixed protein powder :
This is perhaps not that useful for your goal. They are less purified, contains lots of sugar, lactose and fats. These can be optimum for growing children or for adults as energy drink.
But these have no role in fitness industry. Some of them are marketed as mass gainers. Avoid them and use the pure whey or casein for your purpose intelligently.
Discussions on protein powders… Muscles or fat? …. Or both?? :
Are you taking extra calories and protein without exercise?
Ans. Well the extra calories have tendency to get deposited as fat. Excess protein (if on higher side), can also be used for neoglucogenesis in liver, and deposited as fat. But the effect on fat deposition is much less than that by simple carbs or sugars. The whey protein, with its insulin spiking effect, can do more harm than good here.
Thus here you gain fat despite using good protein powder.
Are you taking extra calories and adequate protein with weight training or even endurance exercise?
Ans. Here if the extra calories can be used up, (around your total daily energy requirement) the protein will be used for muscle gain (if calorie excess is kept). This is called bulking up. But remember, bad diet with processed food, sugar, simple carbs can undermine you muscle gain and use the calorie excess for fat storage. But do not overboard with calories. Even with great exercises and controlled protein intake, the excess calorie will find its way to fat production.
Thus, here you build muscle with protein powder.
Are you taking less calories and standard or higher protein with exercise?
Ans. This is the best bet for cutting where you can maintain muscles but get leaner. The protein powder will fuel your muscles and preserve them when your body is burning away everything. But don’t get into too much calorie deficit. Body will start burning up its own muscle tissues for energy (neoglucogenesis).
Thus, here you preserve muscle and lose fat with protein powder.
Best protein powder choice for me?
Ans. If you weight train, use whey protein powder, preferably isolate or hydrolysed one. It also have lots of BCAA (branched chain amino acids) which kick starts the process of protein synthesis. You can also get enough protein from make whole foods. But these normally come with carbs and fat too.
Practically speaking, quick source of high quality protein, rich in BCAA is rare, but essential for workout results. Whey fit in nicely in this peri workout period. Make a whey shake, sip it throughout and after your weight training sessions or even endurance training.
Use casein protein at night. Recently it has been observed that muscle gain (calorie excess) or muscle preservation (calorie deficit) is best possible in an anabolic environment. You need continuous influx of amino acids for long time (during night time when no food is taken).
This is possible with slow absorbing protein, taken during bed time. Casein protein is the best form of protein powder for such purpose. But do not use this after workout. You need fast absorbing insulinogenic protein like whey at that time.
Will Protein powders make me big and bulky?
Ans. Not really without insane training or steroids. For women, do not worry at all. Good muscles will make you toned and not bulky. You simply lack that much of hormone testosterone.
But with no or negligible exercise, too much carbs and sugar along with calorie excess? In that case protein powders are not required if your protein requirement is met from food alone. We do not need anything in excess, not even water.
Who should go for regular protein powder?
Ans. Well pretty much everyone. Think this way… are your daily macro requirements met from food alone? Think about how much protein you take daily. Is it below your required limit?
You need roughly 1 gram per kg body weight protein daily without training, if your kidneys are okay. For guys training with weights on a regular basis, the requirement is even 1.5-2 times of that.
Now it is clear that whey has a role during and after workout. Casein, on the other hand, can be taken before bedtime. Apart from these, you can also use these proteins to fill in the macros gap. Read my article on fat loss calculation made easy.
Maybe, you calculate that you need more protein but fat/carb intake is ok. You have very limited food choice in this case. People use egg whites, chicken breasts, low fat fish etc. For vegetarians the scenario gets even tougher. Use your protein powder to fill in this gap.
Another alternative is to use it as a base to make smoothie or shake with some other food like milk. This is a tasty choice to gulp in some useful macros in a quick time.
Can these protein powders be harmful to me?
Ans. Not really, if you have good kidney health. To be double sure, you can check your Serum urea and creatinine level. If everything is OK, you get the green signal.
Just don’t go overboard. For healthy kidneys, going double of the limits will have no long term effect. But in a guy doing regular weight training, higher protein intake is a must. Otherwise you risk the loss of muscles with all its complications. You have to complete your protein requirement without taking too much fat. Protein powders (both whey and casein) can be your friend.
To conclude, do not be afraid of these. These are dietary supplements only and used to fill up your protein requirement that you can’t meet with food.
Besides, role of whey during and after workout is established. As a second choice, casein during bed time creates the night time anabolic environment and preserves your muscles.
So want to spend a few bucks on your health as you start your fitness journey? Go and buy the tub of whey powder. Want to go for more? Buy that micellar casein powder tub.
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