THE NUTRITION CORNER - THE WHEY PROTEIN By Clark Antonian

Whey Protein is the holy tub of bodybuilding. If the supplement industry were a formal religion, whey protein would be the prophet preaching to its apostles glutamine and beta-alanine about how divine the word of whey is. It is the first thing that catches your eye when you see the giant sized tubs in your local supplement store. There is a reason as to why there are so many different varieties and sizes.  The diversity of whey protein supplementation is an industry unto itself with sales in the United States reaching $400 million dollars and $1.6 billion dollars across the rest of the world. The numbers will continue to grow and the tubs will continue to take up more and more space on your shelves. However, despite the continue growth of whey and company (casein to be exact), is whey protein the supplement that can turn your muscle gains from spring garden flowers to Jack and the Beanstalk? The short answer is not really but it can give you a slight edge if you are training hard but its nothing to write home about. 

The recommendations are as follows: 

-If you are an athlete or you are highly physically active, an intake of 1.5 – 2.2 grams/kg bodyweight (0.68g – 1g/lb of bodyweight) is the desired amount to maintain but more so build muscle mass.

-If you are sedentary and prefer the comfort of a couch, an intake of 0.8g / kg bodyweight (0.36/ lb bodyweight) is the necessary amount to maintain base levels so that your teeth and hair don’t fallout.

The gist to these requirements is that your body requires more protein to repair your muscle cells along with other cells if you are active because you use more energy and your metabolism is much higher. The body itself is a highly effective auto-regulator much like a top-of-the-line thermostat.  Our bodies get rid of protein in our urine at a rate of 150 mg/day. If you take in much more than the recommended amount such as 2 g/ lb of bodyweight, you risk potential  kidney and heart damage because of the added pressure you are putting on those organs to process the excess protein. This will take the form of your blood pressure increasing as well as overtaxing your kidney filtration rate. It’s a matter of time of when the damage arrives and many studies have confirmed that while you may not feel it now, years of scarfing down protein blend shakes and ready-to- go-chicken breast beyond what’s recommended can put you to sleep, and it wouldn’t be the all-you-can-eat buffet food coma variety. In the meantime, let’s take a look at where whey comes from and why it’s the most popular protein based supplement.

Whey protein comes from cow’s milk and it is one of the by-products produced. When milk is pasteurized (killed of bacteria), it is then cooled for storage. The after effect leaves a given amount of cooled milk usually comprised of 80% casein and 20% whey. It is the processed into a fine powder and put into holy tubs ready for worship in your local supplement store. 

With that in mind, we have to ask ourselves this question, if we meet our recommended requirements when pumping iron or playing in league sports, do we still need our daily dosage of whey protein? The answer is again not really in most cases. Supplements especially whey protein exist as emergencies replacements when you have been slacking on a well-balanced diet. Whey takes the place of chicken breast or tuna as an example if you haven’t been able to intake them throughout the course of the day. Now if you have been training hard for years on end, then it will give you a slight edge in building muscle mass. However, this only applies to individuals who want to maximize muscle gains throughout their training career. For individuals who just want to maintain their fitness levels, gain some more muscle mass, or play rec league soccer, this won’t be of any added benefit to them. 

The key is in the branch-chain amino acids (BCAA). There are three and they are Leucine, Iso-Leucine, and Valine.  Certain muscle groups like the biceps respond a little more to BCAA intake so it stands to reason why whey protein supplementation can be a beneficial addition to your diet. Red meat and dairy products have highest amount of BCAAs but this already eliminates vegetarians/vegans. Soy or Plant-based protein would take the role of whey to fill in these amino acid gaps.  Now a word on Soy: Many individuals might have across the notion that ingesting soy protein will “feminize” them or more specifically, reduce their testosterone output and raise their estrogen levels. This is important because test is the key building block to increasing muscle mass. This line of thinking comes from the studies that looked at fermented (miso soup, tempeh) vs unfermented soy (Soy Milk) and found that there is a link with unfermented soy in inhibiting test production however this does not apply to soy protein because it undergoes a different production process. When it comes down to soy vs whey, this supplement slugfest is more like a snooze fest with both forms of protein not putting up much of a fight  against each other. There is no significant difference whatsoever between the two across many modern studies. 

The take-home boils down to this: Whey protein is not as necessary as you might think it is but it has a place for the serious lifter. The standard American/European diet usually has plenty of protein for most people. However, if you train hard and you want to take your physique and push it to its limit, whey protein and its higher amounts of BCAAs will give you a slight edge versus someone who doesn’t supplement whey. You need more protein if you lift weights or are involved in some sort of resistance training program. This can easily be done with eating more food that has a good amount of protein such as chicken breast or tuna. If you are a novice or intermediate trainee, you still don’t really need it but if you are willing to train for the long-haul, it certainly has a place in your gym bag. 

The word of whey is strong and the word has travelled far and wide, but its dogma is not something you need to immediately subscribe to.