Whey Protein Isolate - Part 3 - Why Should You Take It?

<< Part 2 - First Supplement Usage <<

So you know what whey protein isolate is, you know how protein supplementation began, now you probably want to know why you should take it.

I’m not going to slip into a pair of skimpy underwear, grease up my body, flex and tell you that I used a protein supplement to attain all my gains and you should too!

No, I think you’re a little more intelligent than that, butthe supplement companies don’t think that you’re that smart; they still use advertising like that.

Let’s look at the facts instead of just blindly following advertising.

Benefits of Protein

As I slightly mention before, if you want to gain muscle then you need protein. There’s no debating that protein is what builds muscle, not carbohydrates or fat. So if you want a strong muscular body, then you need to eat a high protein diet and exercise accordingly.

But maybe your goal isn’t to gain muscle. Maybe you want to lose weight. Well, there have been studies that have shown that high protein diets are going to help you control your appetite and caloric intake better. This could mean extra weight loss for you.

I’m sure that a lot of you have dieted in the past and had many times when you felt hungry, but you knew you couldn’t eat because of your diet’s guidelines. I’m willing to bet if you tried that diet again but upped your intake of protein then your hunger wouldn’t be as big of an issue.

So protein is a nutrient that can help you:

• Gain Muscle
• Satisfy Your Appetite
• Help You Lose Weight

Some of you might still be curious why you should supplement with protein instead of just eating foods that are high in protein.

Honestly, if you can afford to, eating high quality, high protein food is the way to go.

The problem is that a lot of us can’t afford to get enough protein in our diets from the foods we eat.

That’s where protein supplements come in.

Protein supplements are an inexpensive way to ensure that you’re consuming enough protein each day. Not only that but if you don’t have time to grill a steak or cook some salmon, you can just pour some protein powder in a blender and prepare a protein shake. It might not be as satisfying to your taste buds, but you just got your protein within minutes.

I know that time and money are big issues (some say that time is money) and protein supplements give you a way around both.

There are a variety of different protein supplements you can take, so why would you want to choose whey protein?

Whey protein has a higher biological value than egg protein, casein protein (another milk protein) and soy protein. Which means your body uses more of the protein from whey than any of the other protein supplements. It’s absorbed quickly and it’s a more complete and high quality protein.

Whey protein is usually also a lot cheaper than casein protein. They talk it up as a specialized, slow release protein which enables them to put a higher price tag on it. The problem is that it's actually very cheap to make! Studies have even shown that, 3 hours after consumption, there's a higher concentration of amino acids in your body when you take whey protein, when compared to casein. So, slow release or not, casein protein isn't as effective as whey protein is at making the amino acids stick around.

I’m sure that there will always be a debate about soy protein vs. whey protein and I’m not going to say that soy protein is a horrible protein. I will mention though that some people will have issues digesting soy products, at least at first.

Remember when I talked about Irvin Johnson’s protein supplement? One of the people that tried to copy his product, to mimic and cash in on his success, was Bob Hoffman. He created a similar product but his product was soy-based. He advertised it a lot in magazines with a very similar name to Johnson’s product and a lot of people bought it. The problem was, his soy-based protein supplement caused a lot of people to break out in hives and gave them gas. I’m not saying that soy products today will give you hives but the digestion problems, namely gas, have been around since the beginning.

If you know anything about whey supplements, then you know that there’s not just one kind.

Whey protein concentrate is they type of whey protein that’s been around forever. It’s a decent protein supplement and it doesn’t cost that much but it doesn’t have as much protein in it, per weight, as whey protein isolate. It also doesn’t have as high of a biological value.

Another reason to choose isolate over concentrate is that there is less lactose and fat in whey protein isolate.

There’s also whey protein hydrolysate, which may have a higher biological value but it costs a lot more.

I don’t really think you’ll see the benefit in using hydrolysate over isolate when you look at the costs. Whey protein isolates already contain at least 90% protein so unless you have money to blow, you should stick with an isolate.

Things are broken down even further when you realize that there are two different methods to create whey protein isolate supplements.

Ion exchange isolates will appear to be more beneficial right off the bat because they contain more protein per weight, but you might want to look a little deeper.

The ion exchange process actually depletes some of the proteins nutritional value. You won’t see the same benefits from protein with an ion exchange isolate as you would with a micro filtered isolate.

So your best bet would be to go with a micro filtration isolate. Just look at the ingredients on the label and you’ll probably see something like cross flow micro filtered.

I know there are a lot of choices out there for protein supplements, but I hope I’ve helped you narrow it down a little.

If you want a high quality and inexpensive protein supplement, then you should go with a micro filtered whey protein isolate!

I don’t want you to just believe anything I tell you, so let’s look at some research done on whey protein.

>> Continue Reading Part 4 - Research Proven Benefits >>