Lately, I have been asked questions around post exercise recovery nutrition and nutrition for getting lean and for weight maintenance.  I am going to discuss whey protein and its benefits. 

What is Whey Protein

Most of us grew up on drinking milk.  Milk is comprised of two types of proteins - 80% casein and 20% whey proteins.  Whey is the liquid by-product of milk that separates during the manufacturing process.  Following pasteurisation, the whey clumps and is extracted. 

Whey protein can be way too confusing.  If you walked into a sport supplement store you would notice that, there are many whey protein products.  Here is a summary that provides the highlights:

1.       Whey protein concentrate consists of around 80% protein.  It contains naturally occurring carbohydrates and fats.  This make it a calorie dense supplement (i.e. contains high levels of calories per serving).  It contains some lactose.

2.       Whey protein isolate consists of 85% to 95% protein.  This type of whey has undergone further purification to minimize the macronutrients (see side bar) and enhance the protein content.  As such, it has less lactose and fat.  This process removes micronutrients (see side bar) and subfractions (see side bar) that aid in boosting our immune system. 

Side bar for those of you who missed out nutrition courses in high school and hated math and biology:

There are three macronutrients required by humans: carbohydrates (sugar), lipids (fats), and proteins.  Each of these macronutrients provides energy in the form of calories. For example:

• In carbohydrates, there are 4 calories per gram
• In proteins, there are 4 calories per gram
• In lipids, there are 9 calories per gram

Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals.

Subfractions are smaller amino acids and peptides.

3.       Whey protein hydrolysate can be a concentrate or an isolate in which some of chemical bonds in the whey have been broken after being exposed to heat, acids or enzymes.  This process allows for the whey to be absorbed more rapidly in the stomach compared to the other whey proteins.  It causes a 28 to 43% greater spike in insulin levels than isolate.

Benefits of Whey Protein

There are numerous studies which have found that whey protein maximizes lean body mass and fat free mass gain.   It also has been proven to improve upper and lower body strength.  Here are the benefits of whey protein:

• As a recovery drink, it is rapidly digested and absorbed. 
• It contains the amino acid leucine which is responsible for muscle building.
• It aids in body fat reduction or weight management while at the same time conserves or increases muscle mass.  Power to weight ratio improvements are the result.

What is the right amount of Whey Protein?

• 20g of whey protein is the magic number.
• For high volumes of training 20g of whey protein and 40g to 60g of carbohydrates.  This helps recovery by replenishing muscle glycogen.

BIG and IMPORTANT Side bar

Glycolysis is the breakdown of carbohydrates. It lasts from roughly ten seconds into physical activity up to about two to three minutes. The energy for glycolysis comes from glucose, or our stored form of glucose called glycogen.  Glycogen is stored in muscle tissue and the liver.  The average person holds about 1,500-2,000 calories of stored glycogen.  The liver contains about 100g of stored glycogen and muscle tissue contains about 400g of stored glycogen.

The liver is responsible for controlling blood sugar between meals. Our muscles main responsibility is to move bones.  This allows us to do all the locomotive tasks associated with daily living.

Glycolysis is an anaerobic metabolic pathway.  Carbohydrates are the only macronutrient that can be synthesized into usable ATP under anaerobic conditions.  We need to make sure we take in enough carbohydrates to fuel glycolysis during activity and to keep our glycogen stores full.  A reduction in muscle glycogen is associated with fatigue.

What is my recovery routine?

I personally use a combination of:

• Whey Protein Islolate (I use ON Gold Standard).  A serving size provides 24g protein, 3g of carbohydrates 1g of fat and 120 calories.
• Skratch Recovery Mix.  A serving size provides 36g carbohydrates, 7g protein, 3.5g of fat and 200 calories.

Within 90 minutes of this, I consume a meal or snack which is also a combination of carbohydrates and protein.  If for some reason a meal is not possible within the 90 minutes, I consume another of the same mixture described.

If I am trying to reduce my weight or get lean, I will use a hydrolysed whey protein with less carbohydrates.  I will shoot for 20g protein and 20g carbohydrates.

Micellar Casein Protein and Recovery

This article was about whey protein, but don't discount the value of micellar casein protein.  The video does an amazing job of describing muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and muscle protein breakdown (MPB).  For athletes, pre-sleep protein is essential.  Ingesting micellar casein protein one to two hours before sleep is beneficial for recovery.  The dosage recommended is 50g.  Watch the video.

I have read a lot of different articles on casein, and to be honest, as a supplement there are several differing opinions.  Grade and processing is a big factor.  I think I will stick to whole casein as found in raw milk, milk protein concentrate and aged cheese.