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Types of Protein powders: Whey vs Plant vs Casein vs Egg

Need for Different Protein Powders!

Do you know what is the need for the different protein powders? Are they all the same?

Are your concerns about protein powders the same?

Let us help you with a better understanding of Protein Powder.

Protein powders are powdered sources of protein derived from plants, eggs, or milk (soybeans, peas, rice, potatoes, or hemp) (casein or whey protein). In simple words, Protein Powders have concentrated protein sources derived from animal or plant foods like dairy, eggs, grains, or peas. Other ingredients might include added sugars, artificial flavors, thickeners, vitamins, and minerals. Vitamins and minerals, particularly calcium, are added to several powders.

There are three basic types:

Protein concentrates are made by extracting protein from entire foods with the use of heat, acid, and enzymes. These include 60 to 80% protein, with the remaining 20 to 40% consisting of fat and carbohydrates.

Protein isolates: It has a protein content of 90 to 95%. And eliminates even more fat and carbohydrates, concentrating the protein even further.

Hydrolysates of proteins: These are absorbed more quickly by your body and muscles because they are produced by additional heating with acid or enzymes, which dissolves the links between amino acids. At least in the case of whey protein, hydrolysates appear to elevate insulin levels more than other forms. This can help you gain muscle mass after your workout.

These powders, however, do not help everyone. If your diet is already high in good-quality protein, adding protein powder won't make much of a difference in your day-to-day life.

Athletes and gym enthusiasts may discover that supplementing with protein powder helps them grow muscle and lose fat faster. Protein powders can also help people who fail to satisfy their protein needs through only diets, such as the elderly, vegetarians, vegans, etc.

The advantages and roles of different sources of protein derived in the body are diverse and unique.

Whey powder: Milk is the source of whey protein. During the cheesemaking process, the liquid separates from the curds. It's heavy in protein, but it also contains lactose, a sugar found in milk that many people have trouble digesting. While whey protein concentrate includes some lactose, isolate has relatively little due to the loss of the majority of this milk sugar during processing.

Whey is high in branched-chain amino acids and digests fast. One of these BCAAs, leucine, is important for muscle development and recovery following resistance and endurance training. Amino acids are accessible for muscle protein synthesis (MPS), or the development of new muscle, once they have been digested and absorbed into your circulation. Whey protein helps athletes gain and retain muscle mass, recover from intense exercise, and enhance muscular strength in response to strength training.

Following resistance training, whey protein raised MPS 31% more than soy protein and 132% more than casein protein in a study of young males.

However, a recent 10-week trial indicated that postmenopausal women who consumed whey protein or placebo had the same reaction to resistance exercise. Other research suggests that whey protein may alter body composition by lowering fat mass and increasing lean mass in normal-weight, overweight, and obese people. Whey protein may help lower inflammation and improve key heart health indicators in overweight and obese persons, according to the research.

Casein Powder: Like whey, it is a protein present in milk. Also, it is digested and absorbed very slowly. When casein reacts with stomach acid, it produces a gel, slowing stomach emptying and delaying amino acid absorption in the circulation. As a consequence, your muscles are exposed to amino acids in a more progressive and consistent manner, lowering the rate of muscle protein degradation. It appears to be more efficient than soy and wheat protein in improving MPS and strength, but not as effective as whey protein.

However, one research on overweight individuals reveals that when calories are limited, casein may outperform whey in terms of improving body composition during strength exercise.

Egg Powder: Eggs are a great source of high-protein foods. It has the greatest protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score of any entire food (PDCAAS). This score represents the quality and digestibility of a protein. It Is also one of the finest meals for curbing hunger and helping you remain full for extended periods of time. Egg protein powders, on the other hand, are usually prepared from egg whites rather than entire eggs. Although the protein quality remains great, the high-fat yolks have been eliminated, so you may feel less full.

Eggs are a complete protein source, just like all other animal products. That is, they offer all nine necessary amino acids, which your body cannot produce on its own. Furthermore, egg protein is the second-highest supply of leucine, the BCAA that plays the most important function in muscle health, after whey.

Keep in mind that egg white protein hasn't received nearly as much attention as whey or casein.

When eaten before a meal, it showed less capacity to suppress appetite than casein or pea protein in one research. In another study, female athletes who supplemented with egg white protein had identical improvements in lean mass and muscular strength as those who supplemented with carbohydrates.

Pea Powder: Pea protein powder is popular among vegetarians, vegans, and those who have dairy or egg allergies. It's prepared from yellow split peas, a high-fiber legume that has all necessary amino acids save one. BCAAs are notably abundant in pea protein. In a 12-week trial, males who drank 50 grams of pea protein daily had identical improvements in muscle thickness as those who received the same amount of whey protein daily.

The research found that when humans and rats with high blood pressure consumed pea protein supplements, their elevated levels decreased. Although pea protein powder appears to be promising, the further high-quality study is needed to validate these findings.

Hemp Powder: Another plant-based supplement that is popular is hemp protein powder. Although hemp is linked to marijuana, it contains only minimal levels of the hallucinogenic substance THC. It contains various critical amino acids as well as helpful omega-3 fatty acids. It is not considered a complete protein, however, because it contains relatively little lysine and leucine. Hemp protein looks to be a well-digested plant protein source.

Mixed powder: Plant proteins digest more slowly than animal proteins, owing to their high fiber content. Although this may not be a concern for many individuals, it may restrict the number of amino acids your body can utilize just after exercise.

In one study, resistance-trained young men were given 60 grams of whey protein, a pea-rice protein blend, or a pea-rice blend with added enzymes to aid digestion. In terms of the rate at which amino acids arrived in the blood, the enzyme-supplemented powder was equivalent to whey protein.

Reference :

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23782948/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20977230/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25628520/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22196620/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10867064/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17240782/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22289570/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25923479/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17240782/

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