Protein Powders

(Men's Health magazine)

I thought this may be helpful when choosing a protein powder.

The Protein-Powder Primer
Your guide to navigating the supplement aisle
Ever wonder what to look for in a protein powder? Check out this guide from The Men’s Health Big Book of Exercises—it’ll make you an instant expert.

The Best Ingredients: Whey and Casein
Turns out, the top powdered proteins come from a cow

What are they?
Whey and casein are the primary proteins found in milk. In fact, about 20 percent of the protein in milk is whey, and the other 80 percent is casein.

What’s the diff?
Both are high-quality proteins, but whey is known as a “fast protein.” That’s because it’s quickly broken down into amino acids and absorbed into your bloodstream. This makes it a very good protein to consume after your workout. Casein, on the other hand, is digested more slowly, so it’s ideal for providing your body with a steady supply of smaller amounts of protein for a longer period of time—such as between meals or while you sleep.

Which one?
Try a blend. Either type of protein will provide your muscles with the raw materials for growth, but combining whey and casein them allows you to optimize your protein intake no matter when you down a shake.

The Men’s Health recommendation:
Nitrean from AtLarge Nutrition. It’s a best whey-casein blend you’ll find anywhere. And remember: Protein isn’t just good for building muscles; it’s also key for fat loss, since it helps you maintain your muscle as you burn off the flab. Plus, it’s satiating—so adding more protein to your diet allows you to eat less without feeling deprived.

Soy: The Other Protein
Although it’s been promoted as a health food by the soy industry, this protein has a potential downside. Isoflavones, the active compounds in soy, have been shown to raise estrogen levels in men, and to negatively impact thyroid function, when consumed in high amounts. Though eating soybeans or some tofu won’t likely have this type of impact, it’s possible to down enough soy through supplementation to experience the effect. If a soy protein is listed as the first or second ingredient on the label, choose another product.

The Label Decoder
To most guys, the ingredients list of a protein powder might as well be written in Sanskrit. That’s because it often contains several subtypes of whey, casein, egg, and even soy protein. Here’s how to read the label like a chemist.

Concentrate: The cheapest form of most proteins. It contains slightly higher amounts of fat and carbohydrate than more pure versions and can be clumpy and hard to mix by hand; however, it provides the same basic muscle-building benefits. In the case of casein, it’s referred to as “caseinate.”

Isolate: A protein that’s more pure than concentrate—meaning it contains lower amounts of fat and carbohydrate—and is also easier to mix.

Hydrosylate, or hydrolyzed protein: A protein that’s been broken down into smaller fractions than are in a concentrate or isolate, allowing it to be absorbed into your bloodstream more quickly. However, when it comes to casein hydrosylate, this defeats the purpose, since the benefit of casein is that it absorbs slowly.

Micellar casein, or isolated casein peptides: An expensive but easy-to-mix proteincomposed almost entirely of pure casein, ensuring slow and steady absorption.

Milk protein: An ingredient that has the composition of natural milk protein (roughly 80 percent casein and 20 percent whey).

Egg-white protein: Like whey and casein, an excellent high-quality protein. It’s sometimes called “instantized egg albumin” on the label.