What is Whey Protein?

Whey is a complete protein source with all 20 amino acids for repair, growth and maintenance of lean muscle and rejuvenation of skin, hair and nails.

However, a high quality whey protein is much, much more. Find out the 5 Surprising Benefits of Whey Protein here.

Whey protein is derived from cows milk and turned into a powder for easy consumption. Well known for repair, growth and maintenance of lean muscle. Whey protein is an easy solution to help meet daily protein requirements.

A high quality whey protein retains mother nature's perfect formula, bringing with it vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and immune boosting benefits which have health promoting biological effects on the body.

What are the types of Whey Protein?

The main types of whey protein you’ll see sold are whey protein concentrate (WPC) and whey protein isolate (WPI). Both are complete sources of protein, however, are very different in their micronutrient content due to undergoing different processes resulting in the final product.

Are both good sources of complete protein?

Yes. Both contain all 20 amino acids, in fact, 11 non-essential amino acids and 9 essential amino acids.

Essential amino acids mean that our body doesn’t make them so we need to get them from our diet (from food), these are listed here: Histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.

Non-essential amino acids mean our body already makes them, these are listed here: Alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine. More on amino acids here.

There are different types of whey protein and some are better than others, which is important to understand, that not all whey protein is created equal. Whey protein concentrate is the best option that retains mother nature's perfect formula, bringing with it essential nutrients to promote healthy living.

Let’s outline the differences: Whey concentrate vs Whey isolate.

What is whey protein concentrate?

Whey protein concentrate, also known as WPC, is the rawest and first form of whey protein, still retaining all nutritional benefits of the milk, but without much of the carbohydrates. A high quality whey protein concentrate is very bioavailable (easy to absorb), gentle on the stomach, healthy and a delicious, convenient option for meeting your critical daily protein requirements. Whey concentrate is upwards of 80% protein with a high amount of micronutrients, vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and immune boosting benefits.

What is whey protein isolate?

Whey protein isolate, also known as WPI, is the second form of protein, after whey protein concentrate. A whey protein isolate is upwards of 90% protein, however, there’s a trade off… Whey isolate is stripped of the many nutritional benefits. A WPI is still a complete source of protein which claims to be much easier to absorb, however, food is made bioavailable by being packaged with other nutrients.

Which is best? Whey concentrate or whey isolate?

This depends on your lifestyle goals. If you’re after a high quality protein, rich in nutrients, the best choice is an Australian grass fed whey protein concentrate. You can find this here.

What about grass fed whey concentrate and grass fed whey isolate?

If you're requiring a nutrient-dense rich protein source, a grass fed whey concentrate is your best option. This is because a grass fed whey protein concentrate is the first form of whey protein, still retaining all the health promoting nutrients from grass fed milk. You really can taste and feel the difference with a high quality, grass fed whey protein concentrate.

A whey isolate, even though it is derived from grass fed milk, it has been stripped of the many micronutrients.

It makes sense, if you’re looking at grass fed whey protein, you want it minimally processed, in the rawest possible form, still retaining mother nature's perfect formula. This is a whey protein concentrate (WPC).

Which is best for maintaining lean muscle?

Believe it or not, lean muscle and protein synthesis is not just about protein… We require many other nutrients for optimal health and it's best to provide your body and mind with healthy, nutrient-dense food sources to give the body and mind what it needs to function efficiently, this includes building and maintaining lean muscle.

Muscles require amino acids, but they also require vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and a range of other nutrients. When it comes to the best protein, you cannot go past a high quality grass fed whey protein concentrate.

Interestingly, according to Castro et al. (2019), a meta-analysis study showed a significant decrease in body fat percentage with the use of whey concentrate as opposed to whey isolate.

How can I see for myself?

Try it for yourself. Like any food type or meal, you want to feel your best after consumption. You don’t want to feel worse after, than what you did prior. Naturally, we need to be removing food types that don’t work for us and keeping the ones that do make us feel better.

Doing this, we can be our own best dietician. Simple right?

Just keep what works best and remove what doesn’t. Simple.

Life Grip recommends trying our grass fed whey protein concentrate that’s derived from the milk of Australian grass fed dairy cows.

Does whey isolate have less carbohydrates?

No, not really. It is a common misconception whey isolate is lower in carbohydrates. Upon close inspection, comparing nutritional labels of whey isolate and whey concentrate, there’s a difference of around 0.5 to 1.0g of carbohydrates per serving.

For anyone choosing a whey isolate on the basis of lower carbohydrate intake, the difference is negligible.

Is whey protein isolate easier to absorb?

No. Consumers are led to believe, because the whey has gone under extensive processing to achieve the state of whey isolate, that it’s easier to absorb. Upon a closer look at the nutritional labels and ingredients list, you’ll notice many whey protein isolate products have digestive enzymes added to help with absorption.

The common terms used is both isolate and pure which lead the customer to believe absorption is better, however, there’s more to bioavailability than these two key words.

A high quality whey protein has a high bioavailability due to other nutrients that help with optimal absorption. Hence why a whey protein concentrate is the rawest form of whey protein still retaining the nutrients that make a grass fed whey concentrate a highly bioavailable source of complete protein.

Which is best? Whey protein concentrate or whey protein isolate?

Whey protein concentrate derived from the nutrient-dense milk of Australian grass fed dairy cows. This is the best protein for optimal health, growth and maintenance of lean muscle, recovery and rejuvenating skin, hair and nails.



At Life Grip, we’re focused on bringing you the cleanest, nutrient-dense supplements available for optimal health, better recovery and improved emotional wellbeing.

We’re walking the same path with you.

Living cleaner, healthier lifestyles.



References: 

A Castro, L. H., S de Araújo, F. H., M Olimpio, M. Y., B de B Primo, R., T Pereira, T., F Lopes, L. A., B S de M Trindade, E., Fernandes, R., & A Oesterreich, S. (2019). Comparative Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Concentrated, Hydrolyzed, and Isolated Whey Protein Supplementation on Body Composition of Physical Activity Practitioners. Nutrients, 11(9), 2047. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11092047