Whey Protein Recommendations?

[hookookadoo]

Any aficionados out there? Looking for best value/flavor/best form(ie powder, bar). I'm thinking about using it for breakfast and maybe some in the evening.

[DRietz]

I'm really interested in hearing what brand of protein powder you can get that's quality, but is still rather affordable.

Furthermore, soy protein is good for the knee joint, but I've heard rumors of it increasing estrogen levels?

[fiamme red]

Of all the brands of whey I've tried, my favorite is Biochem:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/bioc/locarbwhey.html

It has no additives or artificial flavorings. I like the chocolate or vanilla mixed with cold water. Natural flavor mixed with almond milk is good too.

[Joachim]

I'm really interested in hearing what brand of protein powder you can get that's quality, but is still rather affordable.

Furthermore, soy protein is good for the knee joint, but I've heard rumors of it increasing estrogen levels?

The amount of phytoestrogens in soy protein powder will not cause any estrogen-related side effects unless you have an extreme sensitivity to estrogen (like is some estrogen-related breast cancers).

[Joachim]

Any aficionados out there? Looking for best value/flavor/best form(ie powder, bar). I'm thinking about using it for breakfast and maybe some in the evening.

I prefer Syntrax Nectar. The flavors are the best and consists of whey protein isolate which is much gentler on your stomach compared to a lot of other whey products that contain the cheaper and inferior, whey protein concentrate.

[srenda]

JaY Robb's stuff works for me.

[crownjewelwl]

i switched from whey to rice protein...agrees with me better (perhaps cuz i'm korean??)

sun warrior stuff is a little pricey but tastes great...flavored with cacao so high in magnesium too and sweetened with stevia

doesn't taste like chemicals!

[Louis]

Whatever you do, don't take too much - it gave me gout for a while, until I figured out what was going on. (And I wasn't taking a whole lot.)

[yngpunk]

You'll see a lot of discussion on optimal protein blends (100% whey vs. a mix of whey, caesin, and egg) as well as the balance between whey protein concentrate vs, whey protein isolate.

I like Nitrean from atlargenutrition.com which provides a blend of all three protein sources and not only mixes well, but tastes pretty good. Nitrean has also won Men's Health best protein powder for the past three years.

I haven't tried it personally, but I've heard good things about trueprotein.com which allows you to customize your protein blend in terms of whey/caesin, and egg as well as concentrate vs. isolate. Further you can specify the amount of sweetener and flavoring. Trueprotein seems to be geared more towards those buying in bulk (e.g. plastic bag packaging vs. the big plastic tub).

Hope this helps.

[Pyramor]

I agree that isolate, either whey or soy, is the way to go. I have used Optimum Nutrition whey. Tastes good, but don't like ingesting the artificial flavoring. Currently I am using unflavored isolates mixed in oatmeal with nuts, cinnamon and soy milk. I use Xylitol to sweeten to taste. 60% calories of sugar and does not spike insulin production. The soy though does create a "chalky" texture. Don't overdue the daily amount of protein or you may raise triglyceride levels.

[William]

Careone Whey protein.

http://d3hqdt8j93rgvn.cloudfront.net/Image/MEDIUM_8a789ed022866f4c012286785eb0080b.jpg



William

[bkboom123]

ON's Hydro-whey and GNC's Wheybolic extreme 60 are top 5 on the market right now. They are pricey though.

For a more economical approach, BJ's wholesale club sells EAS Protein...$24 for five pounds. It is a very good protein..

Beware of going cheap as the proteins usually take longer to break down and absorb in your body. Also, cholesterol and sugars are always greater with the cheaper protein.

That EAS one is the best for the price that I have seen so far FWIW

[rice rocket]

I use Optimum Nutrition.

Most people who are really into lifting will use custom mixes, but will recommend Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard for those who don't want to do custom. I'm about 30 lbs into this stuff, and it's great. No complaints, no ill effects It comes to about $8/lb when you buy in bulk from Amazon.com.

I used to buy GNC branded stuff, and would get super bloated after taking it. People say it's because GNC doesn't filter their whey, and you get less whey isolate and more milk byproducts. Blah.

[rdparadise]

EAS protein uses aspartame as a sweetener. I would stay away from that compound.

I buy from vitacost.com They have numerous protien powders and I've tried a few wihich have been good. I buy totally natural, no flavors, preservatives, sweeteners, etc. I mix with cold water, a ripe banana and frozer berries for a really great shake. The value from vitacost.com is very good if you ask me. Everything is typically 20% or more off retail or MSRP.

Bob

[jaykosta]

I use vanilla flavor "Body Fortress" brand from Wal-mart. It is inexpensive and tastes ok.

I mix a scant scoop (for about 20 grams of protein) with Gatorade, to provide both carbs and protein. I use this immediately after a workout session.

The 20 gram serving size is an optimal serving size. And I haven't found a need for more, unless I do another hard session later in the day.
Note that excessive amounts of protein can be taxing to your kidneys, so do not take too much. The 'body builder' guys promote using a lot more than I think is wise, but we are not trying to load-up on muscle bulk.

My experience is that use of whey protein in this manner reduces the amount of 'next day soreness'. That is why I use it, not as a miracle 'muscle builder'.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

[wc1934]

Careone Whey protein.

http://d3hqdt8j93rgvn.cloudfront.net/Image/MEDIUM_8a789ed022866f4c012286785eb0080b.jpg



William

+1 usually purchase it from stop and shop for $10 and they often have a buy one get one free -

[11.4]

Optimum Nutrition Gold. I highly recommend the mint chocolate flavor, but flavors are of course personal.

You pay a bit more for it, but ON has several advantages:

1. It is hydrolyzed to very regular fragments, so you always know what you're getting.
2. It's tested for potentially banned components, and many high-end athletes use it and have their teams test it so there are no PED violations.
3. It's hydrolyzed in such a way as to make it much more soluble. It dissolves easily and evenly so you don't have to pound it up in a blender to get it suspended or dissolved.
4. Flavors are all good.

It's expensive at MSRP, but Vitacost regularly sells it at 40-60% off in the big 5 pound bottles.

As for how to blend whey versus casein, for those who are on rapid bulking programs, adding some proportion of casein provides shorter-term protein synthesis. However, for cycling (even for track power events) you don't simply want to bulk up. You want to recover from a hard workout fast, and you want to add muscle at a predictable rate to coincide with your workout level. If you're doing heavy free weights and also strong on-the-bike power workouts, you still don't need the extra bulking capacity of casein. You simply add muscle weight that way but the research evidence shows it doesn't improve athletic performance for track and field sprinters, for track cyclists, and for other track and field athletes. Even for Olympic powerlifters it has the detrimental effect of building muscle without adding power. Cycling is about power. If Chris Hoy doesn't have to use casein, you probably don't either.

[kenw]

Of all the brands of whey I've tried, my favorite is Biochem:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/bioc/locarbwhey.html

It has no additives or artificial flavorings. I like the chocolate or vanilla mixed with cold water. Natural flavor mixed with almond milk is good too.


I like the Biochem vanilla mixed with plain yogurt. Biochem doesn't mix
well with hot fluids. Ken

[JD Smith]

http://www.proteinfactory.com

[LouDeeter]

I use EAS Myoplex in powder. It contains 42 grams of protein in one powder pouch. You can make a shake with bananas and skim milk or just water or whatever else you want to include. The standard flavors are Vanilla, Chocoloate, and Strawberry, but if you look on eBay, you can also find Pina Collada, Chocolate-Caramel, Dark Chocolate, and Mango-Orange. To me, one of the key things about these drinks is taste. If it doesn't taste good, I'm not going to keep coming back. These taste good, particularly when blended with bananas and skim milk in a blender.

[SEABREEZE]

Heres the skinny on whey...

If you are looking for the best form of whey, then you want the real thing, whey is a by product of cheese making. It will be in its whole live form, not that powder form that will not give you the same nutritional value..

My suggestion is go to Eatwild.com (http://EATWILD.COM) and locate a farm in your geographic area that sells cheese, they will have whey in its natural form, rich in minerals and protein.

It will look irridescent almost the color of lime gatorade.

My farm sell cow whey in glass qt jars for $5 a qt. for reference

We also have goat whey in glass qt jars for $6 a qt for reference


This should help as a guideline for reference for your own shopping needs in your area...

A suggestion for use would be to put in your morning shake.

Fresh fruit of choice, liquid real whey, a couple raw eggs, unheated honey, and some organic apple juice, grape juice, or what ever you like.

A great thrist quencher for rides would be real whey, cucumbers juiced, a lemon squeezed, and unheated honey.

[SEABREEZE]

For those intent about using soy based whey protein, I suggest you give this a read, then decide...

http://www.westonaprice.org/soy-alert.html

[sjbraun]

This post will get to protein powders, but bare with me for a bit.
I was diagnosed with CLL (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia) almost 5 years ago. CLL is one of the not curable, but treatable cancers. Fortunately, I responded very well to treatment. My health is fantastic now (and hopefully will stay that way for a long time before CLL raises its ugly head again.)
Some folks don't respond well to current treatment options. For them, the only hope is a transplant. One of my CLL pals was forced into that choice after CLL returned just months after chemo. (To make it a bit more dire, he's 42 with two small kids.) His post transplant period has been filled with darn near every complication known and several that have puzzled his transplant team. (If you want to read about a real champion, Gregg's Caring Bridge site chronicles his transplant journey: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/maddog23
In the middle of his struggle to recover, he lost his job. He had been involved in sports nutrition for over 20 years. recently, he started a company that sells a product for mixing powdered drinks. You can see his new website here:
http://turboshaker.com/
I have no affiliation with Gregg's company. I'm passing this on because you protein powder drinkers are just the market Gregg is looking for. And I know there are some generous people on this forum, so, I ask you to consider ordering a Turbo Shaker (or 2 or 10.) You'll be helping someone who deserves a break and getting something you can use, too.

Thanks for your consideration

Steve

[zray67]

:) :) For those intent about using soy based whey protein, I suggest you give this a read, then decide...

http://www.westonaprice.org/soy-alert.html

Thanks for all your postings on this thread. They have been very helpful to me.
:) :) :)

[Louis]

For those intent about using soy based whey protein, I suggest you give this a read, then decide...

http://www.westonaprice.org/soy-alert.html

Interesting.

1) So I wonder who funds the Weston A. Price foundation?

2) Given all those "problems" with soy, you'd think that that Japanese would have been wiped out a long time ago.

[SEABREEZE]

Interesting.

1) So I wonder who funds the Weston A. Price foundation?

2) Given all those "problems" with soy, you'd think that that Japanese would have been wiped out a long time ago.


LOUIS, its funded by folks just like you, the general public..

If you check there board members many are Phd's Md's etc.

Begin to learn about both Dr Weston A Price and Dr Pottenger work, The foundation is a non profit organization to carry on both Drs prior work and discoveries.

A note about the Japanese, when they have soy, its in its fermented state.

[Louis]

LOUIS, its funded by folks just like you, the general public..

If you check there board members many are Phd's Md's etc.

Begin to learn about both Dr Weston A Price and Dr Pottenger work, The foundation is a non profit organization to carry on both Drs prior work and discoveries.

Seabreeze,

We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. :)

I just did a bit of Googling and concluded that they are a bunch of kooks with an agenda. YCMV (your conclusion may vary)

I may be wrong, but I won't be taking my health and nutrition advice from them. Others may do as they like.

Louis

[1centaur]

Good question Louis, and a much more interesting answer than I expected:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weston_A._Price_Foundation

[Blue Jays]

I'm standardized across-the-board on Hammer Nutrition supplements.
Post-ride smoothies blended with Recoverite are remarkable for reducing muscle pain.

[Louis]

Bottom line for me:

Because the human body is such a complicated system, because of all the variability out there (smoker living to be 95, daily runner dying at 25 yrs old, etc) and because it can take so long for side-effects to show up, it's incredibly difficult to do cut-and-dry medical research and studies on stuff like nutrition.

I try to take my advice from what I believe to be informed, unbiased sources (not always an easy thing to determine) and avoid the "true-believers" who are pushing the next great answer to all the world's problems.

Louis

[SEABREEZE]

Louis, I certainly respect your position on the Weston A Price, everyone is entitled to there opinion...

You posted at 1.12 pm and then again at 1.30 pm, a total of 18 minutes of goggling for you to conclude your opinion. Unless you did some serious research time prior, that you didnt mention.

I beleive that the answer to comment about unbiased sources is answered in wikipidia...
The main sources of support for the Weston A. Price Foundation are the dues and contributions of its members. The Foundation does not receive funding from the government or the food processing and agribusiness industries. It does accept sponsorships, exhibitors and advertising from small companies by invitation, whose products are in line with WAPF principles

What agenda do these so called kooks as you described have from your perspective, I'm curious

from wikipidia ...
As to the foundation being criticized by health advocates, such as Stephen Barrett of the Quackwatch website, on grounds that the core assumptions of Price's original work are incorrect and contrary to contemporary medical understanding.

The WAP Foundation has written a rebuttal to Barret's essay


from wikipidia ...
John Robbins has written a critique in which he reviews the history of the Weston Price Foundation and provides evidence that Weston Price had recommended a vegetarian and dairy diet to his own family members as the healthiest diet (contrary to the position of the Price Foundation which recommends animal products).[24] The anti-vegetarian and anti-soy views of the foundation have also been criticized in several publications.[25][26][27] Joel Fuhrman MD wrote a series of articles entitled "The truth about the Weston Price Foundation" in which he argues the Foundation is a purveyor of "nutritional myths", largely because they have failed to update their recommendations in light of contradictory evidence.[28]

Price's focal infection theory is no longer considered viable in the medical community.[29] An editorial by William Jarvis in Nutrition Today called Price's work "well-intentioned but misguided," noting that he did no quantitative assesment whatsoever. Jarvis gave as an example: "On separate occasions when examining persons who were on mixed diets - i.e., partially primitive and partially civilized - he rationalized that the one whose dental decay was minimal was due to the primitive portion of the diet, while the other whose dental decay was greater, was so because of the civilized portion. Neither diet was quantified in any way to permit comparative analysis."[30


It should be interseting to see what the WAP foundations rebuttle to the above two paragraphs are

For sure lots of controversy, and as you said Louis, then we must see where the unbiased opions come from.

To really acheive this, it would take lots of serious research.

Surprisingly there is no mention to negativity, regarding WAP'a position on soy.

[jaykosta]

Last year I did a lot of internet searching 'research' about whey protein usage, and other protein supplements.

Most of the writing I found was 'product advertisements' and lacked rigorous professional level research.

One article that I think IS good and seemed relevant to my use of protein supplements is from -

-------------------------
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

published in January 2009

Ingested protein dose response of muscle and albumin protein synthesis after
resistance exercise in young men

Am J Clin Nutr 2009 89: 1 161-168; First published online December 3, 2008.
doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.26401

http://www.ajcn.org/content/89/1/161.full.pdf+html
-------------------------

Also, articles written by
Jeff S Volek
seem to be reliable
google - jeff s volek protein supplement

It was in one of Volek's articles for nutritionexpress.com that referred to the
Am J Clin Nutr article above. I was quite surprised to see Volek's comments as part of a supplement sales flyer because the 'recommended dosage' was only 20 grams, and most of the products they were selling had much higher amounts.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

[Louis]

You posted at 1.12 pm and then again at 1.30 pm, a total of 18 minutes of goggling for you to conclude your opinion. Unless you did some serious research time prior, that you didnt mention.

I stand by my conclusions. :beer: (That's soy milk in the mugs. I don't particularly like the taste, but don't want to participate in the confinement and/or execution of cows so I put up with it.)

If I'm wrong and WAP is right I'll pay the price with my health. We'll see.

Take care.

Louis

[1centaur]

I was quite surprised to see Volek's comments as part of a supplement sales flyer because the 'recommended dosage' was only 20 grams, and most of the products they were selling had much higher amounts.

Without reading the whole article (thanks for the link), one thing that stood out was the short duration of the exercise: 3 exercises x 4 sets each x 25 seconds. While the intensity was high (lift to failure) the duration was low. That might have some bearing on the 20 gram maximal response result. An hour in the gym or 4 hours on a bike might produce different needs for protein in the body. Or not.

[SEABREEZE]

I stand by my conclusions. :beer: (That's soy milk in the mugs. I don't particularly like the taste, but don't want to participate in the confinement and/or execution of cows so I put up with it.)

If I'm wrong and WAP is right I'll pay the price with my health. We'll see.

Take care.

Louis

Louis also writes in the milk thread

"About 6 months ago I switched from industrial-type dairy skim milk to organic soy milk because I didn't like the idea of supporting factory farms.

I'd maybe drink small family-farm cow milk if it were readily available and I knew that Bessie was enjoying a happy, hormone-free life out in the pasture, but that I know of, none of those conditions are met around here, so I spend at least twice as much, if not more, for the soy stuff."

To be helpful, you may want to check out Eatwild.com (http://Eatwild.com) you may just find some in your surrounding area.

It sounds like you watched Food Inc, rest assured the type of farms you will find @ eatwild have there cows grazzing on grass getting moved from pasture to pasture when the next field is ready to be grazed. No confinement...When they calf in the spring there calfs are not removed from Mama, but allowed to stay on mama, till they are ready to be weaned. Unlike industrial farms you talk about above...and no harmones, antibiotics or harsh dewormers.

Best to you

[Louis]

To be helpful, you may want to check out Eatwild.com (http://Eatwild.com) you may just find some in your surrounding area.

It sounds like you watched Food Inc, rest assured the type of farms you will find @ eatwild have there cows grazzing on grass getting moved from pasture to pasture

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

I haven't watched Food Inc, but can imagine what it was about.

Louis

[Hawker]

I use Body Fortress from Wal-Mart. It's cheap and the chocolate flavor is palatable, especially when you mix it with some skim milk and half a banana or a few frozen strawberries. I'm not trying to build large muscle mass...just not trying to lose a lot now that I've turned 60.

By the way, Consumer Reports released a study last year and found a number of powdered proteins with high levels of heavy metals.

Here is the NPR story along with a link to the CR article and a listing of what they found.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2010/july/food/protein-drinks/whats-in-your-protein-drink/index.htm