Whey Protein Isolate Vs Whey Protein Concentrate

With so much marketing hype surrounding protein powders, it is easy to see why people would get confused in choosing the best protein shake for muscle growth. There are two main types of whey protein on the market, whey protein concentrate and whey protein isolate. In this article I will hopefully show you the differences between the two and help you decide which one is best for you.

Whey protein is a dairy protein produced as a by product of cheese making. Raw whey is filtered and processed to remove as much lactose and fat as possible.

The main difference between whey protein isolate and whey protein concentrate is that the isolate is more pure, containing more protein, less lactose and less fat than whey protein concentrate. Whey protein isolate usually contains around 90-94% protein while whey protein concentrate typically has around 70-85% protein. On paper you would assume that whey protein isolate is much better than concentrate but considering the price difference I do not think that is necessarily true. Just because the whey protein isolate is more pure, it does not mean that it will necessarily produce much more muscle growth. During the filtration process whey protein actually isolate loses some of the growth and immune boosting protein subfractions. If you are lactose intolerant then isolate would be a better choice but for everyone else, the purity of the protein does not really justify the additional cost. When building muscle you have to consider that you will need to consume a huge amount of whey protein over the course of the month and the difference in cost between whey protein concentrate and isolate really adds up. Even though I get most of my protein from food sources, I still consume around 5kg of whey protein per month so I choose to use concentrate as a matter of financial necessity.

From experience I really don’t feel that there is very much difference between the two types of whey protein and I would advise you to buy the cheapest and best tasting protein powder. The only time I would really recommend isolate over concentrate is if you are lactose intolerant. Around 20% of the worlds population are lactose intolerant and for those people whey protein isolate may cause you less intestinal discomfort than concentrate. Although whey protein concentrate contains less protein than isolate in terms of percentages it actually contains a lot of interesting compounds not found in whey isolates. Whey protein concentrates contain more growth factors like IGF-1 along with higher levels of Conjugated Linoleic Acid, immunoglobins and lactoferrin. Studies are not conclusive but generally suggest that these compounds may have many health benefits for athletes and bodybuilders.

When buying any supplement, you always have to consider that people are trying to make money and a lot of marketing goes into selling sports supplements. Be careful when reading promotional literature from sports supplement companies who tell you that you their protein powder is somehow much more effective than any other. In truth all protein powders are pretty much the same and you should find one that best suits your budget and tastes. Protein is protein at the end of the day and most of the supplement companies source their whey protein from the same places anyway. As long as you are getting enough protein from whole foods and supplements then the difference between protein powders starts to get pretty insignificant.

If you pick up any muscle magazines you will hear top bodybuilders telling you that they only use one type of protein power and that somehow it is streets ahead of everything else on the market. The thing you have to bear in mind is that top bodybuilders are paid by supplement companies to tell you this and in truth they rely far more heavily on whole foods than supplements. Top bodybuilders consume a fair bit of whey, but the majority of their protein comes from food sources like steak, chicken and fish. Never believe any outrageous statements about a protein powder when the person making the claim is being paid big money to endorse them.

Considering the difference in cost, most people would be better advised to just stick to using whey protein concentrate unless lactose intolerance is an issue. Whey protein concentrate is much cheaper and contains more grow factors than whey protein isolate. Don’t get fooled into thinking you need to pay big money for your whey protein supplements. In general they are all pretty similar but protein companies will use any tricks they can to bump up the price of their supplements. I would recommend buying all your whey protein in bulk because it will probably save you a small fortune. If you live in the UK then MyProtein.co.uk has a great range of bulk high quality protein powders at massive discounts. If you use a lot of protein powder then buying in bulk will save you a small fortune. Don’t get duped into thinking that whey protein concentrate is inferior to whey protein isolate because at the end of the day there is not really much difference between the two types of protein.