An Introduction to Whey Protein

Made from cow’s milk, whey protein is a pure, all-natural, high-quality product that contains little to no fat, lactose or cholesterol and is a rich source of essential amino acids. In its purest form, whey protein isolate, it provides benefits for men and women of all ages, including infants and toddlers.

Whey protein provides innumerable benefits to athletes and dieters, boosts the immune system, helps bone strength and improves overall wellness. As time goes by, new studies on whey protein continue to verify and amplify its positive benefits. Currently, whey protein is regarded by a growing number of people to be beneficial in cardiovascular health, athletic strength and the proper growth of infants and toddlers.

Of recent note -- due to the wave of popularity of the Atkins diet that has swept across the country -- has been the interest given to high-protein diets. There have been many studies that have concluded that high-protein diets are a good method for weight loss in many people. However, what few people know is that there is a difference in the type of protein used in the diet as regards the overall health of the dieter.

According to Atkins, meat, chicken and fish are the best proteins to ingest. Mixed with a small amount of vegetables and a large amount of vitamins and minerals, the Atkins plan has been adopted by millions.

However, studies have shown that in the long-term this choice of protein can have the opposite effect on people’s health and that a better, healthier choice of protein to use on the Atkins diet or any high protein diet would be whey protein. In addition to its many positive benefits, the use of whey protein has been proven to improve dieters’ health in the short and the long term.

By Marcus Peterson

Which Protein Is Best For You?

If you are physically active and taking supplements but still cannot seem to get the energy back in your body and brain, then it’s time to look at how much and what kind of protein you are getting. Even though dieters have been using high-protein diets for years, many are unaware of how much protein they actually need and how critical it is to their overall health. Low-protein diets can be lacking greatly in a lot of essential nutrients such as zinc, iron, manganese, chromium, copper, and others. This deficiency can cause illness and fatigue. Protein deficiency leads to difficult recovery from exercise, feeling tired, frequent colds, poor hair or nails, and a cessation in menstrual period for women, which may sound pleasant but is potentially dangerous. People of all ages are not aware of how much their protein needs change as they increase exercise. As your activity increases, so does your protein needs.

Protein is important in your body because every single cell in the body is made up of proteins. Protein is also essential for muscle building, producing red blood cells, the production of various enzymes and hormones, and good hair, nails, and skin. Our immune systems are almost all protein based, so providing our body with protein means that we can fight colds and other infections better. Proteins are also needed in our body to repair muscle damage that occurs during mild exercise. Protein is made from a chain of amino acids and our body cannot make some of these amino acids, which means that they need to be found in our diet. There are eight amino acids that our body cannot make and must be found in our diet every day. These include: isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Although it is nice to know which amino acids are essential, it is even more important to know where you can find these amino acids because your muscles and body need them on a daily basis.

Since proteins are constantly being broken down, it is necessary to get some every day. It is suggested that women aged 19 to 70 need 46 grams of protein per day, while men of the same age need 56 grams. Now that you know that protein is essential to your life, what kind of protein is actually needed? Even though protein can be found in a good diet by simply eating meat, nuts, eggs, and other foods, many of us with busy lives need a quick and convenient source of protein. At a health food store, your choices are soy, casein, whey, and egg. Although the classic protein source is whey protein, the problem is that even though it has a high amount of useable amino acids, some people don’t like it or have a hard time taking it. Other proteins like soy and casein don’t have the complete amino acid content that your body is looking for.

With all the different forms of protein available one might wonder which is best? Egg white is the perfect protein source. Egg whites contain more than half the protein of an egg and are also rich in chlorine, niacin, potassium, magnesium, riboflavin, selenium, vitamin K, and sulfur. Additionally, egg whites have a high amount of protein but exclude the cholesterol and sodium found in the yolk. Egg white protein is considered almost perfect because human requirements for amino acids and the amino acids contained in eggs are almost identical. Eggs are also one of the well-tolerated proteins, as over 90 percent of the protein of eggs is digested into the individual amino acids that your body needs. Egg white protein is one of the few products on the market that taste good without the added artificial flavors, colors, or additives.

By: Darrell Miller

Protein Sources in Healthy Nutrition

Are you wondering about how to optimize your protein intake? There are many factors that come into play when choosing sources for protein. Certain proteins are not absorbed well by the body, while other types of protein bring a high fat content with them into the body.

Here’s a list of a few of the protein sources in healthy nutrition that can help your body big-time:

Meats:

Poultry: Containing, on average, 26 grams of protein per serving while only having 12 grams of fat, poultry is one of the best foods you can eat for protein.

Weighing in at around 140 calories per serving, chicken is a wonderful food to help keep your health up.

Beef: Slightly less healthy for you then chicken, lean beef contains about 25 grams of protein with 20 grams of fat. At 275 calories, beef comes in as a close second for high protein levels.

These levels are merely estimates at protein sources in healthy nutrition plans. Meat levels can vary between the cuts of the meat and the quality.
Also, protein sources in healthy nutrition can come in supplemental forms. Here is some information about them:

Whey Protein: One of the best sources of protein available, whey protein comes from milk. It is very digestible, but may cause diarrhea due to the high lactose content.

You can also obtain Soy Protein, another great source.

Why do you need protein? Protein is one of the building blocks of your body. Amino acids found in protein are crucial for growth, tissue repair, and tissue replacement. Without enough protein, your body will not be able to create the new things it needs!

It is recommended that on a daily basis, you eat about 0.75 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. It can be the key to kick-starting your health.

By John Gibb

Nutritional Benefits From Protein Sports Supplements

One of the best ways that a person can benefit from a healthy diet and exercise routine is the addition of sports nutrition in the form of extra protein. Protein is found naturally in many of the foods we eat. But a person who exercises often should get one gram of protein per pound of their body weight. This presents a problem in our fast breakfast (or no breakfast) and fast food lunch lifestyles. We don't always get the protein our body needs to benefit from our daily workouts. This needed protein can be acquired safely from sport supplements promoting extra protein.

Protein nutritional sports drinks and mixes can provide many benefits other than increasing muscle mass and body tone. Proper protein sports supplements can help your body repair damaged cells, such as repairing muscles and bones that may get damaged during a workout. Like carbohydrates, protein can give you energy throughout the day, but unlike carbohydrates, protein offers a lower level of energy that last much longer, keeping the weight off that generally comes from a high carbohydrates diet. Getting the right amount of protein, even through sports nutrition supplements, can help the body make essential amino acids as well.

One type of protein sports nutritional supplement you may see is one called whey protein. Whey comes from milk and is one of the highest quality forms of protein with a rich amount of amino acids. And unlike other forms of protein (red meat for example) whey offers protein in a low fat and low cholesterol form. Whether you just run every other day or you are a professional athlete, protein sports supplements can help increase your body's energy and strength. Most athletes consume a protein shake of some kind before and immediately after exercise or an event to help repair and rebuild damaged muscles.

By: Keith Baxter

A High Protein Diet Plan For Healthy Weight Loss

High protein diet plans have always been popular with athletes and are now increasing in popularity among regular dieters.

While normal people who do not exercise can eat moderately high amounts of protein foods, athletes and people on muscle building diets should eat at least 1 gram per lb of bodyweight in order to build muscle. A high protein diet plan is followed by bodybuilders. Bodybuilding athletes always include a high protein food source in their daily diet.

Whether you need to lose weight or want to build muscle, a high protein diet plan will help you achieve your goal. Consuming high amounts of protein and low amounts of carbohydrate allow for a slow burning of energy and maintain stable blood sugar levels. This maintains a healthy pancreas and assists in maintaining healthy weight. Whereas diets high in carbohydrates have been linked to obesity, low-carb, high protein diets have been found to support weight loss.

Protein is the fuel for muscle building. During weightlifting and intensive training, muscle tissue breaks down. In order to rebuild that tissue we need to be on a high protein diet plan. If your goal is fat loss, a high protein diet is also very important. Most high protein diets are also low in carbohydrates and saturated fats. To accelerate weight loss, you need to reduce carbohydrates and lower the calorie intake. A high protein diet plan can help you to do this. The total amount of protein consumed should be spread over 5 to 6 meals throughout the course of a day.

The times of day you eat protein foods is important. Eat protein foods at breakfast, before a work out and for your evening meal. A good high protein diet plan will include a good, high protein breakfast. Immediately after a work out drink a protein shake or drink to assist with quick muscle repair. A protein meal (slow digesting form of protein) before bed, might seem strange but it provides a slow release of high quality amino acids while you sleep.

By Linda J Bruton

Protein Intake For Bodybuilders

Bodybuilding means proper discipline with time management, training and of your diet intake. No, bodybuilding isn’t just about physical hard work but it also requires wise decision in setting up diet plans for your daily intake. Since a bodybuilder requires a lot of work out, proper nutritional supplement is highly needed.

But don’t perceive bodybuilding diet as a difficult element in achieving your bodybuilding goals. It doesn’t take a lot of time to decide which appropriate you should choose since most likely, energy-giving food is going to be on top of your diet list. Don’t forget though that you also need to complete your other nutritional needs to balance out everything.

Protein enriched foods should be a priority. You might ask why. It’s simply because protein-rich foods is responsible for developing muscle synthesis and since your goal is entirely devoted to developing body muscles, you need not to argue why there’s a need for you to drink milk or include eggs in your meals. For better protein consumption though, ensure that you consume about a gram of any food rich in protein for every pound of your bodyweight daily.

Assuming your total weight minus body fat is 190 pounds. This means that you should consume 190 grams of food rich in protein everyday. But you don’t have to take it all in one sitting. Divide your protein consumption depending on the grams you need to take each day. If you eat five times a day for example, divide 190 grams to five. This is easier since you don’t have to eat all the 190 grams of protein food in one go. But other problems may occur. You may not be able to take the entire amount of grams you need per day. If this is the case, you can resort to supplements rich in protein instead.

Keep in mind that protein is just a portion of what you need to have everyday as a bodybuilder. Watch your body fat as well. Your calorie and complex carbohydrates intake should also be monitored.

By: Shareen Aguilar

Low-Carb High Protein Diets

This type of diet became very popular as of recently due to the promotion of the ever-popular Atkins Diet Craze. This diet is very popular because there is no calorie counting involved, and many foods that many people love to eat are allowed on the diet. Further, the Atkins diet is a high-protein diet, which means that weight lost during this diet will not result in lost muscle mass, since protein is the main nutrient needed for maintaining healthy muscle tone. This diet basically eliminates carbohydrates, which are simple sugars or foods that break down into simple sugars. These serve as empty calories in your diet, providing no nutrients yet many calories.

While we wonÕt cover the Atkins diet here, we can give you basics of the high-protein, low-carb diet. First let us identify carbohydrates. Sugar, including powdered sugar, granulated white sugar, brown sugar, or any type of sugar you can think of, is the main carbohydrate that you would need to eliminate. All types of pastas count as carbohydrates, meaning all noodle and spaghetti products must be eliminated. Starches of any type, such as white rice, potatoes and potato chips, need to be eliminated. Cereals are mostly carbohydrates and should be avoided entirely during the diet phase. Because of the low-carb craze, there are many low-carb options of sodas, milk, ice cream, bread, beer, and wine available in the average supermarket. If you do consume these, be sure to do so only occasionally and in moderation, even if it is a low-carb type. Otherwise, the aforementioned foods should be eliminated entirely when not of the low-carb type. Beware of foods that contain hidden sugars, like bacon, barbeque sauce, ketchup, salad dressing, cough syrup, and fruit juice. As strange as it may seem, fruits and fruit juices should be eliminated while in the weight loss phase of this diet, as they are nearly pure carbohydrates. Anything made with flour needs to be eliminated during the weight loss phase, since as mentioned earlier they are high in carbohydrates.

Now what can you eat? Well, the good news is that you can eat all meats, fish, poultry and seafood, except prepared meats like bacon and honey baked ham, which are high in sugar. Skip the bread and have meat and salad, or meat in your salad. Eggs are very low-carb friendly, but be sure to skip the mayonnaise or salad dressing unless it is low-carb type mayonnaise or dressing. Any type of vegetable is fine, but be sure to realize that when making that salad that tomatoes are actually a fruit, and you want to limit your consumption of them at least during the weight loss phase. Choose brown rice as your starch replacement, as it is low in carbohydrates comparatively to potatoes, bread or white rice. Cheese is good in limited amounts, as this is a high-protein, low-carb food. Butter and cream can be used, but should be consumed in limited amounts. One complex carbohydrate that is good is fiber, as it does not break down into simple sugar, and helps the body with elimination. Further, fiber fills you up quickly without adding significant calories, so hunger pangs are fought off successfully.

Finally, make sure you are drinking at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day minimum in addition to any other liquid you may consume. Dehydration often masquerades as hunger and causes overeating. Of course, again exercise is a necessary and vital part of your diet plan, which we will cover in the next section on exercise.

Once you lose the weight that you set out to lose, the weight loss phase of your diet is over. Of course keep in mind that you are making lifestyle changes, not going on fad or binge diets. This means that you will not go back to your old eating habits. Instead you will introduce certain foods back into your diet in moderation. For example, you may add a couple of strips of bacon once a week to your meal plan. You can enjoy small portions of deserts of any kind, simply in moderation. It is best to avoid soft drinks all together, or opt for the low-carb type permanently. If you do introduce any other carbohydrate-laden foods, be sure to do so only at one meal, and in small portions. Reducing carbohydrates will become a lifestyle to you when following this plan, one is very likely to boost your overall energy level and help you keep the weight off.

By: Kirsten Hawkins

How Much Protein Should You Eat?

Don’t sacrifice your carbohydrates for a high protein diet, and think twice before “bulking up” those biceps with protein to look better at the gym. Your daily diet shouldn’t contain more than 30% protein ideally, because an excess of it will do you more harm than good. So says Gail Butterfield, Ph.D., director of Nutrition Studies at the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Medical Center.

Dr. Butterfield says that excess protein in your diet may have harmful effects. If you increase protein without adding more calories and exercise to your daily life, instead of building muscle mass you will put your other body systems under undue stress. And eating more protein while increasing calorie intake -- but keeping at the same exercise levels -- builds an equal amount of additional fat and muscle. Meanwhile, a diet where protein is more than 30% of your calorie intake causes a buildup of toxic ketones. A “ketogenic” diet, or one high in ketones, pushes your kidneys to excessively flush themselves free of toxins. This can cause you to lose a significant amount of water, which puts you at serious risk of dehydration, especially if you exercise heavily during your workouts.

Such water loss will make it appear you’re losing weight, when in actuality you’re not. Plus you will be losing, not gaining, muscle mass and bone calcium from this ketogenic diet, while the stress of dehydration can also badly affect your heart. Dehydration from a ketogenic diet can make you dizzy and weak, give you bad breath, and lead to other health-related problems. This can be the result of a high-protein, low-carb “fad” diet – one that emphasizes proteins excessively.

Actual protein deficiency is a very rare condition and is confined usually to elderly women or persons with eating disorders. Protein deficiency is defined as eating 50-75% of the recommended daily amount of protein. You should consume 0.36 grams of protein for every pound of your normal body weight, according to the US recommended daily allowance -- or RDA -- guides. And protein should make up about 15% of your daily caloric intake, not go well over 30% of it.

Protein is absolutely required for your body’s normal functioning, as it helps synthesize your enzymes and hormones. It maintains your fluid balance and the building of antibodies against infections. It also is the basic building block for your muscles, bones, cartilage, skin, hair and blood, and is essential for the formation of all of the cells in your body You should eat protein-rich foods such as meat, cheese, milk, fish and eggs to get enough protein in your daily diet. You can also find protein in soy products, as well as in combinations of food such as rice or corn with beans, when it comes to vegetable proteins that you may consume.

You should eat a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, fish and complex carbohydrates, not one heavy in protein alone. But protein is optimal for immune functioning, and you may need heavier amounts of it when injured or otherwise undergoing any serious healing processes.

Proteins are made up of several different amino acids, some of which your body can make on its own. But some of them have to be ingested. These are called the “essential” amino acids. You must eat a variety of foods to make sure you’re getting all of your essential amino acids. Lack of these can cause growth failure, loss of muscle mass, decreased immune system functioning, weakening of the circulatory and respiratory systems – and even death.

The most common source of protein in the American diet is meat, but milk and other dairy products are rich in it. To avoid too much fat with your protein, eat leaner cuts of meat, and cook without adding fat by baking, broiling, barbecuing or boiling your meat. By eating beans and lentils as well as a variety of vegetables and grains, you can add terrific sources of vegetable protein to your diet. Nuts and seeds are also great sources of non-animal protein.

The average adult American needs eight grams of protein each day per twenty pounds of normal body weight. Yet we generally eat twice that much protein daily. If you balance your carbohydrates with your proteins, and eat a variety of foods to make sure you get all of the amino acids you need, you will be eating a healthy diet. You should also make sure you keep your diet low in fats, oils and refined sugars. Those substances have no proteins, and hardly any other nutrients, with one gram containing nine calories of energy. You do need some saturated and unsaturated fats in your food, every day. Unfortunately, “junk food” laden American eating habits tend to provide far too much of these fats.

Your daily diet should contain no more than 30% total calories from fats, hopefully far less than that. The upper limit on the amount of fat in your diet will depend on how many calories you need to maintain your weight, and cutting back on fat can help you consume fewer calories. But some dietary fat is needed for good health. It supplies energy and the essential fatty acids, which like the essential amino acids can only be gleaned from your consumption of certain foods. Fats also promote absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.

High levels of saturated fat and cholesterol are linked to increased blood cholesterol and put you at risk for heart disease. Fat is also associated with protein-rich food such as meat and dairy products. So you should lower the daily amount of protein and fat that you consume to an acceptable level, while raising the amount of complex carbohydrates you consume to at least 50% of your daily calorie intake. This will ensure that you are eating a proper and not a “fad” -- or risky to your health – diet every day. Eating meals and snacks rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, as well as some high protein and certain “fatty” foods, will help you to obtain your desired weight and to keep fit -- not fat.

By: Karen Peralta

Whey Protein

So you want to lose that gooey winter coat that’s permanently attached but you have a little problem in the eating department? I know how you feel. You feel like you just can’t eat enough. It’s not like you don’t REALLY want to stop eating, but for some reason you have an insatiable appetite. Well, has anyone ever told you that WHAT you are eating is probably making you want to EAT MORE? Yea….probably haven’t heard that one before or if you did, you didn’t give much thought to it….well, now you should, because this could be the “missing link” between you and removing that fat jacket. I know, it keeps you warm, but a hot little 22 year-old honey will do the same for you if you show her your ripped chest and abs.

So let me edjamacate you on this. When we eat foods that are highly processed like “Little Debbie Snack Cakes”, “Twinkies”, “Ho-Ho’s” or McDonald’s Apple Pie our bodies don’t have to spend time breaking them down in the stomach and gut. So the carbohydrates (sugars) in the food go into our bloodstream very quickly. Our body’s response to this is to produce a higher than normal amount of insulin. Insulin is a hormone made in the pancreas, but forget about that crap and just hang with me here. Insulin’s job is to take the sugar in the bloodstream, and place it into each cell in the body. However, when there is a larger than normal amount of sugar in the bloodstream, and a larger than normal amount of insulin, all the sugar (carbohydrates) from the twinkie goes directly into your cells…pretty damn quick. So, what the hell does that have to do with your spare tire? Well, insulin is a tricky little bastard, when circulating, it also sends the body the signal to store calories (a.k.a sugar, a.k.a carbohydrates, a.k.a fat). So a high calorie meal mixed in with a high amount of sugar is kind of like the “Perfect Storm” for making more fat on our bodies. On top of that, insulin works really good at putting getting all that sugar from your blood into your cells, and when the blood is empty of sugar, your body sends the signal out to your stomach, which then sends the signal out to your head and mouth that says “Yo, fatso! There’s no sugar in the blood, get some more twinkies!”

“Now, that’s a fun little story and everything, but I’m still hungry after I eat five twinkies…..what’s the difference in what I eat?”

Well, if we eat food that is not processed as much, our body takes a longer time to digest it. This means that there is a steady stream of sugar (a.k.a calories) in the bloodstream, so there is no signal sent to your stomach or head to say “Go get more twinkies”. Instead, the signal changes to, “Yo, fatso….there’s plenty of food, quite eating….we’re full!”

So what the hell does this have to do with whey protein? Well, protein in whey just happens to have been scientifically proven to be the most satisfying macronutrient (you know the macronutrients are carbohydrates, fats, and protein) of all tested. That means if you would eat a regular twinkie and a twinkie made of pure whey protein, you would be hungry in about 5 minutes with the regular twinkie, and in about 5 days with the twinkie made of whey protein. (Alright, maybe not five days, but you get my point). Alright, so now we know how to not be hungry, where the hell do we find this whey protein. Basically whey is from milk protein. So milk products and the like contain whey protein. However, a lot of milk products (like cheese, butter, sour cream and cream cheese) are extremely high I calories. So, what we need to do is find foods that have a high whey protein content and a relatively low calorie content. I try to find foods that are close to 15-20 grams of whey protein for each 110 calories. This way, if you are eating 200-300 calories of this particular food, you will be consuming 40-50 grams of protein, which should keep your nose out of the fridge for about 4 hours. (Yea, 4 hours….you should be eating every 3 hours anyways to keep your metabolism working FOR you, not AGAINST you, but that’s another topic.)

It’s that simple, eat whey protein, 20 grams per 100 calories, and you are on your way to having those fresh little honeys chasing you all the way to your house.

By: Al Parker, MD