The Myth of the Protein Blend
After receiving a few emails recently from customers who insisted they required a protein “blend” I thought it would be worth writing a short piece to discuss the apparent benefits of proteins blends, compared to either a pure WPI or WPC.
It seems there is a bit of a misunderstanding here when it comes to these products, with many believing that if you combine a few different products you will somehow miraculously get the best of both worlds, with absolutely no compromises.
Before I start, here are a few examples of “compromise” which commonly exist, unfortunately it is a reality in the world we live in that something which is designed for one purpose will always perform worse at another purpose in which it wasn’t designed for.
I am a car man so I’ll give an example of my little truck. It’s made by Kia which isn’t very cool, however everything else makes it awesome. It has a 2.6 metre tray, low and high range 4x4 and looks like an arctic truck with huge (for it) 32 inch tyres. I’ve modified it quite a bit, last mods being a 4 inch suspension lift and a turbo.
Now, before I bought and later modified the truck I thought it would be the perfect vehicle. It can fit the wife and I, gets reasonable economy from it’s little diesel and it can take bikes, furniture or even 1.5 tonnes of soil in the back., I love to carry stuff around so it is usually full!
The reality though is that while it performs all of these tasks, it isn’t particularly good at any of them. Due to its 4x4 ability it sucks on the road, due to its high load capacity the back jumps around all over the place when not loaded up, so it rides very badly, and off road it would barely be more capable than a new landcrusier – which is a limousine compared to it.
The truck is now so high off the ground and rides so badly that my wife refuses to ride in it, which cancels out one of the main reasons for getting it. So, the truck which I bought to do “everything” now manages 1.5 of the 3 jobs it was purchased for…….
If I am losing you with car talk, then lets talk athletes.
I have a friend who was a fantastic powerlifter. At his peak he could squat close to 300kg, deadlift just over 300kg and bench around 270kg or thereabouts. While an absolute pinnacle of peak strength, his lifting or more so his eating (thanks to a single minded search for strength) saw his bodyweight climb to 145kg and his fitness become non existent.
As he got stronger his time for maintaining fitness declined, he became convinced that any time spent maintaining his fitness would compromise his strength. While this relationship isn’t strictly inverted (peak strength to fitness), the end result was him developing some serious health problems due to his bodyweight and lack of fitness. Only when it got so bad did he finally try to improve the balance, and now down to 115kg life is starting to be fun again.
At 145kg he could barely walk up stairs without a break, his fitness got that bad.
The same principle goes for any athletes, they build their physiques and fitness/strength bias for a given sport and it is very specific. If sports are opposing then it is very hard for them to be optimal at both, as the traits are mutually exclusive.
Sure I know the example of my friend is an extreme one, and many super athletes can be great different extremes, they would always be better at one if it became their sole focus.
So, what has this got to do with proteins and supplements?
Well, it seems many manufacturers are touting their protein blends as “the best of everything” and the term “sustained” absorption has become a bit misunderstood, no doubt deliberately misleading so people think it is perfect for all occasions.
If anyone knows about GI (Glycemic Index’s) you’d know that combining foods can have a significant effect on the absorption times of all foods in the blend.
As an example, although loaded with sugar something like Milo may well have a much lower GI due to all the fats in the mix. This is great in terms of reducing the effect of insulin, for those that don’t want the sugar hit, however it also means that it isn’t absorbed particularly quickly in the first place.
For some reason manufacturers have lead people to believe that if you combine a rapidly absorbing WPI with a slowly absorbed protein source such as Casein then you will get all the benefits of the fast absorbing protein source (which is reported to be great for post workout protein synthesis) as well as ALL the benefits of the Casein which slows down the absorption.
The reality though is that the protein blend will be absorbed slower than a WPI but will leave your system sooner than a pure casein would – as it is a compromise between the two.
Another tactic is throwing WPC into the mix which is supposed to magically create a middle ground in terms of protein absorption so that the end result incorporates a rapid, mid and prolonged absorption proteins for that absolutely perfect protein blend. As the WPI is absorbed so quickly it is great for post training and the Casein makes it ideal for night time use, or so they are advertised.
Again the reality is that it will neither be best for post training (due to the casein) or best for times when slow absorption is needed (thanks to the large amounts if whey) which are absorbed too quickly when sleeping.
The message here is that if you really are after proteins which serve different functions then you are best to purchase two different products, or use food for purposes when a sustained release protein source is required. When looking for a sustained release protein source from food don’t be afraid of fats, these are actually quite important for strength and recovery and due to the very complex digestion of fats, stay in your system (keeping you sustained) for much longer periods.
Cottage Cheese is a great example, with milk, cheese and meats being fine too.
To summarise, if you want a rapidly absorbed protein – buy WPI or WPC. Thanks to Max Brenners great research, it seems clear there is very little difference in terms of digestion times here.
If you are fussy about taste then use a WPI, if you have lactose issues then again use WPI, if for some reason you want absolutely no carbs or fats (this in itself is worth questioning), then again use WPI.
For everyone else though who neither has issues with taste or lactose, WPC is a much better choice as for any given amount of money spent you will get better results – per dollar you will get a lot more protein from WPC than you do with WPI.
Do not buy WPI over WPC as you believe it has benefits of more rapid absorption, while other benefits exist as mentioned above, this one isn’t one of them.
Another reason companies sell blends is simply so they can disguise something which contains a large majority of cheaper proteins (WPC or worse things such as skim milk or vegetable proteins) for a product which people think is closer to WPI.
If your WPI (or blend as it should be called) is down around 80% protein and has more than 5% fats and carbs then I can guarantee plenty of WPC is in there. While this isn’t a bad thing I am sure you are likely paying more than $30 a kg for something which has zero advantage over something like Bulk Nutrients WPC which at $99 for 5kg flavoured, is less than $20 a kg.
Funnily enough a pure WPC with minimal additives such as our Bulk Nutrients flavoured stuff, actually beats most blends when it comes to nutritional value.
Caseins are a different kettle of fish, as I believe that caseins do provide a different function and in isolation are ideal for night time use (or any time when frequent meals aren’t possible). By all means have them by themselves or even mix then with whey, however realise that whey and casein blended together will be a compromise somewhere between the two if had individually, so don’t fool yourself into thinking you will be having the best of both worlds.
If you are purchasing a blend for the fact it is better nutritionally than a WPC, and contains enough casein to mean absorption will be prolonged enough to make any kind of difference then this isn’t a bad reason, however before buying it is best to check these facts first.
After receiving a few emails recently from customers who insisted they required a protein “blend” I thought it would be worth writing a short piece to discuss the apparent benefits of proteins blends, compared to either a pure WPI or WPC.
It seems there is a bit of a misunderstanding here when it comes to these products, with many believing that if you combine a few different products you will somehow miraculously get the best of both worlds, with absolutely no compromises.
Before I start, here are a few examples of “compromise” which commonly exist, unfortunately it is a reality in the world we live in that something which is designed for one purpose will always perform worse at another purpose in which it wasn’t designed for.
I am a car man so I’ll give an example of my little truck. It’s made by Kia which isn’t very cool, however everything else makes it awesome. It has a 2.6 metre tray, low and high range 4x4 and looks like an arctic truck with huge (for it) 32 inch tyres. I’ve modified it quite a bit, last mods being a 4 inch suspension lift and a turbo.
Now, before I bought and later modified the truck I thought it would be the perfect vehicle. It can fit the wife and I, gets reasonable economy from it’s little diesel and it can take bikes, furniture or even 1.5 tonnes of soil in the back., I love to carry stuff around so it is usually full!
The reality though is that while it performs all of these tasks, it isn’t particularly good at any of them. Due to its 4x4 ability it sucks on the road, due to its high load capacity the back jumps around all over the place when not loaded up, so it rides very badly, and off road it would barely be more capable than a new landcrusier – which is a limousine compared to it.
The truck is now so high off the ground and rides so badly that my wife refuses to ride in it, which cancels out one of the main reasons for getting it. So, the truck which I bought to do “everything” now manages 1.5 of the 3 jobs it was purchased for…….
If I am losing you with car talk, then lets talk athletes.
I have a friend who was a fantastic powerlifter. At his peak he could squat close to 300kg, deadlift just over 300kg and bench around 270kg or thereabouts. While an absolute pinnacle of peak strength, his lifting or more so his eating (thanks to a single minded search for strength) saw his bodyweight climb to 145kg and his fitness become non existent.
As he got stronger his time for maintaining fitness declined, he became convinced that any time spent maintaining his fitness would compromise his strength. While this relationship isn’t strictly inverted (peak strength to fitness), the end result was him developing some serious health problems due to his bodyweight and lack of fitness. Only when it got so bad did he finally try to improve the balance, and now down to 115kg life is starting to be fun again.
At 145kg he could barely walk up stairs without a break, his fitness got that bad.
The same principle goes for any athletes, they build their physiques and fitness/strength bias for a given sport and it is very specific. If sports are opposing then it is very hard for them to be optimal at both, as the traits are mutually exclusive.
Sure I know the example of my friend is an extreme one, and many super athletes can be great different extremes, they would always be better at one if it became their sole focus.
So, what has this got to do with proteins and supplements?
Well, it seems many manufacturers are touting their protein blends as “the best of everything” and the term “sustained” absorption has become a bit misunderstood, no doubt deliberately misleading so people think it is perfect for all occasions.
If anyone knows about GI (Glycemic Index’s) you’d know that combining foods can have a significant effect on the absorption times of all foods in the blend.
As an example, although loaded with sugar something like Milo may well have a much lower GI due to all the fats in the mix. This is great in terms of reducing the effect of insulin, for those that don’t want the sugar hit, however it also means that it isn’t absorbed particularly quickly in the first place.
For some reason manufacturers have lead people to believe that if you combine a rapidly absorbing WPI with a slowly absorbed protein source such as Casein then you will get all the benefits of the fast absorbing protein source (which is reported to be great for post workout protein synthesis) as well as ALL the benefits of the Casein which slows down the absorption.
The reality though is that the protein blend will be absorbed slower than a WPI but will leave your system sooner than a pure casein would – as it is a compromise between the two.
Another tactic is throwing WPC into the mix which is supposed to magically create a middle ground in terms of protein absorption so that the end result incorporates a rapid, mid and prolonged absorption proteins for that absolutely perfect protein blend. As the WPI is absorbed so quickly it is great for post training and the Casein makes it ideal for night time use, or so they are advertised.
Again the reality is that it will neither be best for post training (due to the casein) or best for times when slow absorption is needed (thanks to the large amounts if whey) which are absorbed too quickly when sleeping.
The message here is that if you really are after proteins which serve different functions then you are best to purchase two different products, or use food for purposes when a sustained release protein source is required. When looking for a sustained release protein source from food don’t be afraid of fats, these are actually quite important for strength and recovery and due to the very complex digestion of fats, stay in your system (keeping you sustained) for much longer periods.
Cottage Cheese is a great example, with milk, cheese and meats being fine too.
To summarise, if you want a rapidly absorbed protein – buy WPI or WPC. Thanks to Max Brenners great research, it seems clear there is very little difference in terms of digestion times here.
If you are fussy about taste then use a WPI, if you have lactose issues then again use WPI, if for some reason you want absolutely no carbs or fats (this in itself is worth questioning), then again use WPI.
For everyone else though who neither has issues with taste or lactose, WPC is a much better choice as for any given amount of money spent you will get better results – per dollar you will get a lot more protein from WPC than you do with WPI.
Do not buy WPI over WPC as you believe it has benefits of more rapid absorption, while other benefits exist as mentioned above, this one isn’t one of them.
Another reason companies sell blends is simply so they can disguise something which contains a large majority of cheaper proteins (WPC or worse things such as skim milk or vegetable proteins) for a product which people think is closer to WPI.
If your WPI (or blend as it should be called) is down around 80% protein and has more than 5% fats and carbs then I can guarantee plenty of WPC is in there. While this isn’t a bad thing I am sure you are likely paying more than $30 a kg for something which has zero advantage over something like Bulk Nutrients WPC which at $99 for 5kg flavoured, is less than $20 a kg.
Funnily enough a pure WPC with minimal additives such as our Bulk Nutrients flavoured stuff, actually beats most blends when it comes to nutritional value.
Caseins are a different kettle of fish, as I believe that caseins do provide a different function and in isolation are ideal for night time use (or any time when frequent meals aren’t possible). By all means have them by themselves or even mix then with whey, however realise that whey and casein blended together will be a compromise somewhere between the two if had individually, so don’t fool yourself into thinking you will be having the best of both worlds.
If you are purchasing a blend for the fact it is better nutritionally than a WPC, and contains enough casein to mean absorption will be prolonged enough to make any kind of difference then this isn’t a bad reason, however before buying it is best to check these facts first.
