Whey Protein Vs No-fat Powder Milk

A biking friend mentioned he uses whey protein as a food supplemt. Since he is faster and in better shape than I am then I'd better check it out. I bought some and at home compaired the nurtition value against the powder milk I have.

It seems to me that if I mix up my powdered milk double strong, twice the powder-same amount of water. I have almost the same nutrition as the whey at a much smaller cost.

Am I wrong?

Little Rickie said:

Since he is faster and in better shape than I am then I'd better check it out.

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So you can drink some fancy powder and get in better shape? Sign me up! I tried a bunch of those things for years to pick up weight and all I got was higher colesterol. Good "normal food" and proper exercise seems to work better for me.

Whey protein appears to be marketed to exercisers as some kind of optimized protein. (It is made from milk.)

Non-fat milk is probably fine as long as you aren't lactose intolerant.

I don't have any data to indicate that either is any better than the other. The milk, as you note, is certainly cheaper.

Doug

I've wondered about this before myself. In fact, I called up GNC once and asked them what was in their whey protein powder, and they said it was "derived from milk products." My understanding is that whey protein is what's left over after cheese is made. The liquid that remains after the cheese solidifies is called whey. When the water is removed from that solution you're left with a powder that is mostly protein. It can be purified further if desired. My feeling is that someone years ago figured out that all of this whey was just being discarded and tried to find a market for it.

Powdered milk contains everything in milk except the water. Consequently, it is not as pure a source of protein - it has lactose (a sugar) and some other stuff. Bodybuilders are extremely rigid in their diet with respect to fat/carbs/protein, so usually it's easier to just weight out 50 g of pure protein than it is to calculate the fraction in many whole foods. Milk does have quite a bit of sugar in it - I think about one and a half times as much sugar as protein per serving. So for that reason it's probably not the ideal protein supplement.

I encourage you to do some research on Whey Protein.
Whey Protein has more chemicals in it than the Gulf of Mexico.

You don't need that junk...

Two words: egg protein.

The Lisa said:

Two words: egg protein.

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Can you get a low fat, convient, cost effective, source for egg protein other than egg whites from hard boiled eggs?

Little Rickie said:

Can you get a low fat, convient, cost effective, source for egg protein other than egg whites from hard boiled eggs?

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They sell liquid egg whites at most grocery stores. You can get a large container at a super Walmart for like 3.64 @ 20 servings.

Little Rickie said:

Can you get a low fat, convient, cost effective, source for egg protein other than egg whites from hard boiled eggs?

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Hard boiled ggs with the yolks removed...add tobasco or chalula sauce and you have a breakfast for a king...except my queen complains about the farty smelling kitchen. good health has some drawbacks.

ColdRiverRun said:

They sell liquid egg whites at most grocery stores. You can get a large container at a super "WALMART"!!! for like 3.64 @ 20 servings.

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It took a while for it to come around but I knew the answer would be found at walmart.

Just reinforcing what has pretty much been said above....

Before you take any supplement, read over the ingredients carefully. You'll find most have an absurd amount of certain vitamins or minerals (i.e. your liver will likely hate you over time). Also, there is an absurd amount of artificial ingredients & artificial sugars in most supplement drinks. Some also have far too much caffeine.

Remember that the FDA doesn't do ANYTHING to test the safety of supplements. If you were to make a list of all supplements that were later banned from this country or the manufacturer stopped making it because of safety concerns, you'd find it to be quite long.

Years ago whey was a huge problem for dairy states like Vermont as it was a difficult byproduct to dispose of. Not only it is smelly, but it pollutes waterways if just dumped. IIRC, many years Vermont built a state-run whey processing plant which was marginally successful but always politically controversial. Eventually it was purchased by a European company and the issue was no longer a political football. And, the importance of dairy farming to the Vermont economy has diminished for other reasons.

Personally, I've never been drawn to eating whey protein because I remember how awful the stuff smells...