Whey Protein

 

Whey protein comes from milk. It is the liquid that separates from the curds during the cheesemaking process. It’s high in protein but also harbors lactose, a milk sugar that many people have difficulty digesting.

While whey protein concentrate retains some lactose, the isolate version contains very little because most of this milk sugar is lost during processing.

Whey digests quickly and is rich in branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs). Leucine, one of these BCAAs, plays a major role in promoting muscle growth and recovery after resistance and endurance exercise (2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source).

When amino acids are digested and absorbed into your bloodstream, they become available for muscle protein synthesis (MPS), or the creation of new muscle.

Studies reveal that whey protein can help build and maintain muscle mass, assist athletes with recovery from heavy exercise and increase muscle strength in response to strength training (4Trusted Source, 5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source, 7Trusted Source, 8Trusted Source, 9Trusted Source).

One study in young men showed that whey protein increased MPS 31% more than soy protein and 132% more than casein protein following resistance exercise (9Trusted Source).

However, a recent 10-week study found that postmenopausal women had a similar response to resistance training whether they took whey protein or a placebo (10Trusted Source).

Other studies in normal-weight, overweight and obese individuals suggest that whey protein may improve body composition by decreasing fat mass and increasing lean mass (11Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source).

What’s more, whey protein seems to reduce appetite at least as much as other types of protein (14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source, 16Trusted Source, 17Trusted Source, 18Trusted Source).

One study gave lean men four different types of liquid protein meals on different days. The whey-protein meals led to the largest decrease in appetite and the greatest reduction in calorie intake at the next meal (18Trusted Source).

Some studies suggest that whey protein may also reduce inflammation and improve certain heart health markers in overweight and obese people (19Trusted Source, 20Trusted Source, 21Trusted Source).

Summary Whey protein is quickly digested, providing a rapid rise in amino acids that may help increase muscle mass and strength. It may also reduce appetite and promote fat loss.