Whey is great for a lot of reasons. Relatively low cals for a nice hit of protein & it’s super convenient. Add water, use in a smoothie, stir into oats or use in baking.
Leucine
Another reason I like whey is its leucine content. Leucine is an essential amino acid (EAA) & one of the branched chain amino acids (BCAA). It’s important for protein synthesis as well as contributing to regulation of blood-sugar levels, growth & repair of muscle, & wound healing.
Leucine is the “trigger” for muscle protein synthesis (MPS). Without enough, MPS won’t be maximally stimulated. One study compared adding isoleucine & valine (the other BCAAs) & they didn’t improve MPS.
The leucine threshold for maximally stimulating MPS is 0.3-0.5g per kg of bodyweight protein, or 2.5-3.5g of leucine. However as we age MPS is blunted (known as anabolic resistance), & muscle is less sensitive to lower doses. Various studies on the elderly have shown higher amounts of EAAs or leucine can rescue the response so it’s similar to that of the young.
This is a new flavour of Ghost whey (spoiler the coffee ice cream is nicer). A 34g serving provides 25g of protein of which 3.1g is Leucine (at 130kcal). Compared to a 25g serving of Impact Whey Isolate from My Protein which gives you 2.6g per 22g of protein at 95kcal.
Whey or Casein?
The other one I like is PES Select Protein, a whey/casein blend. They don’t list the leucine, but it does have 5g of BCAAs (per 31.5g serving for 24g protein at 120kcal). Casein is digested more slowly than whey so it’s a different comparison. But I buy protein on taste/flavour too!
Whey protein is one of the highest-quality proteins given its amino acid content (high EAA/BCAA/leucine content) & rapid digestibility. Whey has been found to stimulate muscle protein synthesis to a greater degree than other proteins such as casein and soy.
A review concluded; The greater effect of whey protein in supporting muscle anabolism is a function of its AA content (high EAAs, BCAAs and particularly leucine), rapid digestibility, & high bioavailability within the plasma & muscle tissue upon consumption to induce MPS. Thus, the inclusion of whey protein is an important component to optimising body composition.
I’d add to that it’s even more important in the ageing population where impaired muscle protein synthesis can lead to sarcopenia.
References: Mac Nutrition Uni, PubChem, Breen & Churchward-Venne 2012, Schoenfeld et al 2015. Morton et al 2015, Churchward-Venne et al 2014, Katsanos et al 2006, Paddon-Jones et al 2004, Devries and Phillips 2014, Science and Development of Muscle a Hypertrophy by Brad Schoenfeld
(Reposted from Instagram)
