A Look at Whey Protein Powder

There are so many different whey protein powder products on the marketplace today that knowing which one is the best one for you is getting increasingly more complicated. To make things even more confusing, many of the competing brands use different suggested serving sizes, different measuring spoons and different container sizes just to make comparisons more difficult.

There is more to whey protein powder than nutritional-benefit appeal. Increasingly, food formulators are taking advantage of whey protein powder ingredients most functional properties, such as whipping/foaming, emulsification, gelation and high water binding capabilities, to improve the taste and mouth-feel of their new product formulations or to replace fat.

It is important to note that there are significant price and nutritional value differences between the various whey protein powder supplements on the market. One containing 34% protein may cost up to 80% less than better quality whey protein powders with protein contents of 77% or higher. Most whey protein powders use a blend of different whey protein concentrates, isolates and hydrolysates, making it possible to hide inferior/cheaper proteins in a product. But there’s an easy way to find out. To determine the overall protein percentage of your supplement, whey or otherwise, simply divide the protein found in each serving by the serving size and multiply by 100.

Here is an example to help you figure out how much of your current whey protein powder actually protein is whey protein: 22g of protein per serving — 28.4g serving size x 100 = 77.5% protein. Keep in mind that it is impossible to end up with 100% whey protein. Flavors, colors, sweeteners, and micronutrients, that make these supplements nutritious and enjoyable to consume tend to displace some of the space that could be occupied by more whey protein. Nevertheless, it’s important to account for these fillers, since grams of whey protein powder per bottle is what most consumers are really after.