History of Whey Protein

Many of the Modern day Athletes and Bodybuilders think that Whey is a relatively new concept in the field of Fitness which is of course not true. It has been proven that the intake of Whey in form of liquid was started by the Greeks who are known as Father of Medical Sciences. Around 2500 years ago Hippocrates recommended some drinks to enhance the immune system, power and the muscle growth rate of the body. These old time energy drinks were known as “Serums”. Serums where rich in lactose, minerals and fast absorbing proteins which made them effective in enhancing the performance of the body.

In the late 16th Century Switzerland was the place where the importance of Whey protein was rediscovered. It came to the notice of the farmers that the pigs which slopped on whey developed faster than the pigs which slopped on something else. Noticing this the farmers started drinking the Whey themselves. When they noticed the improvement in their health, the word spread quickly through the land and soon after that the Swiss entrepreneurs started health resorts where the newly discovered medicine was distributed with ringing of the church bells. Soon after that, chain of such health resorts where started which attracted many aristocrats and royalty from all over Europe.

Whey has always been an important byproduct of cheese production, which was the first commercial cheese factory in the City of New York. This factory generated large amount of Whey which was found very difficult to dispose. Due to this the cheese makers used to dump large amount of Whey into lakes and rivers or they used it for irrigating crops. Farmers soon realized that it was not the best use of the Whey which was produced and hence they started mixing the liquid Whey with barley or grain to produce high-protein animal feed.

Born of Modern day Supplements:-

Strong men of the late 1800s like Eugene Sandow and Arthur Saxon explained the importance of an energy-dense whole foods diet with more emphasis on milk and eggs. The Saxon brothers were known to consume 24 eggs for breakfast along with bacon, porridge, cream and honey. In 1930 the focus of the crowd was basically protein but there was confusion as in to consume raw high-protein foods or to consume cooked high protein foods.

In 1950s, Bob Hoffman of Strength and Health magazine started selling some high-protein tablets which had artificial chocolate flavors from the factories of nearby Hershey, Pennsylvania and with this the revolution for strength athlete’s supplement was born. The practical way to process Whey powder from milk was discovered by a young pharmacist known as Eugene Schiff. This revolution was soon to be followed by the Protein powders which were specially made for strength athletes.

Since 1950s, the protein powders were largely promoted in all the strength training and bodybuilding magazines. Some of the powders were soy based, while others came from milk and eggs. Most of the available supplements either didn’t mixed easily or had a horrible taste. Fortunately for us, protein powders have progressed dramatically since those days due to which there are lots of choices available for the athletes in terms of flavor.