Why Use Whey Protein Powder and Casein Protein Powder Together?

Whey protein powder is beneficial for anyone looking to build their muscles through working out. But how, if you are using whey protein powder, can casein protein powder benefit you, too? What advantages are there to using both?

Whey protein powder can help your body in so many ways when you’re working out. The powder is used to make nutritional shakes and comes in numerous flavours. It works by being digested quickly, and instead of sitting in the stomach, it is absorbed into the bloodstream and taken straight to the muscles. This provides the cells with the building blocks they need to repair your muscles after a workout and enhance growth and strength.

Some whey protein products use casein as an ingredient because it is cheap to process. This is said to reduce the quality of the whey protein, and differentiates between a quality brand and a cheap brand. In some cases this may be true, but this doesn’t mean that casein is a bad product. On the contrary.

The main difference between whey and casein is the amount of time it takes for the stomach to digest it. Whey is famous for promoting quick protein synthesis (muscle growth). It is quick to be absorbed into the bloodstream and produces quicker and better results. For a bodybuilder this is important. They want the quick release properties that whey has.

Casein, on the other hand, has slow release properties. This is no good as a post-workout supplement as it doesn’t provide the muscles with food fast enough to be used. Therefore your results won’t be as effective as whey. Casein used as an ingredient in a whey product isn’t a good idea as the two contradict themselves, but used separately can be very beneficial.

Casein protein is known as “night time” protein. It can take up to 7 hours to fully digest, which is much slower than whey, and this makes it ideal to use over night. One of the reasons why the human body needs sleep is to restore itself from the daily stress, including intense training sessions. The majority of muscle repair and regrowth happens when you are asleep. By taking casein before you go to bed, provides your body with a constant, slow release supply of protein to use throughout the night. It has the same properties and benefits that whey has, only slower, and this enables your muscles to be refreshed and energised at the start of every day and ready for their next work out.

By using casein in conjunction with whey protein powder, your results will be much more dramatic and effective, and you will reach your desired physique in a much faster time.