Planetmuscle.com - From Milk To Muscles: The Whey Story!

[webmaster]

Several weeks ago I was asked to explore the ins and outs of whey protein. Overlooking the media hype, this is what I found. The truth. No outrageous claims to gain 25 lbs in 6 weeks, just the best proteins!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/planet44.htm

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Would you mind listing the 22 amino acids. As I recall there are only 20 amino acids.

Ala, Arg, Asn, Asp, Cys, Gln, Glu, Gly, His, Ile, Leu, Lys, Met, Phe, Pro, Ser, Thr, Trp, Tyr, and Val.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Would you mind listing the 22 amino acids. As I recall there are only 20 amino acids.

Ala, Arg, Asn, Asp, Cys, Gln, Glu, Gly, His, Ile, Leu, Lys, Met, Phe, Pro, Ser, Thr, Trp, Tyr, and Val.

You are correct.
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasc.../mole00213.htm

First I want to say I thought the article on Whey was great. I just went out tonite to buy some, and wish I had read this before hand. As it so happens, after reading the article, I saw that the Whey I bought is actually VERY good. I used the calculator to see how much protein I had in each serving, and it came out to about 77% protein. Also it was super cheap (at Walmart). I paid about $9 and change for it.

I compared this to another whey supplement I was drinking before, which was soy based. The soy based drink was only 44% protein! Huge difference!!!! I also learned that the lactose is removed during processing, so I won't have to take any Lactaid pills before I drink my whey shakes! Overall great article!

-Brandon

ps
this is my first time at BodyBuilding.com, but I plan on coming back for more great articles!

[scyld]

First of all, there is some useful and interesting information in the article. I have learned some interesting bits of information, such as how whey protein suppliments are made, the protein concentration range that should be present in any decent whey protein suppliments, etc.

However, what this article does not cover at all are the visible ways in which taking a protein suppliment helps a person (i.e. tangibly quicker recovery time, increased returns from weight lifting, etc.) and citations to studies that back up these claims. Even though I am interested in the information about microfractions of proteins and methods of increasing the protein concentration and digestibility, the primary reason I am here is to gain information on how these characteristics translate to results from consuming these protein suppliments as recommended.

Secondly, there is one point in particular in which I know the author is simply incorrect. He states that: "Amino acids are important to the body from a structural standpoint due to the fact that they are the primary source of dietary nitrogen - an essential element." That's not at all true: the primary reason why amino acids are structurely important for the body is because amino acids themselves are the fundamental building blocks for so many molecules present in the body, including every single protein.

Also, there are so many points made that are no at all adequately explained and lead to confusion. For example, it's stated that one disadvantage of Hydrolized Whey Protein (HWP) is that it does not contain some of the larger microfractions of protein contained in other whey protein concentrations. However, given that the amino acid profile is unchanged, it's not clear why getting rid of the larger microfractions is a disadvantage (indeed, it would appear to be advantagious).

Finally, as often as this article claims to be a completely neutral source of information, it is blatantly obvious that Optimum has underwrited this article in some way, as it is being touted over and over again as an "ideal protein suppliment." Just mentioning the names of other companies does not make this article neutral at all, and not explicitly mentioning that Optimum has some stake in this article is simply not fair to the readers.