Cooking with Whey Protein?

[zectbumo]

Does Whey protein lose it's nutritional value when heated at high temperatures? I have read a few different opinions on this matter but does anyone know for sure?

[dp13368]

Does Whey protein lose it's nutritional value when heated at high temperatures? I have read a few different opinions on this matter but does anyone know for sure?

Some people/companies say not to cook whey as it will denature(hence the reasons why most people's protein bars are not baked, they are refridgerated/frozen).

From ON's site: ...excessive heat can reduce or destroy delicate peptides (i.e. microfractions) within a protein. For this reason, it is best to limit the exposure of 100% WHEY Protein to high heat

Others: "Let there be no mistake about it, heat damages protein. Especially whey protein. Heat processing ruptures and reforms protein molecules. It's called denaturing, and it makes digestion and absorption difficult."

But many nutrition experts say that it doesn't affect the protein content:

"even if whey is denatured by heat (a good bet), the worst case scenario is that is less water soluble, so it might take a bit longer to get into the small intestine. But of course, if its in something that you cooked, its probably stuck with other stuff anyway, so it would be slow even if it were soluble. Plus, you probably aren't concerned with 'fast nutrition' with the baked item."


By denaturing whey they mean you are destroying its tertiary structure and hence any microfractions in it. These fractions in whey may have some additional health benefits that will be lost if heated too high. The protein content however WILL NOT CHANGE. From a strictly macronutrient standpoint "denatured" whey is the same(from my understanding).

So to conclude: Denatured whey contains the same aount of protein and amminos. What you are loosing in heating is some of the other possible health benefits associated with whey

The most knowledgeable answered I've received on this subject is this: "Like everyone said, whey should be survive cooking just fine. If it is damaged, then it's really obvious (gets stringy and curdled, or becomes hard as a brick and tasteless in the oven). I've even had success with protein bars in the oven at 450-degrees F, with short cooking times (10-12 minutes). Perhaps the very edges are slightly damaged, but the majority is fine."

[Show Man]

Does Whey protein lose it's nutritional value when heated at high temperatures? I have read a few different opinions on this matter but does anyone know for sure?

I wouldn't really recommend cooking with whey. I don't do it often, but have in the past, used ON's Any Whey, which is flavourless and is good for cooking. http://www.optimumnutrition.com/anywhey/

[misstenacity]

I am very curious about this as well. I'd like to use whey and/or soy (which I do NOT fear for its estrogen-binding properties) to make baked bars. Egg protein is too volatile when baked (makes the whole thing seize up and turn into a hockey puck), and casein isn't a "high enough quality" protein for me.

Can someone point to some real studies that confirm what is stated above in this thread - namely that the protein AMOUNT is not changed and that the possible repercussion is a reduction in "side benefits" from the whey. If so, what are these "side benefits", anyway?

Thank you so much. I am desperate to cook some tasty bars!

Andrea
in Albuquerque
http://tenacity.net

[paulclayton]

The only thing that I have ever used whey protein in baking is some no bake protein bars that is the only think I have used it for.

[Pumpiron35]

I don't no if anyone of you guys have heard about the product whey crisps, but I heard about them and was very interested in trying them. Whey Crisps is whey protein in a almost like rice crispy form that you can bake with. I tried them and i loved them they tasted great, and they make it so easy to cook with. They are also great for on the go, I have found myself just taking handfuls out of the container and eating them.

[onemorep]

curious as well...
I wouldn't think that denaturing the protein would matter that much.. My thought process is that if this were true then the protein in a cooked egg would be useless. When you cook an egg the whole reason it firms up and gets different consistency is because you are denaturing the proteins in the egg itself.

[Dead Cell]

Any update on this? I am going to try and test out baked protein bars instead of just refrigerating it.

[pMbeast]

Last week I watched an older video where Layne Norton addressed this issue. It was on his youtube (biolayne or something similar). I believe the short answer was no, cooking it does not destroy the nutritional value of protein, but I would advise you to look it up because I wasn't paying full attention to that portion of the video (it was maybe a 15-20 min video).

[StrongRepublican]

Boom!