Whey Protein, Yay or Nay?

This is a hotly debated subject in India, while some people of the urban population do understand about its need, a percentage of them actually takes in too much of it, we shall be addressing that later.

Now the key point being, only SOME people understand about its need.

I will not go so far as to saying that it is an absolute necessity, but it is very beneficial to most health enthusiasts, again, not referring to the people with some medical issues.

So first, all of us need to understand one thing, each of us individuals need a certain amount of protein to merely survive! As a general rule, 0.8 g per kg of bodyweight is needed by healthy adults in their day-to-day lives.

Now, this sounds like a line copied from Google, so let me make it a little clearer, here the bodyweight does not mean total bodyweight, rather it means the Lean Body Mass(LBM).

Confused? Simply put a normal adult who is not indulging in extensive physical activities needs 0.8 g per kg of their muscle mass. Why just muscle mass though? Why not fat mass? Because fat is merely extra baggage, it doesn’t need nutrition to survive, it just takes up space. If you provide it nutrition, it might take up more space! (This is rare, though, you’ll find out the reason soon enough)

Now, what protein quantity does an average fitness enthusiast need? Well, it depends on your category,

1. Powerlifters need 1.5 to 2 g/kg per LBM.

2. Bodybuilders need 1.2 to 1.7 g/kg LBM.

3. Endurance athletes(marathon runners, cyclists,etc.) need 1.0 to 1.6 g/kg LBM.

4. HIIT enthusiasts need the same as bodybuilders.

Now we are clear on quantity, let me explain about the quality of the protein.

For quality we have two criteria mainly, one is the BV(Biological Value) and the other and more important criteria is a complete pool of essential amino acids.

BV is a measure of the proportion of absorbed protein from a food which becomes incorporated into the proteins of the organism’s body. Simply put, how readily the protein is being absorbed. The higher the number is the better. I cannot list the entire list of BVs here, so I’ll just list a few.

Whole egg-100, Milk-91, Egg white-88, Paneer-84,Tuna-83, Fish-82, Chicken-79, Soy-74.

Looks like egg reigns here, or does it? Which source of protein is today’s conversation about?

Yes! Whey protein-106-159. WTF?

Now, the second criterion. Protein is composed of 22 amino acids, now out of this only 9 are essential for the Human Body!

Bad news first:  There are very few sources of protein for vegan people which have a complete protein profile.

Good news: All non-vegetarian sources of protein are considered to have complete profile.

Now, whey protein also has all 9 essential amino acids, in fact, it’s rich in them!

Now, the factor which we haven’t taken into account, how quickly each source of protein is absorbed by the body? As a general thumb rule, all protein sources which have a complete profile take a long time to be digested by the human body.

So what? I’ll tell you so what, after your workout there is a 30-minute anabolic window in which protein is supposed to be digested to aid superior muscle recovery. “Then, what? I don’t need muscle recovery, I don’t need big muscles”, says the non-bodybuilding gym crowd. I’ll tell you then what, after 30 minutes, your muscles go into catabolism, i.e. they will get broken if they are not provided with a source of protein which get’s  ‘absorbed’ quickly.

*Jaws dropping on floor*

“But, still how does it matter? I’ll just workout with smaller muscles!” says the one light bulb from the crowd.

If the muscles get smaller, all the strain taken by them, get’s divided into various parts of the body, tendons, ligaments, bones and because of that joints, overtime these get weaker, and after some time injury.

*sad crowd walking away hurling abuses*

But wait! Your one true savior is, yes, you guessed it right, ‘WHEY PROTEIN’. It is the only protein source that gets absorbed that fast.

“Well then, we’ll just take lots of whey protein and build bigger muscles with more scoops!”
Will you let me finish?

Only a certain amount gets digested by the body in that time. So the advisable starting amount is half a scoop-1 scoop post workout.

These are some of the important reasons of whey protein usage, now you decide, Yay or Nay?

Kshitij Vashisth

Owner, Fitविज्ञान
For any queries, email: fitvigyaan@consultant.com