A Blend Is Best
While a high-quality protein powder should be at the top of everyone's supplement shopping list, don't make the common mistake of buying a pure whey protein powder right off the bat. Yes, whey protein is a critical staple for muscle growth, but to truly maximize growth, you need more than just whey. You need a precise blend of performance proteins.
Whey is a very fast-digesting protein. The rapid rate of digestion is one of whey's benefits, but on its own, this quality can actually be a downfall. Because whey digests so fast, it quickly boosts muscle protein synthesis (MPS). However, it only boosts MPS for a short amount of time.
Research now shows that when you add medium-digesting and slow-digesting proteins to whey, muscle protein synthesis remains elevated for longer than when using whey alone. Since muscle protein synthesis leads to muscle growth, elevating muscle protein synthesis for longer can have a significant impact on your overall gains.
In fact, research confirms that people who add slow-digesting casein protein to a whey protein shake around their workouts enjoy greater muscle growth over time than people taking whey alone. This research is the very reason I recommend taking a blend of fast-digesting whey protein, medium-digesting egg protein and slow-digesting micellar casein.
Say No to Protein Spiking!
Many supplement manufacturers cut corners on their protein powders because high-quality protein is very expensive to make. They often use a dirty trick called "nitrogen spiking." Nitrogen spiking, also called "amino spiking" or "protein spiking," is a way to manipulate the test used to measure the protein content of protein powders.
The current method used to assess the amount of protein in a protein powder involves measuring the nitrogen content, which is then converted into protein amount. Nitrogen is used because protein is made of amino acids strung together in a chain, much like a pearl necklace, and every amino acid contains nitrogen. If manufacturers add loose amino acids to a powder, they can fool the test and deliver less pure protein than their labels claim.
Many people think that extra amino acids in their protein powder are beneficial. The major problem, however, is that certain amino acids are not added to make the protein powder more effective. Instead, they're simply added for their nitrogen. Most single amino acids, such as taurine and glycine, are much cheaper than whey protein, casein protein, milk protein or egg protein. Even highly beneficial amino acids like BCAAs and glutamine are cheaper than protein powder. So, by adding a bunch of cheaper amino acids to their protein powders, supplement companies can boost their nitrogen content, which technically means they boost the amount of protein per serving, at least according to the nitrogen test.
Because the added amino acids are not complete proteins, the protein content of a spiked protein powder is not truly what a nitrogen test claims it is. For example, a whey protein powder may claim to contain 20 grams of protein per scoop. However, if the manufacturer added 5 grams of glycine per serving, then you are only getting 15 grams of actual whey protein and 5 grams of glycine, which would read as 20 grams of protein per serving.
An even bigger problem arises when proteins are spiked with amino acids that aren't used as building blocks to form proteins in the body. Taurine is once such amino acid. Taurine helps with energy production, so you might first be excited to see a high quantity of it in your protein. However, if 5 grams of taurine has been added to your protein powder that claims to contain 20 grams of protein per serving, you are only getting 15 grams of real protein and 5 grams of taurine. So the extra taurine comes at the expense of total protein.
If your favorite protein powder lists BCAAs, glutamine, beta-alanine, betaine (trimethylglycine), or creatine, you might think it's a great product because of the additional nutrients. Yes, your protein contains these performance nutrients, but you may be getting them at the expense of the protein, not in addition to the protein. All those ingredients are nitrogen-containing compounds that count towards the total protein amount listed on the label. You might be getting up to 10 grams less protein per serving than listed on the label.
The rampant use of nitrogen spiking is the main reason why I list the precise amount of each protein in every 24 gram serving of Pro JYM. Whey protein isolate makes up 7.5 grams, micellar casein makes up 7 grams, and milk protein isolate makes up 7 grams, and the remaining 2.5 grams comes from egg white protein (egg albumen). That totals 24 grams from complete proteins with no added amino acids or filler nutrients.
