The Jungle Of Protein Powder: Which Type Fits Your Physical Goals Best?

It's time for your usual workout. Your personal trainer is already at the starting blocks and you're in the mood to work up a good sweat for an hour and get all the frustrations of the past week out. During your workout, your personal trainer suggests you take a look at protein supplements to optimize your progress. At first, you don't like the idea, but after a while your interest is piqued. What are protein supplements? Why do athletes use them so much? And if you decide to try them, which ones should you have and when should you use them? You'll find an answer to these questions in this article!

The holy trinity

Maybe you recognize that feeling: you can no longer concentrate well and you are tired and lifeless. Ideally, you would like to install yourself on the couch to take a power nap in the hope of shaking off this feeling. But unfortunately that power nap is not going to help you. Your body is signaling to you that it needs nutrients and that you should not go to sleep, but eat.

Important nutrients for humans are carbohydrates, fats and proteins. These three are also called the macros. With a good balance of these three nutrients, you will have enough energy to get you through your weekly workout and be at full strength all day. But what are carbs, fats and proteins anyway, and how do you make sure you get enough of them?

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are found in many foods we eat every day, such as pasta, whole grain bread and potatoes. Carbohydrates play a role in the functioning of the brain and also help restore normal muscle function after very intense and/or prolonged exercise. The energy the body gets from carbohydrates is also called glucose. The sugars in carbohydrates give products a sweet taste, making them tastier.

Carbohydrates that are not consumed by the body stick in our bodies and can cause fat mass. So maybe these are just the extra pounds you are trying to work out!

Fats

Fats provide the body with vitamins A, D and E, as well as fatty acids and energy. Contrary to what you may think, by no means are all fats unhealthy. You can divide fats into saturated fats and unsaturated fats. Saturated fats are the unhealthy variety and are commonly found in cookies, cakes and saltines. So for a healthy lifestyle, it is important to keep this type of fat to a minimum. Unsaturated fats, unlike saturated fats, are healthier and fit within a healthy lifestyle. Unsaturated fats are found in fish and nuts, among other foods.

Products containing fat always contain both unsaturated fats and saturated fats. Unfortunately, this makes it virtually impossible to completely eliminate all saturated fats from your diet.

Proteins

Proteins are very important for our bodies because they provide amino acids and calories. Proteins are found in meat, fish, grain products and, of course, eggs, among other things. The tissue in our body is made up of cells, and these cells, in turn, all contain proteins. When these proteins die, they must be replaced. New proteins are built from the amino acids that the body gets from the proteins we eat. Another name for protein is protein.

For an athlete, it is especially important to get enough protein because protein contributes to the growth and maintenance of muscle mass. In addition, proteins also contribute to the recovery of muscle tissue and muscles after a physical effort. Exactly what you need after an intense workout, in other words! Besides the function that proteins have in the growth, maintenance and recovery of muscles, they also give a feeling of fullness after eating, so you are less tempted to snack.

To determine the approximate amount of protein you should ingest, there are several guidelines. People who do not exercise should get about 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. If you do exercise and want to build muscle tissue, it is recommended that you eat about 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. If you want to know what amount of protein is perfect for the goals you would like to achieve, it is wise to discuss this with your personal trainer.

Although there is protein in almost all foods, these amounts are so low that many athletes do not get the amount of protein they need to ingest daily by eating alone. A common way to increase the number of grams of protein you take in is with supplements.

One supplement that is often used is protein powder. The market for these powders is huge, and if you are not fully versed in this, it is difficult to determine which protein powder is best for you. Protein powder is almost always mixed with water or milk, giving you a protein shake. The different types of protein powders and their properties are explained below.

The different types of protein powder

It would be convenient if there was one type of protein powder that you could use in all circumstances. Unfortunately, this is not the case. There are several aspects to consider when choosing a particular type of protein. One of the aspects is the speed at which the protein is absorbed by the body. Namely, you have proteins that are absorbed slowly and proteins that are absorbed quickly.

Slow or fast recording

Proteins are not all absorbed by the body at the same rate. Slow proteins, not really surprisingly, are slowly absorbed by the body. For this reason, protein shakes containing slow proteins are often consumed in the evening before sleeping. Virtually all night, the nutrients are then absorbed by the body. As a result, your muscles are also supplied throughout the night with nutrients necessary for the growth, maintenance and repair of your muscles. Proteins that are slowly absorbed by the body are micellar casein, caseinate, egg protein and meat protein.

In addition to slow proteins, there are also fast proteins. You guessed it; these are quickly absorbed by the body, providing muscles with nutrients immediately. So these proteins are especially useful in the morning when your body is running out of nutrients, or just before or after a workout. Drinking a protein shake with fast protein before a workout gives your body extra nutrients during the workout. After the workout, a protein shake with fast protein is also a great drink because it aids in muscle recovery. The body absorbs whey, hydrolyzed casein protein and soy protein quickly. Fast and slow proteins can be used in combination. Try Clear Whey Isolate; a refreshing protein shake packed with healthy nutrients. One serving of Clear Whey Isolate contains a whopping 21 grams of protein, is fat- and sugar-free, low in lactose and contains only 87 calories per serving. 

Concentrate and isolate

In addition to the distinction between slow or fast absorption by the body, there are also protein supplements where a distinction can be made between protein concentrates and protein isolates. The difference between these two types lies in the percentage of protein. With protein concentrates (between 29% and 89%), this percentage is lower than with protein isolates (more than 90%).

Back to the source

In addition to a distinction between fast and slow absorption, you can also look at the different sources of protein; milk, eggs, meat and soy.

Milk proteins

Milk proteins consist of two types of proteins. Most of the protein consists of casein (80%) and a small part consists of whey (20%). Milk proteins generally have good taste and value for money.

Casein is a protein that contains very many amino acids and is slowly absorbed by the body because it forms a lump in your stomach. For this reason, athletes often incorporate casein into protein shakes they drink before they go to sleep or before they know they cannot eat for several hours in a row.

There are three types of casein. The first kind is micellar casein. This kind is created when the casein is separated from the lactose, whey and fat in the milk. This is done by microfiltration, which means that substances are separated through a sieve based on their size. The small particles can pass through the sieve, but the large particles cannot. The separation process makes this type of casein difficult to mix into a protein shake, but it is thus absorbed very slowly by the body.

The second type is caseinate. This form of casein does mix easily with other liquids because sodium, calcium and potassium are added. Because it is easy to mix, manufacturers often use it in their protein products. The last type of casein, hydrolyzed casein protein, unlike micellar casein and caseinate, is a protein that is quickly absorbed by the body. This is due to the short protein chains created by hydrolysis. In this process, connected amino acids are separated from each other, creating short protein chains. These short protein chains can sometimes cause a somewhat bitter taste.

Whey is the other form of protein found in milk besides casein. Whey has a high biological value. This means that the ratio of essential amino acids in the product matches the ratios in the body. Whey is quickly absorbed by the body, which is why many athletes choose to incorporate this type of protein into a protein shake before or after exercise.

Whey is available in both a concentrate, an isolate and a hydrolysate. Also with whey, a hydrolisate means that the amino acids have been broken up to get short protein chains.

Egg proteins

Eiwitten uit eieren worden langzaam opgenomen door je lichaam. Om deze reden wordt dit type eiwit vaak gedurende de dag gebruikt. De biologische waarde van eiwitten uit eieren is hoog, maar net iets minder dan bij whey. De hoeveelheid koolhydraten en vetten zijn laag. Daarnaast is dit type eiwit een goede keuze voor mensen met een zuivelvrij dieet.

Protein from eggs is slowly absorbed by your body. For this reason, this type of protein is often used throughout the day. The biological value of protein from eggs is high, but just slightly less than whey. The amount of carbohydrates and fats are low. In addition, this type of protein is a good choice for people on a dairy-free diet.

Meat proteins

Meat proteins involve the proteins found in beef. Beef is rich in several nutrients that are important for building muscle and thus beneficial for many athletes. These nutrients are vitamin B, BCAAs, creatine and zinc. BCAA stands for branched-chain amino acids. These are three of the eight essential amino acids that cannot be synthesized by the body itself, so you must get them from food. Creatine is formed in the liver from three amino acids, namely arginine, glyhine and methionine. This ensures that your performance is improved during explosive power efforts. Not surprisingly, creatine is specifically balanced for athletes. Eating a lot of beef in a day is obviously not ideal, so possibly protein powder that comes from beef offers a solution here.

Soy protein

Soybeans consist of about 45% protein, making them good products to process for protein powder. To extract protein powder from soybeans, they must first be ground into soy flour. Then the carbohydrates are removed from the soybean meal using water or an alcohol extract. What remains now is dried and ground again, leaving a protein-rich powder.

Soy protein is quickly absorbed by the body, making it especially suitable in the morning and before and after workouts. Soy protein may not be the first choice for athletes because the biological value of soy protein is relatively low.

Although many athletes are more likely to choose one of the animal options, soy protein is especially good for vegetarians and vegans because it does not consist of animal matter. Thus, soy protein is a good plant-based alternative for athletes who do want to use protein supplements, but prefer not to choose animal supplements.

In conclusion

Choosing the right protein powder can be a challenge, especially with the many options available. The most important thing is to determine what your specific goals are and which proteins best fit your lifestyle and diet. Whether you choose fast or slow protein, animal or plant sources, optimizing your protein intake can have a significant impact on your training and recovery.

If you're still unsure about which protein powder is best for you, we're here to help. Feel free to contact our customer service team for personalized advice. Our team of experts are here to guide you in making the best choice, so you can be sure that you're not only training hard, but also providing your body with the right fuel to get the best out of yourself.