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Originally Posted by pudekcuf
i am new to posting here but have been surfing it a while and found it very helpful....thanks
my question is, what is the difference between all the protien powders, like 100%whey, why protien extreme, soy protien, pm protien, and any other one that are out there? cause i saw all those at GNC and got confused!
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The differences are mainly in the kinds of protein that are used in them. Some of the more common proteins available over the counter are whey (made from milk), soy, casein, and egg protein.
Whey can be subdivided by the type of processing that was used to create it:
Whey Concentrate
A filtering process in which fat, lactose, carbohydrates and other materials are removed from the final product. Whey
Protein Concentrate can be sourced at 35% to 80% protein per final product.
Whey Isolate Ion Exchange
Whey Protein Isolate Ion-Exchange is derived from whey protein concentrate, but ultimately from whey. Isolates, both Microfiltration and Ion-Exchange, are protein powders that are the next steps to further process whey protein concentrate. The Ion-Exchange process is a procedure of separating the proteins through their specific electrical charge. Chemical reagents allow the electric charge of the protein to be controlled and then extracted. Ion-Exchange Isolate is virtually fat free and lactose (sugar) free. The extraction process leaves the final product almost all protein, around 96% protein.
Whey Isolate Microfiltration
Whey Protein Isolate Microfiltration is derived from whey protein concentrate, but ultimately from whey. The Microfiltration process is a procedure of separating the proteins through the use of filters. These filters allow the protein to be removed from the unwanted fat, lactose and the like. Microfiltration Isolate is virtually fat free and lactose (sugar) free.
Whey Isolate Cold Filtration
Whey Protein Isolate Cold-Filtration is derived from whey protein concentrate, but ultimately from whey. Isolates, Cold-Filtration, Microfiltration and Ion-Exchange, are protein powders that are the next steps to further process whey protein concentrate. The Cold-Filtration process is a procedure of separating the proteins through the use of micro filtering the mass all while using a cold or “chilled” process (environment). These filters allow the protein to be removed from the unwanted fat, lactose and the like. Cold-Filtration Isolate is virtually fat free and lactose (sugar) free.
So what is the difference between Cold-Filtration and Microfiltration? They both use the same extraction process of filtering, but the Cold-Filtration is just that, the liquid mass is chilled and then filtered. As well the mass is then sprayed dried in a non heat environment to preserve the undenatured proteins.
Hydrolyzed Whey Protein
Hydrolyzed Whey Protein is derived from whey. Hydrolyzed Whey is enzymatically partially digested protein. This hydrolyzing process splits proteins in to smaller chain peptides and amino acids, di and tri peptides. This in turn makes the end product more biologically accessible to the user. Hydrolyzed whey is the most digestible source of whey protein. This process of hydrolysis allows the protein to be absorbed quickly through the small intestine.
Whey is digested very quickly, and as such, is ideal for post workout supplementation. It can also be used throughout the day but I would recommend cosuming some other foods along with it to slow digestion.
The advangages to all of these processing techniques is to make the whey more easily digestable. Whey Concentrate is the "lowest grade whey" so to speak, however, it is also the cheapest and if you find that the extra lactose does not bother you, then I would stick with simply concentrate.
Most of what you will buy in GNC will probably have some combination of concentrates and isolates.
Soy protein is another viable option, however, in my opinon, soy does not taste nearly as good as whey.
Casein protein or "nighttime protein" as it can be referred to, is a slower digesting protein due to the process used to extract it. It digests more slowly and gives the user the feeling of being fuller longer, thus making it ideal for a pre-bed snack. The "pm protein" you mentioned above most likely contains this. There a couple of different ways to extract caseing as well (i.e. hydrolyzation, acidification, etc) which will have similar benefits to those associated with whey.
For most beginners, a simple whey concentrate (or isolate if you have lactose problems) will be more than sufficient for your needs. No need to complicate things with all this fancy BS marketing crap. Do yourself a favour though, don't buy anything from GNC, you will be paying way more than you need to. There are tons of online supplement stores that will carry what you need for a fraction of the price.
I'll plug trueprotein.com since I got a lot of the above info from their site, but allthewhey.com is also getting good reviews.
Hope this helps!
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