Whey Protein Concentrate And Whey Protein Isolate: What’s The Difference?

Today, we are all obsessed with our bodies.

Some are in a battle to loose weight while others want to become as large as possible. Those who want to bulk up may seem to have an easy task ahead. Simply eat and do little exercise. The truth is that bulking up is just as difficult and trimming down.

Building muscle safely and naturally takes as much planning and precision as getting that slim figure.

To build muscle, many start to do resistance training.

Exercising with weights is an excellent way to increase muscle mass and build strength and in turn raise your metabolism - and then you guessed it - you lose fat.

Many also start to take nutritional supplements to keep the muscles fed and working properly.

Good nutrition, based on a high protein, low carb diet is essential to building muscle. Muscles must be fed if they are going to function; they need increased amounts of food if they are going to grow. Whey protein concentrates and Isolates are good ways to achieve this.

After you finish working out, your muscles will need nutrition for refueling. If they don’t get this they won’t function properly and will actually diminish in size. Whey protein concentrates and isolates will give the muscles what they need to keep going and build up further.

So how do whey protein isolates and concentrates come in to bodybuilding?

Whey protein concentrates and isolates do essentially the same job.

They are absorbed into the muscles to feed and re-fuel them. The main difference between the two is the filtration process.

The whey protein concentrates are only filtered to be between 75-85% proteins.

They Whey protein isolates can be filtered to be 90%+ protein.

Also, the more refined isolates have less fat and less lactose.

Which option is better depends entirely on the individual and their goals. Some may want as pure a protein source as possible in order to avoid excess fat, and lactose, especialy if you get bloating with lactose or are intolerant to it.

Ion Exchange Versus Microfiltration

Let's look at the whey proten isolates even further.

Depending on the processing type, the biological activity of the protein may be affected.

If proteisn are heated too high or processed in the wrong way, then the fractions of the proteins that assist immune function can be lost.

It's thought that the immune functions of these proteins are another benefit of whey protein, helping to fight infections and increase our resistance to illness.

Generally, the ion exchange process damages more of the protein, so the microfilttration method is better in this regard.

Quoting from www.pdrhealth.com:

"Ion-exchange whey protein isolates are high in protein but low in glycomacropeptides, lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase and some bioactive peptides. Microfiltration/ultrafiltration whey protein isolates have higher amounts of glycomacropeptides, lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase and the bioactive peptides, but are lower in bovine serum albumin... Cross-flow microfiltration gives a whey protein isolate which is greater than 90% in protein that is undenatured and that retains all important sub-fractions in natural ratios, with no fat or lactose."

So if you want purer protein, less fat and lactose, and more bioloically active proteins, go for the isolates.

And probably the microfiltration type preserves even more of this biological functioning.

I must admit the taste of the isolates is more "neutral" anyway, and less "strong" as the concentrates.

So to achieve good body building goals, a good nutritional plan combines with proper resistance training exercise is essential. Without the right amount of nutrients the muscles will not function properly and eventually will diminish in size.

With the help of whey protein concentrates and isolates, you can get your daily requirement of protein in a convenient way