Protein Supplement Explained

Many dietitians claim that protein supplements are a waste of money. Various nutrition texts suggests that getting 15 percent of daily calories from protein easily meets the requirements for athletics. Its not that difficult to eat foods high in protein—meat, eggs, fish, poultry and dairy—they say. What’s been overlooked, however, is that concentrated protein supplements have specific absorption characteristics, as well as ingredient accessories that are highly beneficial to health.

An example of how a combination of protein supplements can promote muscle gains is evident in a recent study that gave subjects various combinations of milk protein with colostrums and creatine. Before we get to the details, you may need some background on colostrum, which is milk that cows produce for a few days after calving. It’s touted for athletic purposes because its rich in immune and growth factors—100 times greater than ordinary milk. A key element is the high concentration of insulin like growth factor 1, which is considered the anabolic effector of growth hormone.

One form of IGF-1 is a primary regulator of the anabolic response in muscle to weight training. The question is, Does the IGF-1 in the supplements affect humans? Newborns, both human and bovine, have relatively permeable digestive tracts that permit many proteins to pass into the body intact. After infancy, that permeability disappears. Since IGF-1 is a peptide hormone—that is, a large string of bonded amino acids—taking it orally would normally result in its degradation into amino acids before its hormonal function kicks in.

Some studies suggest that other substances in colostrum ferry intact IGF-1 into the body, where it exerts its anabolic effects. Other studies have concluded that IGF-1 in colostrums doesn’t survive the digestive barrier.

On to the new study, forty nine resistance trained subjects participated in a 12-week total-body-workout regimen. They were divided into groups according to the following supplements:

1) Protein alone.
2) Protein and colostrums.
3) Protein and creatine.
4) Colostrum and creatine.

The supplements all contained the same number of calories and provided the same amount of protein: 60 grams daily. The protein was casein and whey and/or colostrums. At the start, midpoint and end of the 12 weeks the subjects underwent tests for body composition, strength and anaerobic exercise capacity, as judged by 30 second sprints.

After 12 weeks all the subjects increased strength and muscle endurance equally. Sprint performance gains were also similar. The primary difference was that those in every group except the protein only group had greater gains in body mass, with the protein and creatine and colostrums and creatine subjects showing the greatest gains in fat-free mass. (Click here for creatine information)

Two recent studies that used rats in subjects illustrated the fat reducing properties of whey. In the first experiment rats were fed different protein combinations over 25 days. Ten diets were created, the control diet being normal protein and the others variously formulated with whey and milk protein. The primary finding was that a part of whey called beta-lact-albumin seemed to be highly effective in triggering bodyfat loss, along with retention of lean body mass. Researchers suggested that to maximize the appetite reducing effects of a high protein intake, you also need to go either low carb or high fat; in short, the effects of a high protein diet in reducing food cravings are strongest when it’s a low carb, high protein, high fat plan.

Another rat study found that when rodents were fed whey, they experienced far less weight and bodyfat gain. One theory is that glycomacropeptide a peptide contained in whey isolate, lowers appetite by spurring the release of a gut hormone called cholecystokinin. The rats were fed either whey isolate or casein. The ones getting fed the whey had 30 percent less weight gain than the ones being fed casein. One possible reason is that the glycomacropeptide led to a 64 percent lower resting insulin condition, which favors both increased bodyfat loss and decreased fat synthesis.

A separate study examined the effects of whey taken orally before and after a weight workout on myostatin, a protein that inhibits muscle growth. Middle aged and older men engaged in weight training got either 15 grams of whey or a placebo before and after working out. Only in the placebo group did myostatin RNA decrease, confirming that weight training alone lowers myostatin. That didn’t happen to the whey group, although whey has other anti-catabolic properties with respect to myostatin: Tests demonstrated an increase in myostatin binding proteins, which inactivate myostatin, in the whey group. The researchers concluded that whey plus weight training blunts myostatin through a different mechanism from the exercise itself, thus compounding the beneficial effects of weight in relation to myostatin control.

View the benefits of Whey Protein, arguably the most common protein supplements available.