Protein, what do you take and why?

[Vitruvian]

Ok all, Very General and Incomplete thoughts on Protein, Chapter 1:

Selection of protein powders and supplements is one of those things that can be so much harder than it should be, or as simple as you want it to be. Depends on how you approach the subject.

Proteins are made up of amino acids. There are 22 amino acids that encode and basically make up life. 7 are nonessential, meaning the body makes these itself. 8 or 9 (depends on who you ask) are essential ones, meaning the body needs to ingest these, and 7 are conditionally essential, meaning the body cannot synthesize enough of these during times of stress or illness.

Proteins are typically rated using BV (biological value). Whey is/can be the highest at 104, whole egg at 99, egg albumin at 99, wheat gluten is a 64.....so on and so forth.
Protein powders of today have come a LONG way from their predecessors from the 1900's. Did you know some of the first protein powders were made of soy flour and animal glands? Yeah... gross. Even with the huge strides, a lot (probably the majority) of the products on the market are still sub-standard.

Simple things to look for:
1. Hydrolysates and isolates are typically better than concentrates.
Whey isolate is typically 90%+ prtein by weight. Whey concentrate falls into a range of 25-89%. That's quite a range. SO a whey concentrate is not always equal to another whey concentrate. Bear in mind however, while this is usually true, a high quality concentrate can rival a low quality isolate. Milk protein isolates, albumin, beef plasma, and micellar casein are good additions also. Anything with collagen as a major ingredient, or any whey concentrate-only products are not worth your time.

2. A blend of proteins tends to be better than a single source.
Example: a simple whey concentrate is not as good as a product that contains whey concentrate along with whey isolate.
Bear with me here y'all: Consider the amino acids making up a protein as football players. Now, if you wanna make a football team (a muscle fiber) you need to have all the necessary players (amino acids). So if you ate nothing but wheat protein, you'd be ingesting incomplete proteins(like drafting a bunch of lineman only). While you may draft 100 of every lineman on the field, but only 3 quarterbacks, receivers, etc. well, you'd only be able to put together 3 teams. Make sense? Probably not.... but it does in my head. LOL

3. Always consider the blend based on the order the ingredients are in.
Obviously, the ingredients listed first are in the highest percentage. So if you have collagen as the first and whey isolate as the 2nd, and only 10 grams of protein present......... how much could possibly be whey isolate?

4. Consider the carbs/sugars and fats in addition to the protein. Be sure to compare the full nutritional profile to your goals to see if there is a fit. Someone plateauing and looking to continue to drop fat would not use Muscle Milk.

5. Protein bars should be used sparingly and/or selectively. Very few protein bars exist that are good for someone looking to cut fat and improve lean mass. For someone who is keepng close track of calories, bars are an efficient meal replacement in some cases, as they are easy to track your intake with. The majority of bars are too high in sugar or fat.

6. Whey proteins are absorbed quickly, egg and milk proteins middle, and caseins are absorbed slowest.

Ok, enough rambling for now. I am sure I have created questions with the above, so please ask away. Again, I am not a dietician.

[LoveGuinness]

First of all, awesome info! And I definately understand the football team analogy for amino acids since they are they building blocks of proteins.

Second, I thought there was 20 amino acids (glycine, alanine, leucine, isoleucine, valine, proline, methionine, asparate, glutamate, lysine, arginine, histidine, serine, theronine, cysteine, asparagine, glutamine, phenylanine, tryosine, and tryptophan)...do you know the other 2?

Next Question: so what would be the BEST make up of proteins for a female consuming around 1100 calories a day to cut fat? basically i TRY to eat a balanced diet (fish at least twice a week and chicken the other 5 days, some carbs, veggies, and fruit) and i will start working out again around 4-5 times per week (25-30min of cardio and 25-30min of weight training)

[livewell]

No suppliments yet. I get my protien from salmon, egg whites, and beans and beano of course.

[LoveGuinness]

i TRY to get all my protein from food...but to be honest, i have no idea how much i need AND i just don't eat a lot during the day because i am so busy so its just really hard to me to cover all the basics in just food and i think its time i supplement.

[Sportsmedjosh]

Originally Posted by livewell

beano

:wtf

[LoveGuinness]

what is beano? <--- stupid question, i know!

[Sportsmedjosh]

Beano is an enzyme-based dietary supplement that is alleged by its manufacturer to reduce gas in the digestive tract, thereby preventing flatulence. It contains the enzyme alpha galactosidase. It is claimed that the human digestive tract does not contain alpha galactosidase; however acarbose may work against alpha galactosidase in the human gut; this enzyme breaks down oligosaccharides such as raffinose.
Beano is a product containing an enzyme derived from the fungus Aspergillus niger. The enzyme works in the digestive tract to break down the complex or branching sugars (polysaccharides and oligosaccharides) in foods such as legumes (beans and peanuts) and cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli and brussels sprouts). The enzyme breaks those complex sugars into simple sugars, making these foods somewhat more digestible, and the negative feelings that arise as a consequences of eating those foods are said to be less pronounced as a result.
The polysaccharides and oligosaccharides found in these foods might otherwise pass through the small intestine unaffected. Once in the large intestine, those sugars may be worked on by intestinal flora, fermenting to produce the gases that cause discomfort.
Two randomized controlled trials show reduction in gas by subjects taking oral alpha-galactosidase (PMID 17151807 and PMID 7964541); however, alpha-galactosidase may interfere with the diabetic medication acarbose (PMID 9663365).

Beano Homebrew

Simple sugars are also produced as a consequence of the malting process that eventually produces beer. The complex sugars are not broken down by the yeast, and are eventually consumed by the beer drinker, possibly causing flatulence. Homebrewers have found that it is possible to add Beano to their brew to produce a beer that causes less flatulence. The Beano breaks the complex sugars into simple sugars, and these simple sugars are consumed by the yeast, producing alcohol (or some acetic acid in the aerobic reactions in early fermentation).
The addition of Beano to the brew reduces the complex sugar content of the final product, thereby reducing the carbohydrate content of the beer, and also slightly increasing the alcohol content of the beer. A disadvantage of the addition of Beano to homebrew is that the lower carbohydrates lead to less head retention of the beer, the loss of the sugars results in a less sweet flavour of the final product, and fewer of the malty flavours are conveyed since some of those flavours are from the complex sugars that are affected.
The addition of Beano to homebrew (at a rate of about four tablets per 5 gallon brew) gives a low flatulence, low carbohydrate beer (about half the carbohydrates that it would otherwise have), but also alters some of the flavours of the beer. The loss of flavour is less apparent the darker the beer is, and the higher the alcohol content of the beer (since the alcohol numbs the tastebuds somewhat). Consequently it is suggested that a dark ale or a stout would be the best candidates for the use of Beano with minimal effect on the final taste of the beer.
[edit]Caution
Homebrewers who add Beano to their beer fermentation should expect to see slightly lower final gravity readings than they are used to for a given recipe, so should wait until they get two identical hydrometer readings at 24 hours apart before deciding that the fermentation has finished. To not do so may increase the risk of exploding beer bottles.

complements of wikipedia.

[LoveGuinness]

interesting....

[desperate housewife]

Originally Posted by LoveGuinness

Next Question: so what would be the BEST make up of proteins for a female consuming around 1100 calories a day to cut fat? basically i TRY to eat a balanced diet (fish at least twice a week and chicken the other 5 days, some carbs, veggies, and fruit) and i will start working out again around 4-5 times per week (25-30min of cardio and 25-30min of weight training)

i would like to know the same thing.

[Vitruvian]

The 22 Aminos from the reference I was reviewing: Alanine, Arginine, Aspartic acid, Asparigine, Cysteine, GABA, Glutamic Acid, Glutamine, Glycine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Plenylalanine, Proline, Serine, Taurine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Tyrosine, Valine.

As for proteins to cut fat: You mention eating an 1100 calorie diet. Has this been a consistent number for awhile now?

All in all, weight loss as a general concept focuses on calories in vs. calories out. But to accept this simple equation as the gospel would be very wrong.
If you have been ingesting 1100 calories for while now with no changes in weight, then we know 1100 is an approximate maintenance calorie number for you. The problem here is there isn't much room to continue to drop calories in a healthy manner. Without knowing many details, and having to make assumptions, I'd recommend increasing the length of your weight training workouts, as well as the weights themselves and the intensity with which you approach weight training (Women tend to lift with FAR less than they are capable of).

The gain of some muscle (or better yet, think of it like activating the muscle you already have) will raise your fat burning capabilities. No, you won't get yucky and look like a man (unless you are injecting some testosterone in private). Genetically, you aren't made to.
Bear in mind that the numbers on the scale may go up instead of down, but the way clothes fit and the way yoou look will be the truth tellers.

Another option would be to replace some carbs with protein and healthy fats. While this ratio change will most likely result in fat loss, it's a personal decision on how healthy you feel that is.

That all being said, I probably danced around your question. The best protein for anyone would be a blend consisting of whey hydrolysate and/or whey isolate, and casein or milk protein isolate or concentrate. This would be a highly bioavailable protein source, that covers all the amino bases. For a meal replacement you'll want more Casein, for a post workout shake, more whey.

End result, the only brand I have a lot of confidence in recommending is Beverly International when it comes to protein. And no, they don't pay me to say that. It's tough to make a recommmendation to someone, when so many factors need to be considered. There are numerous quality proteins on the market, but few taste good enough for a new protein user to continually use. I can all but guarantee you can give choclate Muscle Provider to ANYONE who likes chocolate, and they will enjoy it.

[LoveGuinness]

i have been losing weight with a 1100 calorie diet.

i really thank you for the advice about meal replacement = Casein and post workout = whey

thanks!

[Vitruvian]

Keep in mind that any protein powder, if it is of sufficient quality, will get the job done. Casein is just better as a meal replacement due to the thickening properties is has, which provides a longer feeling of fullness. Whey is better post workout due to it's rapid absorption, which allows the body to repair a bit better. Please note that you'll also need carbs with your whey post-workout for maximum repair :)

[Vitruvian]

I try to keep things simple.... there's a ton of other things that could be factored in, but it gets to be a pain in the tushy.