whey'ducation - Be wary of "Protein Blends"

Under the perfectly named title "whey'ducation" I'm going to be writing some short and sharp tips around protein and all things whey. They should take you less than a few minutes to read but are VERY useful! Great for impressing your mates down the pub....?

The first tip is to be wary of "Protein Blends". What I'm specifically referring to here is where a brand blends more than one type of whey (of the 3 types available - Concentrate, Isolate & Hydroisolate) to make, as they call it, a special blend.

Now excuse me for being blunt but this is a load of marketing bull! Blending them together doesn't make them more efficient, it just makes it cost efficient for the brand as Concentrate is much cheaper.

The sneaky brands will market the product as “Whey Protein Isolate” whereas in actual fact it’ll be a blend of Whey Concentrate & Whey Isolate. Both will be detailed on the list, but as it’s a blend they don’t have to tell you the % of each…

Below are the ingredients of what is know as the best selling whey on the market. It has references to “Whey Protein Isolates” all over the package, but no reference to Whey Concentrates (which some people can’t stomach so avoid) – unless you look at the ingredients:

We know that pure Whey Isolates = 90% protein content. This brand has 78% protein content. We know that around 7-8% is for stabilisers, mixers and flavouring, so you’re getting around 5% less protein due to the inclusion of Concentrate here!

Recommendation – if you want an Isolate, look for a product with just pure Isolate as an ingredient and not a blend.

Hope you enjoyed!

All the best, 

Adam

Note - some of these tips are part of other blogs, but we've separated them into bitesized chunks for you to read bit by bit!