Whey is really so amazing ?

In fact, when talking about whey, we mean a complex protein consisting of a number of small protein sub-components, such as beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin, immunoglobulins (IgGs), glycomacropeptides, bovine serum albumin (BSA), and minor peptides such as lactoperoxidase, lysozyme, and lactoferrin. Each of these sub-components found in the whey has their own unique biological properties.

Until recently, large-scale separation of these components was either impossible or unavailable, except for research purposes. Modern filtering technology has improved significantly over the last ten years, allowing companies to separate some of the highly bioactive peptides such as lactoferrin and lactoperoxidase from whey.

Some of these ingredients are found in very low levels in cow's milk, usually less than one percent. For example, lactoferrin, which is one of the most promising components for preventing various diseases, improving immunity and general health, accounts for about 0.5% or less of cow's milk whey protein (human breast milk contains up to 15% lactoferrin).

Over the past few decades, whey proteins have progressed several generations from low-value concentrates to high-quality concentrates and isolates. 

What is the top of the whey ?!

Whey protein has become a key addition to most bodybuilders and other athletes because it is an excellent source of amino acids. In addition, whey protein offers additional benefits, especially health, thanks to its advanced processing technology. Whey protein has a proven effect on immunity, offers a hepatoprotective effect and attracts attention in terms of anti aging effect.

Many studies have found that whey can potentially reduce cancer incidence, fight HIV, improve immunity, lower cortisol levels, increase brain serotonin levels, improve liver function in patients with certain forms of jaundice, lower blood pressure, and improve performance.

Whey also has an exceptionally high assessment of its biological value and extremely high BCAA (branched chain amino acids).

One of the major effects of whey is its apparent ability to increase glutathione (GSH). The importance of GSH for the proper functioning of the immune system is certainly not exaggerated. GSH is most likely the most important water-soluble antioxidant found in the human body. Intracellular GSH concentration is directly associated with lymphocyte reactivity to attack, suggesting that intracellular GSH levels are one way of modulating immune function. GSH is a tripeptide consisting of the amino acids L-cysteine, L-glutamine and glycine. Of these three, cysteine ​​is the main source of the free sulfhydryl group of GSH and is a limiting factor in GSH synthesis (although the whey's effects on GSH are more complicated than its cysteine ​​content). Since GSH is known to be the basis for immunity (oxidative stress, general mental and physical well-being, reduced levels of GSH are associated with a long list of diseases), whey has its place in any of us nutritional program. Lower GSH is also associated with overtraining syndrome in athletes, and so whey can very well be used to prevent or at least alleviate overtraining syndrome.

In relation to athletes, some recent studies suggest that whey may have a direct impact on performance and muscle mass. Some studies have found that oxidative stress contributes to muscle fatigue, and thus higher GSH levels may allow you to train longer and more intensively, as some recent data suggests.

Different types of whey

Most whey confusion stems from ignorance of the different types of whey processing and the final types of whey proteins: concentrates, isolates, ion exchange, etc. In the following lines we will try to clarify everything.

Whey concentrates:

The first generation of whey protein powder contained only 30-40% protein and high levels of lactose, fat and undenatured protein. They were considered a "concentrate" and were mainly used in the food industry for baking, etc.

Modern concentrates now contain 70-80% protein, have a relatively low lactose and fat content. Many people believe that WPC (whey protein concentrate) is inherently worse than isolate. But this is not true. Although the WPC will contain less protein per gram than the isolate, high quality WPC contains other interesting compounds that do not occur in the isolates.

Quality concentrates contain far higher levels of growth factors than IGF-1, TGF-1 and TGF-2 over isolates. They contain much higher levels of different phospholipids and different bioactive lipids such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and often contain higher levels of immunoglobulin and lactoferrin. It should be emphasized that there is no data on whether these compounds found in WPC will affect the athlete's muscle mass or performance. Indeed, studies suggest that these compounds can improve immunity, intestinal health, and many other effects that both athletes and "normal" people find beneficial.

The disadvantage of WPC is that they have a slightly less protein than isolates per gram and contain more fat (although these fats may actually have beneficial effects), they usually also have more lactose.

People should not be under the impression that a well-made concentrate is inherently inferior to whey protein isolate (WPI), in fact, it could be a better choice depending on the person's goals !!!

For example, some people, intolerant to lactose, try to monitor every gram of fat in their diet, while others may require the potentially beneficial effects of other compounds found in high quality concentrate.

Conventional Microfiltration vs. CFM.

This brings us to the whey processing methods that run both at low temperatures and retain the maximum health benefits of the original raw material. It is the so-called conventional filtration and the modern CFM method, which means cross-flow micro filtration. With these methods, manufacturers can now produce high quality and unique whey protein.

Perhaps the best-known micro filtered protein is for CFM readers. This processing method uses micro filtration techniques at low temperature, allowing the production of high quality protein, while preserving important subcomponents on the same representation of the original raw material. For CFM-treated isolates, we find a very low fat and lactose content with virtually no denatured proteins.

Thus, CFM is a natural non-chemical process using high-tech ceramic filters. Thus, the natural unchanged whey protein structure can be maintained, even in the preparation of whey isolate. CFM whey protein also contains large amounts of calcium and a small amount of sodium. It is for these reasons that this method is considered the most gentle method of whey protein processing. In this method, the current is guided tangentially across the filter surface, as opposed to conventional filtration, where the fluid is fed to the filter. The advantage of this is a continuous process with minimal filter fouling. This will allow all bioactive fractions to be preserved in proportion to the original raw material (milk).

The second, non-chemical and completely natural method is the so-called conventional filtration. Sometimes the protein so produced is referred to as native. In this method, as mentioned above, the fluid is directed directly into the filter. The disadvantage is the so-called dead end, where part of the whey protein component is also filtered off. This causes a slight change in the whey fraction. The conventional filtrate has a slightly worse alpha / beta-lactalbumin ratio to the detriment of the appreciated alpha-lactalbumin. In contrast, both methods, unlike more aggressive methods, retain a large amount of glycomacropetides involved in cell wall construction. In any case, both processing methods offer a high quality source of protein while maintaining health benefits. Nevertheless, CFM processing is currently playing a major role, but unfortunately, due to significantly higher energy and technological demands, it is also worth a higher price. In any case, it is preferable to look for products that are processed by these gentle methods, as opposed to products that are made by ionic change, where the structure is significantly disrupted and important fractions of whey are reduced.

Why avoid ion-modified products:

Ion exchange is achieved by taking the concentrate, letting it pass through the so-called "ion exchange" column and obtaining a "whey isolate ion exchange" of very high protein concentration. This isolate has an extremely low percentage of both lactose and fat. Which sounds fantastic, but this method has serious drawbacks.

As mentioned above, whey protein is a complex protein consisting of a number of partial peptides that have their unique effects on health, immunity, etc. Some of these sub-components are found only in very small amounts. As we explained above, it is these sub-components that make whey a unique protein, which in fact is.

In the ion exchange process, the most valuable and health-promoting components are selectively evacuated. Although protein content is increased, many of the most important subcomponents are lost (glycomacropeptides) or significantly reduced.

This makes ion exchange isolates a really bad choice, although some companies still use them as their source of isolates due to their high protein content. Ion exchange isolates may contain up to 70% or more of the sub-fraction of beta-lactoglobulin, but with the loss of other more biologically active and interesting fractional fractions.

To summarize, the basic positives and negatives of individual whey processing methods are summarized below:

CFM:

POSITIVES: purely non-chemical process, preservation of all bioactive fractions, preservation of fractions in the same ratio as in the original raw material and isolate, high calcium content

NEGATIVE: generally higher price, slightly lower protein content than other methods

CONVENTIONAL MICRO FILTRATION:

POSITIVE: purely non-chemical process, preserving all bioactive fractions

NEGATIVA: mild disruption of the specific fractions of whey, in the preparation of the isolate a relatively significant reduction of mineral components, especially calcium

IONT CHANGE:

POSITIVES: extremely high protein content, negligible lactose and fat content, low production costs

NEGATIVE: loss or significant reduction of specific whey sub-components