Quality of whey - bioavailability and microfractions

[Plaintiff]

[MOD EDIT: This topic split from NutraWHEY Elite - Cookies & Cream]

Beats me how you can assess whether a protein powder is any good or not without considering the extraction method to manufacture it.

This Nutrawhy stuff doesn't even provide this info, it just states that it's "instantised", this isn't an extraction method.

My guess is this stuff is just spray dried WPC similar to the way Fonterra process their WPC. The problem is, this denatures the peptides within the whey and slashes it's digestability and hence quality

Looking at the other similarly priced powders on their website I found this: http://www.bodybuilding.co.nz/ultra-whey-pro.html.

This powder states the extraction method used, the percetage of protein micro-fractions, it has added hydrolyzed glutamine & whey peptides, it even states the sodium/postassium ratio. And it's cheaper!

Objectivly speaking nutrawhey is shit.

[nate225]

Beats me how you can assess whether a protein powder is any good or not without considering the extraction method to manufacture it.

This Nutrawhy stuff doesn't even provide this info, it just states that it's "instantised", this isn't an extraction method.

My guess is this stuff is just spray dried WPC similar to the way Fonterra process their WPC. The problem is, this denatures the peptides within the whey and slashes it's digestability and hence quality

Looking at the other similarly priced powders on their website I found this: http://www.bodybuilding.co.nz/ultra-whey-pro.html.

This powder states the extraction method used, the percetage of protein micro-fractions, it has added hydrolyzed glutamine & whey peptides, it even states the sodium/postassium ratio. And it's cheaper!

Objectivly speaking nutrawhey is shit.

Objectively speaking most wheys in NZL are made from fonterra WPC (Alacen 450 mainly from my limited understanding).

[weener lad]

Beats me how you can assess whether a protein powder is any good or not without considering the extraction method to manufacture it.

This Nutrawhy stuff doesn't even provide this info, it just states that it's "instantised", this isn't an extraction method.

My guess is this stuff is just spray dried WPC similar to the way Fonterra process their WPC. The problem is, this denatures the peptides within the whey and slashes it's digestability and hence quality

Looking at the other similarly priced powders on their website I found this: http://www.bodybuilding.co.nz/ultra-whey-pro.html.

This powder states the extraction method used, the percetage of protein micro-fractions, it has added hydrolyzed glutamine & whey peptides, it even states the sodium/postassium ratio. And it's cheaper!

Objectivly speaking nutrawhey is shit.

3 Posts and you come up with this dribble :shock: Do you have a vested interest in another product?

Perhaps if you asked the question instead of assuming the Nutratech boys would answer your question.

I also think you will find any NZ made protein is sourced from Fontera or OZ.

[Flex]

I also think you will find any NZ made protein is sourced from Fontera or OZ.

Not always.

Beats me how you can assess whether a protein powder is any good or not without considering the extraction method to manufacture it.

This Nutrawhy stuff doesn't even provide this info, it just states that it's "instantised", this isn't an extraction method.

My guess is this stuff is just spray dried WPC similar to the way Fonterra process their WPC. The problem is, this denatures the peptides within the whey and slashes it's digestability and hence quality

Looking at the other similarly priced powders on their website I found this: http://www.bodybuilding.co.nz/ultra-whey-pro.html.

This powder states the extraction method used, the percetage of protein micro-fractions, it has added hydrolyzed glutamine & whey peptides, it even states the sodium/postassium ratio. And it's cheaper!

Objectivly speaking nutrawhey is shit.

It's an interesting assumption and normally I'd agree that an extraction method should be stated on the label otherwise we have to assume a lower grade method. But at around 80% it's a bit hard to assume that a low grade protein is being used especially since the Ultrawhey is comparably only 73% protein.

What method does Universal use for drying out their protein as I didn't see any mention of it? Ultrafiltered only tells us that they are using an untrafiltration method at some point to remove the fat and lactose and lower the moisture content however it doesn't turn it into a powder. They could be drying it out in an oven for all we know, but more than likely they use evaporation and spray drying to remove the moisture completely. I could be wrong but I would think that every large dairy manufacturer uses spray drying at some point on their Whey for mass produced whey protein powders. There may be some boutique producers manufacturing high grade pure evaporated whey powders however I would imagine these would be a lot more expensive.

If they are purely using low temp evaporators and not spray drying then surely a manufacturer would state this as a key point of difference. I see no mention of this though, but you may know more about the Whey that Universal are sourcing.

NZ/Fonterra produces some of the best Whey in the world - much better than some of the US, Canadian and Chinese shit that the majority of US manufacturers use.

Ultrapro contains partially hydrolyzed whey peptides which basically means they've used acid on their whey protein to break it down into peptide chains for faster absorption, however destroying the microfractions along the way. They list whey isolates however no extraction method is given they only state Ultrafiltered WPC not Ultrafiltered WPI. Considering its a WPC WPI blend and it's only 73% protein it's pretty much inferior to every other NZ made whey that I know of.

If instead you had said that Universal used a protein that was non cheese derived then you might have had a good reason to feel so strongly about Nutrawhey being "shit" compared to it. They don't state that so it's most likely derived from cheese production as with the majority or whey on the market.

[Plaintiff]

Thanks for your considered reply.

It's an interesting assumption and normally I'd agree that an extraction method should be stated on the label otherwise we have to assume a lower grade method. But at around 80% it's a bit hard to assume that a low grade protein is being used especially since the Ultrawhey is comparably only 73% protein.

Not sure I understand how the % are that relevant. Apart from telling you how much lactose & fat has been removed, doesn't it just tell you what % of protein is in the powder per 100 grams? Hypothetically, I would still go for 70% protein that has a biological value of 150, than a 80% protein that has a BV 110.

What method does Universal use for drying out their protein as I didn't see any mention of it? Ultrafiltered only tells us that they are using an untrafiltration method at some point to remove the fat and lactose and lower the moisture content however it doesn't turn it into a powder. They could be drying it out in an oven for all we know, but more than likely they use evaporation and spray drying to remove the moisture completely. I could be wrong but I would think that every large dairy manufacturer uses spray drying at some point on their Whey for mass produced whey protein powders. There may be some boutique producers manufacturing high grade pure evaporated whey powders however I would imagine these would be a lot more expensive. If they are purely using low temp evaporators and not spray drying then surely a manufacturer would state this as a key point of difference. I see no mention of this though, but you may know more about the Whey that Universal are sourcing.

Point taken. Universal are pretty vague also.

But, at least they list the protein fractions. From this I assume that these levels have been tested post production and the peptides are still intact.

And if I'm deciding between two powders that are a similar price, I will always go for the one that lists these micro fractions, and has Na/K ratio over a powder that has neither.

Ideally I would like to see every manufacturer required to state the biological value on their label, so I wouldn't have to assume these things.

NZ/Fonterra produces some of the best Whey in the world - much better than some of the US, Canadian and Chinese shit that the majority of US manufacturers use.

If you have some info on this I would be interested to see it.

Ultrapro contains partially hydrolyzed whey peptides which basically means they've used acid on their whey protein to break it down into peptide chains for faster absorption, however destroying the microfractions along the way.

I'm fairly sure that the majority of manufacturers now use enzymes to seperate the peptides, I think the main one is called Protase.

Again I'm assuming that Universal use an enzyme treated whey rather than an acid.

If instead you had said that Universal used a protein that was non cheese derived then you might have had a good reason to feel so strongly about Nutrawhey being "shit" compared to it. They don't state that so it's most likely derived from cheese production as with the majority or whey on the market.

I don't know much about cheese production, but I was under the impression that cheese manufacturers don't acidify the milk to a ph level where it denatures the whey. So it shouldn't matter if it's sourced from cheese production?

[nate225]

^^ Learn to quote - thats a nightmare to read Plantiff! :nod:

Use the quote tab up to & copy n paste, alternately quote the whole reply & break into sections using the bracketed quote & /quote text.

nate

[Flex]

Not sure I understand how the % are that relevant. Apart from telling you how much lactose & fat has been removed, doesn't it just tell you what % of protein is in the powder per 100 grams? Hypothetically, I would still go for 70% protein that has a biological value of 150, than a 80% protein that has a BV 110.

Yes but the BV of a whey protein tends to increase with relative increase in protein % due to filtration and/or hydrolyzation. So a WPI at 92% tends to have a Higher BV than a WPC at 80% even if they've used acid or heat in the treatment of the WPI. BV basically just measures how easy it is for the body to absorb and not any benefit given by the microfractions so a protein could be denatured yet have a really high BV. A 70% protein probably wouldn't have a BV of 150 unless it was hydrolysed to within an inch of it's life.

Point taken. Universal are pretty vague also.

But, at least they list the protein fractions. From this I assume that these levels have been tested post production and the peptides are still intact.

And if I'm deciding between two powders that are a similar price, I will always go for the one that lists these micro fractions, and has Na/K ratio over a powder that has neither.

Ideally I would like to see every manufacturer required to state the biological value on their label, so I wouldn't have to assume these things.

I would say the microfraction profile will have been provided to them by the dairy company and not post production. As they have only listed the microfractions for the WPC and not the WPI, or the blend of the two one can assume that it is a preproduction figure. The microfraction profile used to be a big thing when whey first came out in the 90's but most manufacturers no longer state the breakdown, possibly down to expense of having to test every batch and then change label due to variations.

Sodium/potassium levels should be stated and probably is on the label. However it might not be a requirement of the NZ dietary supps labeling regulations so may not be on there.

It would be interesting to list the BV of the finished product but there has been so much misunderstanding around BV that I think it just confuses people and no one is sure how relevant it actually is to the proteins end effects. I would imagine there would be quite a large expense involved in testing the BV of every finished batch of protein.

BV is confusing and the PDCAA's might be a better method of measuring but again many consumers are baffled by these terms and it means nothing to them. Alot of people just want protein. Manufacturers used to go so far as providing the molecular weights of their proteins, but I think alot of that science guff just got too complicated for something that is simply just a source of protein for most people.

NZ/Fonterra produces some of the best Whey in the world - much better than some of the US, Canadian and Chinese shit that the majority of US manufacturers use.

If you have some info on this I would be interested to see it.

This is more of a personal observation and opinion due to the farming methods used in NZ vs what is used by most dairy farmers in other countries. Depending what you read some of the hormones and farming methods used overseas may not be conducive to as good a quality whey protein as what is produced in NZ.

Ultrapro contains partially hydrolyzed whey peptides which basically means they've used acid on their whey protein to break it down into peptide chains for faster absorption, however destroying the microfractions along the way.

I'm fairly sure that the majority of manufacturers now use enzymes to seperate the peptides, I think the main one is called Protase.

Again I'm assuming that Universal use an enzyme treated whey rather than an acid.

Yes but enzymes and proteases will most likely be acid or alkaline which is going to effect the microfraction profile due to teh chnage in pH.

I'm not sure what you mean by peptides? Peptides are chains of aminos. I think there may be some confusion in referring to microfractions as peptides. Hydrolysed whey has essentially predigested the whey protein into shorter amino acid chains (peptides) which speeds the the absorption of the aminos in the gut. I don't think hydrolysing improves the Microfraction profile (which I think is what you are referring to). Maybe I've got my terms wrong?

I don't know much about cheese production, but I was under the impression that cheese manufacturers don't acidify the milk to a ph level where it denatures the whey. So it shouldn't matter if it's sourced from cheese production?

You could be right, I was always under the impression that any modification of the pH whether alkaline or acid resulted in some sort change/damage/reduction to the microfractions.

All of this is a generalised opinion and I'm not involved in the dairy manufacturing industry so I can't be 100% on the specifics of whey production- without knowing more about the whey protein that Universal and Nutratech have used I could be completely wrong about the comparison between the two. Hennie would be able to help out from his end, but I don't think anyone from Universal will ever find this post though.

[devil_911]

.

I don't know much about cheese production, but I was under the impression that cheese manufacturers don't acidify the milk to a ph level where it denatures the whey. So it shouldn't matter if it's sourced from cheese production?

do you know the ph in stomach can be as low as 1.0-1.5 which is highly acidic.the purpose of it is to denature the protein.if you are worried about denaturing the protein then you might have to shoot protein straight in your blood

foods are cooked to denature the proteins to make it easier for enzymes to digest.egg will be a good example its bioavailability increase by like 40% after cooking so denaturing is not always a bad thing.

i dont know why you so obsessed with peptides your body can only use protein broken down to amino acids or the smallest peptides like bi or tri.

you raise a valid point about teperature used to dry whey cause high temperature can damage the amino's but i believe fonterra will be bit smater then that and i will trust it more then some foreign company who we dont know jack about.i am with flex on this one if you know something that we dont know then we would like to see it.

[Flex]

do you know the ph in stomach can be as low as 1.0-1.5 which is highly acidic.the purpose of it is to denature the protein.if you are worried about denaturing the protein then you might have to shoot protein straight in your blood

The purpose of the stomach acid is to digest not denature food. I would imagine the microfractions pass through to the small intestine for absorption before they get effected by the acid in the gut. The protein on the other hand would take much longer to pass through. I'm not sure how effective intravenous whey protein would be.

foods are cooked to denature the proteins to make it easier for enzymes to digest.egg will be a good example its bioavailability increase by like 40% after cooking so denaturing is not always a bad thing.

We aren't talking about eggs.

i dont know why you so obsessed with peptides your body can only use protein broken down to amino acids or the smallest peptides like bi or tri.

I don't understand this one.

you raise a valid point about teperature used to dry whey cause high temperature can damage the amino's but i believe fonterra will be bit smater then that and i will trust it more then some foreign company who we dont know jack about.i am with flex on this one if you know something that we dont know then we would like to see it.

I'm not trying to say not to trust US or Internationally produced dairy or that Fonterra is more trustworthy, as that would be a matter of personal opinion. From my own observations NZ made whey seems to be a better option than most other mass produced whey. Some International/US companies probably use Fonterra/NZ made whey so it would be silly to lump all companies in as one. It's even possible, but not probable, that Universal use it themselves. In which case it would be a case of foot in mouth.

[devil_911]

do you know the ph in stomach can be as low as 1.0-1.5 which is highly acidic.the purpose of it is to denature the protein.if you are worried about denaturing the protein then you might have to shoot protein straight in your blood

The purpose of the stomach acid is to digest not denature food. I would imagine the microfractions pass through to the small intestine for absorption before they get effected by the acid in the gut. The protein on the other hand would take much longer to pass through. I'm not sure how effective intravenous whey protein would be.

woops i said the purpose of high ph level is to denature the protein of course thats not the only reason it is to breakdown food,kill germs but nevertheless protein will be denatured by stomach acid

foods are cooked to denature the proteins to make it easier for enzymes to digest.egg will be a good example its bioavailability increase by like 40% after cooking so denaturing is not always a bad thing.

We aren't talking about eggs.

i was using egg protein as an example to show how dentauring can be helpful to us

i dont know why you so obsessed with peptides your body can only use protein broken down to amino acids or the smallest peptides like bi or tri.

I don't understand this one.

you raise a valid point about teperature used to dry whey cause high temperature can damage the amino's but i believe fonterra will be bit smater then that and i will trust it more then some foreign company who we dont know jack about.i am with flex on this one if you know something that we dont know then we would like to see it.

I'm not trying to say not to trust US or Internationally produced dairy or that Fonterra is more trustworthy, as that would be a matter of personal opinion. From my own observations NZ made whey seems to be a better option than most other mass produced whey. Some International/US companies probably use Fonterra/NZ made whey so it would be silly to lump all companies in as one. It's even possible, but not probable, that Universal use it themselves. In which case it would be a case of foot in mouth.

it wasnt directed to you flex.i was only trying to answer to plaintiff who trusted some unkown company more then fonterra

[Flex]

it wasnt directed to you flex.i was only trying to answer to plaintiff who trusted some unkown company more then fonterra

Universal Nutrition is one of USA's longest running Sports Nutrition brands, I'd trust them more than most. It's not like they are unknown, just that they don't market bullshit.

[Flex]

it wasnt directed to you flex.i was only trying to answer to plaintiff who trusted some unkown company more then fonterra

Universal Nutrition is one of USA's longest running Sports Nutrition brands, I'd trust them more than most. It's not like they are unknown, just that they don't market bullshit.

[Plaintiff]

BV basically just measures how easy it is for the body to absorb and not any benefit given by the microfractions so a protein could be denatured yet have a really high BV. A 70% protein probably wouldn't have a BV of 150 unless it was hydrolysed to within an inch of it's life.

I think this is incorrect. Biological value measures the amount of protein retained in the human body per gram of protein absorbed. I can't see how a denatured could have a high BV because the denatured proteins won't be retained.

I'm not sure what you mean by peptides? Peptides are chains of aminos. I think there may be some confusion in referring to microfractions as peptides.

Yeah, I didn't mean to collapse one term into the other. I use the micro fractions as a guide to the amount of peptides present in the whey. Is this flawed?

[Flex]

I think this is incorrect. Biological value measures the amount of protein retained in the human body per gram of protein absorbed. I can't see how a denatured could have a high BV because the denatured proteins won't be retained.

I'm spending way too much time on this.

When I say denatured (in reference to whey protein) I mean that it has lost or reduced in content some of the beneficial microfractions as well as effecting the amino acid composition. This occurs through over filtration, excessive heat or excessive pH changes. If we filter out all the fat and/or hydrolyse a protein we create a more pure protein in the case of Isolate and a higher BV, yet it denatures it as it loses the Growth factor fractions that are contained in the fat.

Your body still absorbs the protein, and if excessively hydrolysed into smaller peptide chains it would have a high BV and absorb and retain more of the specific aminos yet could be devoid of all the microfractions and hence be denatured. As I said BV is misunderstood and as far as I am aware pertains to the amino acid content of all proteins not the microfractions unique to whey/dairy.

Again an Isolate is high in BCAA content than a WPC which for some is a benefit yet at the expense of other essential amino acids.

If you look at Horleys ICE Whey which gives is microfraction breakdown vs Universal UltraWhey. ICE Whey being a blend of Cation Exchange Isolate and Hydrolysed Isolate. This would have a very high BV as it will be absorbed rapidly. Horleys bang on about Cation not being denatured yet if we look at the Microfractions per 100g it has very little Glycomacropeptide 1440mg (1.4%) and very high Beta Lactoglobulin at 62277 (62%) and 12779mg (12%) Alpha, low IGG's at 1890 (1.89%) and low BSA at 2970 (2.97%), no lactoferrin seems to be present.

The WPC that is used in the Universal Protein would have a lower BV yet if you look at the Microfraction breakdown it has almost 10 x more GMP at approx 15%, twice as much BSA at 6%, 5x as much IGG's at 10%, 45% Beta fractions and 20% Alpha, and lists Lactoferrin at 1% whereas Horleys haven't shown this at all. The Beta fraction can cause some allergy in people and is the least desirable yet has the highest content in high BV pH modified Ion Exchange Isolate.

I use the micro fractions as a guide to the amount of peptides present in the whey. Is this flawed?

Some manufacturers and literature refer to the microfractions as peptides, however I don't think many companies are referring to the microfractions when they list hydrolysed whey peptides in the ingredients panel. I would imagine they are more referring to the peptide chains of aminos. If they had isolated the microfraction peptides as opposed to chains of aminos then surely they would list which ones they had isolated and the values. A protein could be made of various peptide aminos as well as whey, hence listing whey peptides yet the overall microfraction content could be very low.

This thread has been majorly sabotaged and really needs to get back to the point.

[Plaintiff]

I'd just lke to finish by saying that I was being a bit of knob when I said that Nutrawhey was shit. It's not shit , it's a decent protein for sure.

But I still wouldn't buy it.

If you eat inferior protein your gonna grow an inferior body. Obviously, your muscles are made of protein, but so are your organs, brain cells, genes, heomoglobin is made of protein and there are all those thousands of enzymes in your body that are also protein. You can screw up your carbohydrate and fat intake then correct it easily enough, but your mistakes with protein literally become who you are.

As we evolved we developed a seperate gut system to absorb dipeptides & tripeptides. That's a pretty big clue to how important they are.

I'm 'obbsessed' with peptides because there's something special about them.

When you get two or more amino acids joined together they being to carry information, this information has been shown to cause physiological responses that stimulate growth and recovery.

Ironically enough, the best protein I've found over the last couple of days has been this one: http://www.bodybuilding.co.nz/whey-protein-isolate.html

Will definately be giving this a nudge!

Make room in your budget and spend the extra coin on the best protein you can, one that's cold filtered and full of protein you will retain.

My 2 cents,

Over and out.

[Pseudonym]

This thread has been majorly sabotaged and really needs to get back to the point.

Sorted, so we can continue with the discussion - it's really interesting. :nod:

Just how much difference does a good quality protein make? When it comes to protein, most bodybuilders go for the cheap whey, and lots of it. Is this the right approach, or is quality more important than quantity?

EDIT: Seems while I was asking the question, Plaintiff was reading my mind.

[devil_911]

jesus all these 'ultra low temperature,full spetrum,crossflow,Highly efficient ion-exchanged,ultra premium microfiltration,non-chemical undenatured,bioactive,Micro-Diffuse,isolates, proteins' make my fonterra WPC look weak.i might have to dump it and get me some of those fency protein blends.with the high amount of bcaa and peptides,bv=110-150 even real food dont match up to them.

if supplement companies are anything to go by i better get some nitrotech

-subjects using the core formula in Nitro-Tech Hardcore Pro Series packed on an incredible 73 percent more lean muscle than subjects using whey protein.

-subjects using the core formula in Nitro-Tech Hardcore Pro Series jacked up their bench press by 143 percent more than subjects using whey protein.

lol!!! :pfft:

but joking aside bodybuilders have been around even before these designer proteins arrived in the market or even before supplement companies.so i am sure we be alright with the 'inferior proteins'

my reason to take WPC is to supplement my diet with additional protein and at a affordable price(poor man has to make do with whatever he can afford)

plaintiff whatever suits you bro its all cool mate 8) .whey protein only make up a small portion of my diet so that's why i dont stress too much about it.

Just how much difference does a good quality protein make? When it comes to protein, most bodybuilders go for the cheap whey, and lots of it. Is this the right approach, or is quality more important than quantity?

getting enough protein is the most important after that quality.chicken,eggs and Whey are excellent source's of protein.nothing wrong with them

protein is made of amino acids as long as those amino's are not ruined they are usable by the body.i doubt there is much of a return from these expensive protein blends.

real food is the key additional protein is only a side show so chill 8)

[mike27]

whats the best whey's to use as a supplement?

ontop of a well constructed nutrition already

at the momment im using nutratech unflavoured. 10kg

just pwo. rest of my protein is real food! :nod:

what provides the most aminos and bio avaliblity

[Flex]

Ironically enough, the best protein I've found over the last couple of days has been this one: http://www.bodybuilding.co.nz/whey-protein-isolate.html

Will definately be giving this a nudge!

Looks good. If it really is 0g of fat though you've lost all the Growth Factors which may or may not be an issue for you. Since they go into how it is meant to "contain a full balance of undenatured bioactive whey proteins" it would have been nice to show a breakdown of the fractions on their product website. Perhaps it's on the label? Let me know the breakdown if it is on the label.

The filtration method must have lowered the glutamine content quite a lot. A good WPC is around 25% glutamine, where as this is around 17% which includes the added glutamine complex. I like the idea that they have added what has been removed during the filtration process eg lactoferrin and glutamine, however it seems redundant to add lactase as the lactose content would be negligible if anything at all.

Good to get back into the finer details of whey protein as most people don't care about it anymore, but I haven't done much work this week so think I'm going to have to take a break and catch up on what pays the bills.

[Flex]

I don't normally like wikipedia stuff but this dude seems to know what he's talking about. If you're wondering why a manufacturer is never going to test the BV of their protein here's the reason:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_Value

Advantages and disadvantages

BV provides a good measure of the usability of proteins in a diet and also plays a valuable role in detection of some metabolic diseases. BV is, however, a scientific variable determined under very strict and unnatural conditions. It is not a test designed to evaluate the usability of proteins whilst an organism is in everyday life — indeed the BV of a diet will vary greatly depending on age, weight, health, sex, recent diet, current metabolism, etc. of the organism. In addition BV of the same food varies significantly species to species. Given these limitations BV is still relevant to everyday diet to some extent. No matter the individual or their conditions a protein source with high BV, such as egg, will always be more easily used than a protein source with low BV.

Determination of BV

For accurate determination of BV:[4]

1. the test organism must only consume the protein or mixture of proteins of interest (the test diet).

2. the test diet must contain no non-protein sources of nitrogen.

3. the test diet must be of suitable content and quantity to avoid use of the protein primarily as an energy source.

These conditions mean the tests are typically carried out over the course of over one week with strict diet control. Fasting prior to testing helps produce consistency between subjects (it removes recent diet as a variable).

There are two scales on which BV is measured; percentage utilization and relative utilization. By convention percentage BV has a percent sign (%) suffix and relative BV has no unit.

[edit] Percentage utilization

Biological value is determined based on this formula.[4][5]

BV = ( Nr / Na ) * 100

Where:

Na = nitrogen absorbed in proteins on the test diet

Nr = nitrogen incorporated into the body on the test diet

However direct measurement of Nr is essentially impossible. It will typically be measured indirectly from nitrogen excretion in urine.[6] Faecal excretion of nitrogen must also be taken into account - this protein is not absorbed by the body and so not included in the calculation of BV.

BV = ( ( Ni - Ne(f) - Ne(u) - Nb ) / Ni - Ne(f) ) * 100

Where:

Ni = nitrogen intake in proteins on the test diet

Ne(f) = nitrogen excreted in faeces whilst on the test diet

Ne(u) = nitrogen excreted in urine whilst on the test diet

Nb = nitrogen excreted on a protein free diet

Note:

Nr = Ni - Ne(f) - Ne(u) - Nb

Na = Ni - Ne(f)

This can take any value of 100 or less, including negative. A BV of 100% indicates complete utilization of a dietary protein, i.e. 100% of the protein ingested and absorbed is incorporated into proteins into the body. Negative values are possible if excretion of nitrogen exceeds intake in proteins. All non-nitrogen containing diets have negative BV. The value of 100% is an absolute maximum, no more than 100% of the protein ingested can be utilized (in the equation above Ne(u), Ne(f) and Nb cannot go negative, setting 100% as the maximum BV).

[edit] Relative utilization

Due to experimental limitations BV is often measured relative to an easily utilizable protein. Normally egg protein is assumed to be the most readily utilizable protein and given a BV of 100. For example:

Two tests of BV are carried out on the same person; one with the test protein source and one with a reference protein (egg protein).

relative BV = ( BV(test) / BV(egg) ) * 100

Where:

BV(test) = percentage BV of the test diet for that individual

BV(egg) = percentage BV of the reference (egg) diet for that individual

This is not restricted to values of less than 100. The percentage BV of egg protein is only 93.7% which allows other proteins with true percentage BV between 93.7% and 100% to take a relative BV of over 100. For example, whey protein takes a relative BV of 104, while its percentage BV is under 100%.

The principal advantage of measuring BV relative to another protein diet is accuracy; it helps account for some of the metabolic variability between individuals. In a simplistic sense the egg diet is testing the maximum efficiency the individual can take up protein, the BV is then provided as a percentage taking this as the maximum.

[edit] Conversion

Providing it is known which protein measurements were made relative to it is simple to convert from relative BV to percentage BV:

BV(percentage) = ( BV(relative) / BV(reference) ) * 100

BV(relative) = ( BV(percentage) / 100 ) * BV(reference)

Where:

BV(relative) = relative BV of the test protein

BV(reference) = percentage BV of reference protein (typically egg: 93.7%).

BV(percentage) = percentage BV of the test protein

While this conversion is simple it is not strictly valid due to the differences between the experimental methods. It is, however, suitable for use as a guideline.

[edit] Factors which affect BV

The determination of BV is carefully designed to accurately measure some aspects of protein usage whilst eliminating variation from other aspects. When using the test (or considering BV values) care must be taken to ensure the variable of interest is quantified by BV. Factors which affect BV can be grouped into properties of the protein source and properties of the species or individual consuming the protein.

[edit] Properties of the protein source

Three major properties of a protein source affect its BV:

* Amino acid composition, and the limiting amino acid, which is usually lysine

* Preparation (cooking)

* Vitamin and mineral content

Amino acid composition is the principal effect. All proteins are made up of combinations of the 21 biological amino acids. Some of these can be synthesised or converted in the body, whereas others cannot and must be ingested in the diet. These are known as essential amino acids (EAAs), of which there are 9 in humans. The number of EAAs varies according to species (see below).

EAAs missing from the diet prevent the synthesis of proteins that require them. If a protein source is missing critical EAAs, then its biological value will be low as the missing EAAs form a bottleneck in protein synthesis. For example, if a hypothetical muscle protein requires phenylalanine (an essential amino acid), then this must be provided in the diet for the muscle protein to be produced. If the current protein source in the diet has no phenylalanine in it the muscle protein cannot be produced, giving a low usability and BV of the protein source.

In a related way if amino acids are missing from the protein source which are particularly slow or energy consuming to synthesise this can result in a low BV.

Methods of food preparation also have an impact on availability of amino acids in a food source. Some of food preparation may damage or destroy some EAAs, reducing the BV of the protein source.

Many vitamins and minerals are vital for the correct function of cells in the test organism. If critical minerals or vitamins are missing from the protein source this can result in a massively lowered BV. Many BV tests artificially add vitamins and minerals (for example in yeast extract) to prevent this.

[edit] Properties of the test species or individual

[edit] Under test conditions

Variations in BV under test conditions are dominated by the metabolism of the individuals or species being tested. In particular differences in the essential amino acids (EAAs) species to species has a significant impact, although even minor variations in amino acid metabolism individual to individual have a large effect.

The fine dependence on the individual's metabolism makes measurement of BV a vital tool in diagnosing some metabolic diseases.

[edit] In everyday life

The principal effect on BV in everyday life is the organism's current diet, although many other factors such as age, health, weight, sex, etc. all have an effect. In short any condition which can affect the organism's metabolism will vary the BV of a protein source.

In particular, whilst on a high protein diet the BV of all foods consumed is reduced — the limiting rate at which the amino acids may be incorporated into the body is not the availability of amino acids but the rate of protein synthesis possible in cells. This is a major point of criticism of BV as a test; the test diet is artificially protein rich and may have unusual effects.

[edit] Factors with no effect

BV is designed to ignore variation in digestibility of a food — which in turn largely depends on the food preparation. For example compare raw soy beans and extracted soy bean protein. The raw soy beans, with tough cell walls protecting the protein, have a far lower digestibility than the purified, unprotected, soy bean protein extract. As a foodstuff far more protein can be absorbed from the extract than the raw beans, however the BV will be the same.

The exclusion of digestibility is a point of misunderstanding and leads to misrepresentation of the meaning of a high or low BV

[tomsammce]

flex how do u know all this shit man? u musta spent some serious time in bed with the night light on reading some big books! lol

[Flex]

flex how do u know all this shit man? u musta spent some serious time in bed with the night light on reading some big books! lol

Google.

[Rupert10]

Hi guys,,,

Its good that you people share plenty of information on the Whey protein.Its quite interesting to know that "fonterra WPC" is the main ingredient in Whey.

Any one knows from where to buy the Whey protein in flavor.

[HumanPerformance]

Good stuff here Flex, great reading.

[mike27]

so what do you reccomend when looking for a protein powder supp?

im in the market for a good quality pp

been on nutra tech 10kg bag of whey, great value! but after quality over quanity now....

only need 3kg or so for pwo only