Cheap Whey Protein Isolate (WPI)

Whey Protein Isolate powders go through the best filtering process to remove fat and carbohydrates. In general, these powders will contain a higher percentage of protein compared to Whey Protein Concentrate - generally around 90% protein. These are best utilized immediately after a workout and first thing in the morning when fast-acting protein is needed most.

AST Sports Science VP2
Cytodyne CytoPro WPI
EAS Precision Protein
Ergopharm's GF-PRO
HSN Primer Protein
Kaizen Whey Protein Isolate
Molecular Nutrition's Whey Fruity
Nature's Best IsoPure Protein
NOW Whey Protein Isolate, Unflavored
Prolab Whey Protein Isolate
SportPharma Whey Isolate Protein
Syntrax Nectar

5 lb. canister:
NOW Whey Protein Isolate, Unflavored

Ready-To-Drink:
EAS Precision Protein RTD

Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC)

These products contain Whey Protein Concentrate (generally around 75% to 80% protein) and may also have a small amount of Whey Protein Isolate blended in. None of these products contains more Whey Protein Isolate than Concentrate. Whey Protein Concentrate is much more economical than the Isolates because the process of removing most of the carbs and fat is relatively inexpensive compared to getting the maximal amounts out to isolate the protein.

Champion Nutrition Pro-Score 100
Cytodyne Methoxy-Pro
Designer Protein
ISS Research Complete Whey Power
Labrada ProPlete Gold (with bits of fruit or chocolate)
MuscleTech Nitro-Tech
Optimum Any Whey (Unflavored)
Pinnacle Juiced Protein
Sportpharma Just-WHEY

5 lb. canister:
Champion Pure Whey Protein Stack
HDT 5 Plus 1 Whey Protein
ISS Research Whey Matrix
Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Protein
Prolab Pure Whey Protein
EAS MyoPro Whey Protein

10 lb. canister:
MRM Metabolic Whey

Cheap Protein Blends (Mixed Protein Sources)

Many researchers believe that quick-absorbing proteins like Whey Protein are best immediately after a workout and first thing in the morning when your body has extra protein needs, but a mixture of various slower-absorbing proteins are better at other times of the day to spread out the absorption for several hours. This helps keep amino acids in the bloodstream for use by muscle tissue as needed. Below are products containing blends of various protein sources - including whey protein. These are recommended for general use throughout the day and at bed time.

BSN Lean Dessert Protein
HDT Pro Blend 55
HSN Driver Protein
ISS Research ProM3
Labrada ProV60
MET-Rx Protein Plus
Muscle-Link ProFusion
Naturade N-R-G Protein
Optimum Nutrition Pro Complex
Sportpharma Lean Protein Powder
Universal Nutrition Animal Max
Zone Perfect Protein Powder

Cheap Protein Sources

Protein powders are useful to supplement your diet with a high quality protein without consuming the saturated fats that frequently accompany whole foods that are high in protein. Some people prefer to eat foods that are high in carbohydrates, so consuming protein drinks with meals allows them to continue to eat their preferred foods while getting the protein their body needs. Protein powder is also excellent for use in recipes to make Zone diet, low carbohydrate diet, ketogenic diet, or just high protein meals.

The Biological Value, or BV, of a protein is an indicator of the quality of the protein. It is a measure of a protein's ability to be used by the body (or its bioavailability). It is a percentage (though the scale is skewed resulting in some BV's of greater than 100) of the absorbed protein that your body actually uses. Biological Values are indicators of which proteins are best at aiding nitrogen retention in muscles to help them maintain or grow in mass.

Many of the whey protein powder manufacturers claim that their products have BV values well above regular whey protein by various techniques such as ion-exchange processing, hydrolization, and adding other ingredients such as specific amounts of limiting essential amino acids.

Hydrolyzation is a process breaking large peptides into smaller ones. It is sometimes referred to as "pre-digested".

Regular undigested whey will be broken down into di- and tri-peptides via enzymes in the gut and will be absorbed, but the process takes a while. Hydrolyzation is useful when protein delivery is needed very quickly so the body doesn't have to require the time and enzymes doing it. The benefit is of having a quickly absorbed protein immediately after a workout to ensure the muscle tissue is flooded with nutrients in a timely manner.

Protein Source	BV
Whey Protein Isolate Blends Whey Concentrate (Lactalbumin) Whole Egg Cow's Milk Egg White (Albumin) Fish Beef Chicken Casein Rice Soy Wheat Beans Peanuts	100-159 104 100 91 88 83 80 79 77 74 59 54 49 43

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