Protein Value And USDA Standards

Big supplement brands try to get away with as much as possible when it comes to labelling and marketing. It can be hard for the consumer to discern what is and is not a good product. Mark Glazier gives some insight into what is required of supplement companies standard wise by the USDA and how we can use this to determine the quality of a supplement.

Not all protein sources are created equal. Depending on what is listed on the label you could be consuming a high quality protein source, or absolute garbage. If a product is listed as whey protein isolate (WPI) that means it has a minimum of 90% protein value. In other words it is a high quality product and can be recommended for use by athletes.

It becomes more difficult to discern whether a protein is high quality when it is listed as a whey protein concentrate (WPC). The USDA dictates that WPC’s be a minimum of 25% protein and a maximum of 80% protein. If a WPC supplement is 80% protein, then it would only be 10% lower than the isolate and still a good product. Depending on the WPC product chosen it could be 80% protein and a good supplement choice with plenty of protein from good sources, or it could be 25% protein and actually be harmful to athletes.

What happens when a WPC product is close to 25% and lower in quality? If it is only 25% protein the product is filled with other compounds, either lactose, fat, or sugar. Imagine the effect that consuming high quantities of these products would do to athlete. Gastric discomfort is sure to follow the ingestion of these products; subsequently there will be a drop in performance if low quality products are consumed close to games or training sessions. Making a basic knowledge of supplements a necessary tool to have.

Watch Mark Glazier, CEO of NutraBio, share his passion about this topic here.

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