Whey was used as a primary source of protein when people didn’t have enough meat or other resources. Now you see it on your protein powder label. You think, is it pure?
The package will simply not tell you as it is. You will have to take a closer look at the label. Let me tell you what pure whey is without wasting any more time.
Why Some “Whey” Products Contain Milk Protein Concentrate
Whey is the liquid you get while making cheese. Its concentrate is made by removing the extra lactose, minerals, and water. Milk protein concentrate (MPC) comes from skimmed milk. It has 80% casein and 20% whey.
Some manufacturers create a blend of whey and milk protein concentrate(MPC) to reduce its costs. A blend of whey and MPC can still be marketed as Whey concentrate because whey is the first ingredient by weight.
Check the MPC and weight percentage by weight at the back of the label. The ingredients on a blend will have “Whey Protein Concentrate” or WPC80. On the label of a blend, you will find Whey Protein Concentrate, Whey Protein Isolate (WPI), Hydrolyzed Whey, or non-whey proteins.
Pure Whey Concentrate vs. Milk Protein Concentrate: What They Are
If you are still confused about Pure whey and Milk Protein, stop getting lost in the lingo. You can take both as long as they meet your training requirements. The thing you should know is that they have different effects on the body.
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Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC):
Whey is filtered during the production of cheese. The filtrate is dried and concentrated to form a fine powder. A standard whey concentrate has 80% protein and 20% carbohydrates, fats, and minerals. It is easier to digest because it mixes easily with stomach acid. The amino acids of the protein appear in your bloodstream 60-90 minutes after ingestion.
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Milk Protein Concentrate (MPC):
The protein supplement obtained from skim milk by removing water, lactose, and minerals. Its composition includes 80% casein and 20% whey. MPC digests slowly, and the bloodstream gets the amino acids after 5 to 7 hours, compared with the 1 to 2 hour digestion time of whey.
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WPC And MPC Collective Breakdown
A protein powder with a WPC and MPC blend will have a digestion time between the 1-2 hour and 5-7 hour range. The time it takes your body to digest the protein also depends on the ratio of whey used against MPC. Further research is required to ascertain a WPC-MPC blend digestion time.
The Leucine Difference
Leucine is an essential amino acid because your body cannot make it on its own. According to the research by Norton & Layman in 2006 and Churchward-Venne et al. in 2012, Leucine is shown to trigger muscle growth through the mTORC1 signaling pathway. It suggests that a threshold of 2- 3 g of Leucine is essential to utilize this particular pathway in adults. (1)
Whey protein concentrate contains approximately 10 to 11 percent leucine by amino acid composition. A standard 25g serving of WPC80 delivers roughly 2.5 to 2.75g of leucine, placing it close to or at the activation threshold for most trained adults. (2)
Because MPC is roughly 80 percent casein, and casein contains approximately 8 to 9 percent leucine, a product blending WPC with significant MPC will deliver less leucine per gram of protein than pure whey concentrate. The threshold model has real limitations because individual requirements vary by body mass, training status, and age, and the 2 to 3g figure should be treated as an estimate rather than a hard cutoff.
Digestion Rate, Satiety, and Post-Workout Context
The fact that you take a protein concentrate does not mean that you will automatically get gains. You need to correlate each dosage with the timing of your workout and your eating habits
Digestion Matters
The difference in the speed of digestion of whey and milk concentrates has a huge impact on their ability to trigger protein synthesis. According to a study by Boirie et. al in 1997, whey and casein molecules were labeled with isotopes and found that Whey produced a high peak in the concentration of blood plasma amino acids within 60 to 90 minutes of taking it. Casein showed lower levels even after five hours. (3)
Pre Or Post Workout Dose
When you start working out, you need to know when to take the whey extract for maximum impact. In a 2001 study by Tipton et al., researchers found that ingesting whey concentrate after resistance exercise increased the muscle protein balance. After one to two hours, whey concentrate showed increased protein balance as compared to casein. (4)
This study is not final because of a 2012
meta-analysis by Cermak et. al. The research analyzed 22 randomized controlled trials which showed that protein supplements increased gains in lean mass, but they could not explain the difference between whey and casein protein triggering abilities in relation to the speed of digestion. (5)
After studying all the evidence, you can see that a protein that digests quickly can provide enough leucine to trigger protein synthesis. But whether it has any advantage over a casein-heavy blend is yet to be researched.
Satiety:
The one thing that supports MPC blends is the feeling of satiety it provides. Casein digests slowly, so it gives a sense of fullness to the athlete. It encourages them to continue training but does not have an impact on post-workout recovery timing.
What Matters More: Total Daily Protein and Training
The extensive research through systematic reviews and meta-analyses suggests that daily protein intake drives muscle protein synthesis during resistance training. According to Cemak and colleagues, protein supplements increase the adaptive response of the skeletal muscle in resistance training. (5)
For muscle mass and strength gains, Morton and colleagues analyzed 49 studies and suggest that protein supplements support these two goals. Morton and colleagues found the benefit of protein supplementation on muscle mass and strength plateaued at approximately 1.62g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day. (6)
The underlying factor in this regard is regular resistance training. Protein supplements alone cannot have the same impact on someone who doesn’t train regularly. A protein supplement helps in keeping consistency, maintaining sleep cycles, and adequate calories in your body.
For trainees consistently hitting 1.6 to 2.2g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day from any source, the difference between a pure WPC and a WPC/MPC blend in a single serving is unlikely to be the limiting factor in muscle growth.
The difference will have an impact on older trainees who depend on their protein supplement for muscle growth. The people who use protein supplements in place of a regular meal would benefit from a pure protein source such as whey as compared to a blend.
How to Read the Ingredient Label
You already know the difference between Whey and Milk Protein concentrate by now. Here is a formal guideline on how to read the label without fumbling it up.
- Protein supplements list ingredients by weight, especially in the US and Canada. It means that the component highest in weight is listed first. So a pure whey concentrate will show “Whey Protein Concentrate” or simply “Whey Concentrate.” There will be no other protein listed in the ingredients.
- To find out which protein concentrate has milk protein, look for the terms milk protein concentrate,” “milk protein isolate,” or “calcium caseinate” in the list of ingredients. If you find even one of these terms it means you are looking at a blend.
- The front and back label of a whey concentrate tell completely different stories. If the front label says Pure Whey on the front, it doesn’t mean that the back will list the same. The back label will show whether the product is a pure concentrate or a blend. If the back lists only whey protein concentrate with no other protein source, you have found a pure whey product. It will have flavors and sweeteners, but it will NOT have milk protein isolate or calcium caseinate.
- A blend will list “whey protein concentrate, milk protein concentrate” as the top two ingredients and will mention casein as a primary part of the total protein content.
- To calculate the leucine per serving in a Whey concentrate or MPC, multiply the grams of protein per serving by 0.10 for Whey and 0.09 for a blend with a high amount of MPC. If the yield is 2 to 3 mg Leucine per serving, it will easily reach the threshold for triggering protein synthesis.
If the question of what makes the best whey protein powder comes down to one thing, it is the protein source line on the ingredient list. Products like True North Protein use whey protein concentrate as the sole protein source, which you can verify directly on the label.
The WPC/MPC distinction is real, but it sits below total daily protein intake and consistent training in the hierarchy of what actually builds muscle. For most trainees, the ingredient list is worth reading once to know what they bought. For older athletes or anyone relying on powder as a primary protein source, maximizing leucine per serving matters more and the label is where that calculation starts.
References:
- Norton, L. E., & Layman, D. K. (2006). Leucine regulates translation initiation of protein synthesis in skeletal muscle after exercise. The Journal of Nutrition, 136(2), 533S–537S. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/136.2.533S
- Wilkinson, K., Koscien, C. P., Monteyne, A. J., Wall, B. T., & Stephens, F. B. (2023). Association of postprandial postexercise muscle protein synthesis rates with dietary leucine: A systematic review. Physiological Reports, 11(15), e15775. https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.15775
- Boirie, Y., Dangin, M., Gachon, P., Vasson, M.-P., Maubois, J.-L., & Beaufrère, B. (1997). Slow and fast dietary proteins differently modulate postprandial protein accretion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 94(26), 14930–14935. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.94.26.14930
- Tipton, K. D., Elliott, T. A., Cree, M. G., Aarsland, A., Sanford, A. P., & Wolfe, R. R. (2001). Ingestion of casein and whey proteins result in muscle anabolism after resistance exercise. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 33(12), 2073–2081. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11194578/
- Cermak, N. M., Res, P. T., de Groot, L. C., Saris, W. H., & van Loon, L. J. (2012). Protein supplementation augments the adaptive response of skeletal muscle to resistance-type exercise training: a meta-analysis. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 96(6), 1454–1464. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.112.037556
- Morton, R. W., Murphy, K. T., McKellar, S. R., Schoenfeld, B. J., Henselmans, M., Helms, E., Aragon, A. A., Devries, M. C., Banfield, L., Krieger, J. W., & Phillips, S. M. (2017). A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52(6), 376–384. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2017-097608
Written by Ellie Pierre (iam.elliepierre@gmail.com)
