Tag Archives: casein protein

Undecided on whether to take whey protein or casein protein? Read on and get the lowdown!

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Selecting the correct source of protein is very important when following a nutritional regime. Whilst all Australian nutritional labels list "protein", the different types of protein available in foods vary quite significantly and can produce very different results.

Casein based protein takes roughly 7 hours to digest (of course this will vary between individuals). For this reason, it has been suggested as an "anti-catabolic" protein source that is appropriate to consume before bed. It is also for this reason that it is not a good source of protein to consume right after a workout (when your body requires fast acting nutrients).

Dairy products are abundant in casein. Milk, for example is approximately 80% casein protein and 20% whey protein. Whey is a faster absorbing protein source. Cottage cheese contains a similar ratio.

Try checking out different types of protein powders. On the ingredients list, you will see what types of protein are contained within the product. The ingredients are listed in order of abundance, so the ingredient with the highest % will be listed first.

A note with ingredients, if, for example the list is as follows:

Protein mix (whey isolate, calcium cassienate, egg albumen, whey concentrate), soy isolate...

Then there could be more soy isolate than calcium cassienate. This is often used a marketing trick that is employed to make it appear that there is more of an expensive ingredient, when in fact there isn't. In the above example, there may be 10g of "protein mix" and 8g of soy isolate. However the protein mix is comprised of whey isolate, casein, egg and whey concentrate - which could be of magnitude 3g, 3g, 2g, 2g respectively.

Josh wrote a good article on the subject,