Short Answer: If your body tolerates whey, ALWAYS choose a high quality whey protein. Like this –> Dymatize ISO-100 Whey
When it comes to protein powders, whey isolate or whey hydrolysate are often considered the gold standard, and for good reason.
When it comes to biological value, or…
“a measure of the proportion of absorbed protein from a food which becomes incorporated into the proteins of the organism’s body. It captures how readily the digested protein can be used in protein synthesis in the cells of the organism.” (wikipedia)
Whey scores a 104, while soy scores a 74, meaning soy is less utilized by muscles and other organs.
Same thing goes with the net utilization, or…
“The net protein utilization, or NPU, is the ratio of amino acid converted to proteins to the ratio of amino acids supplied. This figure is somewhat affected by the salvage of essential amino acids within the body, but is profoundly affected by the level of limiting amino acids within a foodstuff.” (wikipedia)
Whey scores a 92 while soy scores a 61.
Whey also has almost TWICE the amount of the amino acid Leucine, which is essential for stimulating muscle protein synthesis (muscle growth)
Lastly, there are studies linking the consumption of soy based products, which contain phytoestrogens, to lowered testosterone in men…which is never a good thing. Whey protein will not increase testosterone in women, so don’t panic ladies.
While soy protein is a complete protein (contains all essential amino acids – unlike most plant based proteins), it is inferior to whey protein as a whole.
So as long as you can tolerate whey, or are not following a vegan diet, stick with whey.
If you cannot tolerate whey protein, give egg white protein a try – as it is highly bioavailable (100) and has a great NPU (94).
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Stay healthy my friends,