Choosing the Best Protein Powder the Easy Way

The world of proteins and manufacturers hype associated with its sale is huge and growing. For instance, I've seen manufacturers promoting their particular proteins with a Biological Value (BV) of over 100 ( The Biological Value (BV) is a scale of measurement used to determine what percentage of a given nutrient source is utilized by the body. The theoretical highest BV of any food source is 100%. The scale is most frequently applied to protein sources, particularly whey protein).

To show you how ridiculous these kinds of claims are consider that in theory, BV has a maximum value of 100 (BV is an attempt to measure how efficiently protein is used in your body). If you knew this you would know it would be impossible for any protein to have a score greater than 100.

What most manufacturers count on is their customers not knowing you can't have a BV score greater than 100. So they tout a figure that's not possible knowing 99.9% of their potential customers would never realize this. And, of course, the only reason they do this is to improve their bottom line. They figure a customer will see their BV at 159, compare it to another product promoting a 105 BV (and still wrong because it's over 100), and buy their product because of this higher figure.

They use trickery to claim, "850% more fat loss than brand X" or simliar declarations. And guess what? The consumer is biting. These type of tactics unfortunately work.

But let me ask you, is advertising expensive? Are most of these companies spending a fortune on advertising to get you to buy their product? The answer, as you've probably already surmised, is a resounding yes.

ECONOMICS 101

In the world of mathematics there are rarely any gray areas.

What I'm getting at is this -- For manufacturers to maintain an adequate margin and make a profit, they have to reduce the cost of manufacturing their product to as low a level as possible. It's simple economics. And in order to meet market demands for a lower priced product (from competition and consumers) yet maintain their high-profile advertising budget, something has to give.

Most of the time this 'give' is in the quality of their product. Let me give you an example.

Due to the way labeling laws are set up right now a manufacturer could reduce the amount of say, whey hydrolysate (the second most expensive protein to make) in their product from 33% to 5%, increase the amount of whey isolate to make up the difference, and not have to change the label one bit.

Would you know this was happening? Chances are, no. Are they saving money by doing this? You bet! Will you get different results taking the version with the cheaper protein? It's possible you might.

WHAT'S THE ANSWER

Therein lies the difficulty. There really is no sure-fire way to be certain any manufacturer always has in the product what is on the label. I'd be lying if I said there was. And nobody is going to send each batch of protein powder they buy to a lab for analysis.

A recent check of 600 legal supplements by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) found 150 of them contained banned substances not listed on the label such as steroids, caffeine, and ephedrine. This is 25% of all products checked! Although this study mentioned nothing of the ingredients meeting label claims or not, chances are the products 'contaminated' by other substances didn't.

INDEPENDENT CHECKS SHOW THE WAY

Fortunately, there have been independent checks performed by several companies in an attempt to find which manufacturers met label claims and which ones didn't. Some of the companies consistently meeting or exceeding label claims were Beverly International, CytoSport, EAS, Met-Rx, Twinlab, and Weider. This is not to say there weren't more it's just that these companies seemed to be consistently mentioned.

Using independent checks from companies or agencies with no underlying product-selling agendas are one of the few ways the average consumer can decide which supplement manufacturer to use.

ANOTHER PROBLEM

Most protein powders taste little better than warmed over vomit (sorry about that, didn't mean to gross you out, but it's unfortunately true). Pick up any protein powder you see on the shelf, open it up, grab the scoop inside, and mix it up according to the label. 99 times out of 100 you'll wrinkle your nose in disgust and vow to never kill your taste buds like that ever again. Here's why they all taste bad (and the ones that are marginally palatable undoubtedly have a lot of sugar and/or fat in them - READ THE LABEL!): It's easier to throw in a smorgasbord of different proteins and call yourself the "best protein powder in the world." However, it's much harder to put good proteins together ALONG WITH a great-tasting flavor. This is almost virtually impossible to do... like I said... just go out and try some.

THE ANSWER

Luck... and maybe a personal recommendation. There's a couple of protein powders I've found that meet the "good proteins" requirement along with tasting pretty good. This list is by no means all-inclusive, and of course, personal taste preference is a factor as well. But the following protein powders should please most anyone's palate:
* Met-Rx Original Version - Vanilla
* Beverly International Ultimate Muscle Protein (don't let the name scare you) - Vanilla
* CytoSport Muscle Milk - Vanilla

One of these 3 is bound to satisfy your taste buds. Vanilla is the flavor of choice first because it tastes good all by itself, and you can also easily mix it with most anything else (milk, fruit, peanut butter, etc) and the flavor will be improved - not so with some of the other flavors. Give them a try.

TURN THIS PROTEIN DOWN

If you're a man you probably shouldn't take soy protein. Although there are a number of studies and articles promoting its health benefits, there are a growing number of studies showing just the opposite.

These studies show a lowered testosterone level and a lowered thyroid hormone output (which makes it harder for you to lose fat) is on the agenda for you if you take it. Plus, it has been shown to negatively affect a developing human fetus. And this is just a partial list.

For now there are too many questions about soy protein and your best course of action is simply to not take it. If you're a parent and are feeding your children soy products please stop. Especially in the case of boys, you may be harming their sexual organ development. Understand I'm not saying this is going to happen, I'm just reporting to you what I have read in the recent studies I've seen.

Soy is loaded with 'phytoestrogens'. These are plant hormones that mimic our bodies more potent hormone, estrogen. It has been shown that moderate intake of soy products raises a man's estrogen levels and contributes to side effects associated with its intake.

Also, since women represent some 80% of hypothyroidism cases (lowered metabolism due to inadequate output of thyroid hormones), if you're a woman you should also be careful with your soy protein intake.

The take-home message is to stick to the companies mentioned above and follow my recommendations when choosing any protein product.