Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC) Vs Whey Protein Isolate (WPI)
Did you ever notice a thin layer of liquid at the top of yogurt whenever you open the yogurt container? Surprisingly, some people discard the top layer into the trash, but this top nutrient enriched watery layer is a valuable part, since it hold all the health benefits and known as WHEY, a fast acting and quickly absorb-able complete protein that contains all the nine essential amino acids.
Industrially whey protein powder is categorized into various forms, based upon the protein, fat, carbohydrates and lactose content. The amount of proteins, fat and lactose depend on the filtration methods as the whey protein concentrate (up to 80% protein) is lightly filtered in contrast to whey protein isolate (up to 90% protein) which is heavily filtered to remove lactose, making it less fat-free and retaining more quantity of proteins, thus isolate form is more refined, have extra amount of proteins and minimum amount of lactose and fat compared to whey concentrate.
Now the question is which whey protein form to prefer, whey concentrate or whey isolate?
Well, It simply depends on health priorities and fitness goals as whey concentrate is slower to digest than whey isolate for that reason it is the best choice to keep hunger away. Surely it will help you to feel full for longer time, support overall health, maintain healthy weight and to meet your weight loss goal easily.
Another great feature of whey concentrate compared to an isolate is low price, but contains high level of lactose, which can make you bloated after consuming or you may have lactose intolerance if you are sensitive to the lactose. However, whey protein concentrate is the best option for food and baking industry.
On the other hand whey protein isolate is the best choice for the intensive form of physical activity, hard training athletes and maximizing muscle mass because whey protein isolate is easy to break down, absorb quickly and equally good for the lactose intolerant people, no more gas and bloating as it carries almost no lactose and also the preferred form for the baby food or infant formula because of its easy digestible and quick absorbing quality.