Whey or casein?

fallonrhea

I did a very brief glance over the forum topics and didn't see this one - but I apologize if I'm repeating questions!

So what's the difference between whey and casein protein powders? I have heard that casein is metabolized more slowly - but what does this mean for me? Is it ever beneficial to have one over the other? Does it even matter?

Thanks!

Hendrix7

As you say casein digests a lot slower.

IMO it doesn't make any difference, whey cheaper so I use that.

Some people do say casein keeps them feeling fuller for longer so if you use protein as some kind of meal replacement maybe that's something to consider.

If you posted this on the main forums someone would chime in and say you need a casein shake before bed to feed your muscles during the night, but that's broscience

sam308lbs

i found this very interesting.Maybe there is some merit to using Casein

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10838463

Sarauk2sf

They both have excellent bioavailability and the whole protein synthesis/preventing muscle breakdown discussion between whey and casein is pretty moot. I prefer whey for shakes as it mixes better - casein gets really thick but use casein for mixing with yogurt for example.

There have been some studies done looking at whey v casein and the jury really is still out. However, total diet also needs to be looked at also.

There is the study noted above by sam that shows casein to be better, but the problem with the comparability of that study is that the casein included a much higher carbohydrate content than the whey (even though total daily carbs remained the same) that may have influenced the results. There is another study that looked at higher doses of whey and casein than the above one. This showed whey to have better results, however this study also had the people in the whey group to be consuming slightly more calories that causes issues with the validity of the study.

So if anything, it makes sense to use both.

CoderGal

They both have excellent bioavailability and the whole protein synthesis/preventing muscle breakdown discussion between whey and casein is pretty moot. I prefer whey for shakes as it mixes better - casein gets really thick but use casein for mixing with yogurt for example.

There have been some studies done looking at whey v casein and the jury really is still out. However, total diet also needs to be looked at also.

There is the study noted above by sam that shows casein to be better, but the problem with the comparability of that study is that the casein included a much higher carbohydrate content than the whey (even though total daily carbs remained the same) that may have influenced the results. There is another study that looked at higher doses of whey and casein than the above one. This showed whey to have better results, however this study also had the people in the whey group to be consuming slightly more calories that causes issues with the validity of the study.

So if anything, it makes sense to use both.

Interesting, thanks for sharing!

sjohnny

I normally use whey because it's cheaper but if I have casein I find it works better in recipes than shakes - as Sara said, it's thicker in shakes. For protein cheesecakes I've had much better results with casein over whey. I also like the texture and consistency of casein mixed in yogurt.

But performance-wise, whatever.

fallonrhea

Awesome! Thanks guys!