Soy Protein VS Whey Protein

Whey Protein powder is better in my opinion. I'm not an expert, but I do have a degree in exercise science and have studied nutrition some. Soy protein can act as a phyto-estrogen. Phyto-estrogens can be good for women, especially after menopause. I do not find them to be as conducive to weight loss, especially if ingested often. I would suggest switching to Whey Protein or to use a blend of Soy and Whey Protein.

You won't get bulky. No one food will make you bulky.
And I would only use soy if you can't have dairy

Protein powders are supplements or convenience foods not meal replacements. They are fine in smoothies, but on their own you are likely missing out of a raft of nutrients from a wholefood meal. Most people find it tough to hit nine servings of fruit and veg and three of dairy if they don't spread it out through the day and, no, whey isolate is not as dairy product.

I am a vegetarian. Growing up, as an omnivore, I read a lot about “complete” proteins, which seemed to be the buzzword at the time. What I was led to believe was that plant proteins are missing some of the “essential” amino acids, the ones that are needed for muscle development and growth. And Animal proteins (meat, whey, egg) are “complete”. Even vegetarian books and sites seem to agree, basically conceding that that is true, but adding “just mix two proteins together, and you’ll make sure not to miss any amino acids, beans and rice are an example of things that complement eachother.”

Recently, I did a lot of research online about different proteins and their amino acid profiles. I wanted to see what kinds of amino acids certain foods were missing – like wheat, soy, and nuts, so that I could plan my diet and my daughter’s diet accordingly.

But what I found was that things I read as a youth were apparently not true. No protein is just “missing” any number of amino acids. They’re all there. The only thing I noticed is that a slightly lower percentage of the protein is composed of the “essential” amino acids in most plant-based protein compared to animal ones. So if you wanted to eat, say, 20 grams of essential amino acids, you might need to eat 50g of beef protein to get it, but it would take 57g of wheat protein to get it.

Same goes for the BCAAs, which, as I understand, are the “essential essential” amino acids as far as muscle building is concerned – Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine. Plant proteins all contain these three amino acids as well, in basically the same proportion as they are found in animal proteins.

Here’s what I put together after getting a couple amino acid profiles off the net:

Source --- % of protein in essential AA --- % of protein in BCAA

Spirulina --- 47 --- 21
Whey --- 46 --- 22
Egg White --- 45 --- 22
Tuna --- 44 --- 18
Bean --- 48 --- 17
Chicken --- 42 --- 18
Yeast --- 41 --- 18
Casein --- 41 --- 21
Beef --- 40 --- 18
Soy --- 38 --- 18
Wheat --- 35 --- 19
Quinoa --- 33 --- 14
Nut/Seed --- 32 --- 15

So, long story short, you’re not going to miss any amino acids by eating a plant-based diet, but you might want to increase your protein intake by 10-15% to make sure you’re getting the same amount of essential amino acids.