Grass-Fed Whey Protein Isolate

> Once they equate for total protein intake source has no impact. This isn’t true. See PDCAAS (and some sample foods) more scores exist online): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_digestibility_corrected_amino_acid_score Unless you mean whey protein A vs whey protein B vs whey protein C, in which case yes, the brand isn’t that important. If you’re talking more generically about arbitrary protein sources (which is what I’m interpreting), not all are the same. Digestibility plays a key role in quality of protein sources for your gain goals. Whey has a PCDAAS score of 1 meaning if you measured a portion size out that included 10g of protein in it, your body would get pretty darn close to the 10g digested for use. So for ON and Ghost whey isolate… it’s the same, what matters more is the other macros they may throw in, flavor, etc. Meanwhile, black beans has a PCDAAS score of 0.75, which means if you measured a portion of black beans out that according to the nutrition information included 10g of protein, your body would *only* be able to capture around 7.5g of that 10g. You’d in fact need to increase your black beans portion to have 13.3g of protein in order to get 10g of protein from it that your body can use. This is important if you use tracker apps to watch protein goals because most all I know of don’t include PCDAAS adjustments. MyFitnessPal will throw all sorts of trash protein in from random things you are that are low digestibility of protein, which may deceive you that you met your protein goals by 10-20 or more grams depending on your diet. It’s adding protein from rice, beans, gluten… all at assuming 1:1 when none of these are that great of protein sources. It gets more complicated because different food sources of protein may provide a complete or incomplete protein. Whey is a complete protein, you’re getting all the amino acids you need for repair and recovery. Black beans mentioned above are an incomplete protein as well, mixing them with things like rice can make it a complete protein, same with collagen sources. Those shakes you buy are complete protein sources. Also animal meats in general are great. But it’s definitely not all is equal. It’s important to know if you’re serious about a strict diet that hits protein goals and optimizes on other macros and total calories.

The context assumes people understand protein digestibility. Most people don’t. If you don’t state it, it’s not a reasonable assumption. Those studies tend to use highly digestible protein. They’re not counting 1g/lb based on pea protein. They’re using whey. They’re using chicken breast. The source matters. Op is asking about non-animal protein. That means the context being unstated is even more important.

The protein powder you go with should be the one you enjoy the most, works well with your digestive system, and meets any dietary restrictions you may want/need. Isolate can be good if you’re serious about your diet and just want a strong protein supplement source without other bits. Can also help with digestive issues with things like lactose intolerance. Plant based proteins can be but you need to make sure it’s a complete protein source and check the PCDAAS source. Say you decide on a pea protein isolate source. You’re only getting around 90% of the listed value so if you were to use it to meet say 100g of protein per day, you’d actually be getting closer to 90g. So consider that in conjunction with your choice. Sometimes rice protein is mixed with pea protein to be a complete source. With whey you can’t go wrong if you don’t have issues digesting it, that’s the reason it’s so popular, you can go on autopilot without thinking. For brands… whatever meets your budget and has good macros for you. Transparent labs is good stuff but pricey. I use ON Gold because it’s at Costco on sale all the time (right now, in fact) so I get it at a great price and can stock up for a year or so. Plus I love the taste and am not too concerned about the artificial sweeteners.