The Fragility of Whey Protein
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
I have written before about pasteurization and some of the problems associated with it, such as 7-keto cholesterol formation. I have also written about the health benefits of whey protein, mainly its ability to boost glutathione (our master antioxidant).
Today I wanted to talk a little bit about both, but first I wanted cover glutathione in a bit more detail.
Glutathione has many important functions:
- Neutralizes free radicals and peroxides
- Maintains blood levels of antioxidants vitamins C and E
- Helps the liver and white blood cells in the detoxification of foreign compounds and carcinogens
- Is essential for the immune system to be maximized
- Plays a key role in a plethora of metabolic and biological processes like DNA synthesis, protein synthesis, prostaglandin synthesis and more.
We know that whey protein’s cysteine content is responsible for much of its ability to boost glutathione, but not all of it. This ability may also come from two biological fractions: beta-lactoglobulin and serum albumin. These proteins contain some very unique glutamyl-cysteine bonds that tend to enter our blood stream intact, and are much more readily turned into glutathione. Unfortunately it seems that when whey protein undergoes extensive heat treatment, these two delicate fractions are destroyed.
Not only is this a problem in whey protein powder processing, it is a problem with pasteurizing milk. In fact, pasteurization in general decreases the whey protein concentration in milk. The heat causes the proteins to denature and associate with the casein proteins. The higher the temperature, like when milk is ultra-pasteurized, the greater the denaturing of whey.
In fact whey normally makes up about 20% of the protein in raw milk. Gentle pasteurization (high temperature, short time) causes this to drop down to about 12-13%, while ultra-pasteurization causes whey to fall to only about 5% of the total protein content!
On top of that, exposing raw milk to different heat treatments also affected those delicate biological fractions of whey. In raw milk beta-lactoglobulin makes up almost 90% of the whey protein. After gentle pasteurization it made up just under 70%, and after ultra-pasteurization it dropped down to just over 20%!
In addition to the beta-lactoglobulin, serum albumin levels are also affected by pasteurization. Gentle pasteurization has been found to decrease serum albumin levels by 40%, while ultra-pasteurization reduced it by 77%!
I point out all of this simply to highlight the fact that much of what we have done to our food supply, and this is just one example, has significantly decreased the benefits of those foods. We have gone away from using traditional (and by that I mean non-industrial) methods of food preparation and food safety, and much to our dismay our health has diminished and our food safety is not what it should be. Is pasteurized milk healthier? I would say no. Is it safer? Maybe.
I am not telling you that you need to drink raw milk, in reality you don’t need to drink milk at all. I am simply giving you the information so that you can make an informed choice.
From a personal standpoint I was consuming raw milk before my wife was pregnant, but have not done so since. As much as I feel it is a healthier food, to me the difference between that and the Maine’s Own Organic Milk (gently pasteurized) that we drink now is not enough to justify the risk of listeria to her and our unborn daughter.
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Posted on January 24th, 2011 by Brian St. Pierre
25 Comments
January 24th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Is powdered whey protein usually pasteurized?
January 25th, 2011 at 7:50 am
[...] prolonged endurance exercise. But not all whey protein is created equal. Here is a good read on the Fragility of Whey Protein (and milk) that goes into some of the differences. I generally recommend a undenatured whey protein like [...]
January 25th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
I do believe that the milk it comes from is yes, but I am not positive. Beyond that just the processing of whey protein usually involves high heat and or acids, unless otherwise noted.
January 29th, 2011 at 11:17 am
Does that mean that 99.9% of the protein market is dominated by (possibly) harmful/acidic proteins? Obviously, the good ones are a bit more expensive, and I have tried and been satisfied with a few. Then again, the companies could be claiming to be more ‘loving’ than they actually are. I don’t use any protein powder at the moment, but I’ll trawl through your site and glean your best recommendations for future reference. Boosting glutathione levelseems like a great idea.
January 30th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
I quit using whey protein powders years ago, but after reading about the health benefits and wanting to put a little bit of size back on I’m reconsidering. Most of the whey proteins I have come across also contain soy, which I refuse to put in my body. Do you have any recommendations of whey protein powders that don’t contain soy?
February 2nd, 2011 at 9:57 am
Russell,
They usually only contain soy lecithin. This is simply an emulsifier, and is in tiny amounts. It is nothing to worry about whatsoever.
February 7th, 2011 at 11:37 am
[...] The Fragility of Whey Protein – Great blog post from Brian St. Pierre, for those of you who are looking for a bit of nutrition to kick off your week. [...]
February 7th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
But isnt denaturing a good thing? My chemistry prof mentioned that denaturing a protein (ex. cooking an egg) actually makes it easier to digest.
February 7th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Mond,
Yes it can be, with eggs for an example. In terms of whey the denaturing of the protein has little to nothing to do with its digestion. The heat or acids that denature it, also destroy many of its fragile biological fractions.
February 7th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Hi,
I’m having trouble with one aspect:
if whey is fragile and can’t withstand acidity or high temperatures, what happens when it enters your stomach
which is very acidic (and kind of hot)?
February 7th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
Brian -
How did you go about getting raw milk? I was under the impression that farmers were not allowed to sell it
Thanks
February 7th, 2011 at 3:10 pm
lpm,
You are correct at pointing out the acidity of our stomach, I should not have stated that, as it is really the heat (and time) that is the problem. While our stomach is body temperature, it is nowhere near the heat used for pasteurization.
Greenie,
It depends on the state. Here in Maine you can easily purchase from it from a farmer or at a farmer’s market. Other states it is not so easy. I know people in other states that have bought a percentage of a cow, more or less, and therefore are entitled to the milk that cow produces, since they own it.
February 7th, 2011 at 3:29 pm
thanks for the clarification!
(and also for responding so quickly)
February 7th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
I try!
February 8th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Brian,
If I were to buy raw milk, would the heat from the microwave be enough to destroy protein and nutrients? I always make a hot coco at night and microwave the milk for about two minutes. Thank you.
February 8th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gold's Gym Dewitt, Tyson Lee. Tyson Lee said: RT @jbartoll: The Fragility of Whey Protein (pasteurization) http://t.co/aGx1Ol4 [...]
February 11th, 2011 at 8:08 am
The microwave would certainly create some oxidized cholesterol. As for the protein and nutrients, I am unsure, I would imagine so, but I don’t actually know.
I will say that I am not a fan of the microwave in general. I do own one, but it doesn’t get used often.
February 13th, 2011 at 7:35 am
That is scary to hear about the microwave. Are any types of milk safer to use in the microwave, like lower fat vs whole milk, or would the oxidized cholesterol be about the same? I guess, I need to come up with a different system. The microwave is just so convenient and quick. Things like that do not get talked about often. I always just assumed that if microwaves were not safe, we wouldn’t sell them, but assuming things is not always smart.
February 15th, 2011 at 6:07 am
Cory,
Assuming rarely works out in our favor, that is for sure. To my knowledge none of them are safer than another, but I am not 100% sure. Either way I don’t think it would make a tremendous difference.
February 15th, 2011 at 10:07 am
Thanks Brian,
I am going to switch to using either the coffee pot or a sauce pan on the stove. I think the coffee pot might be best because it should warm the milk good without boiling it.
February 15th, 2011 at 10:10 am
Nice. Let me know how that works for you.
February 15th, 2011 at 7:05 pm
I tried it with a small coffee maker and it worked great. It didn’t take long and the milk was just how I like it, nice and warm. It worked better than the microwave because sometimes I would leave the milk in too long and it would boil up and spill. Or I would make it too cold. This was perfect and safe.
February 16th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
Tonight I made the hot coco using fresh raw milk from Baldwin Brook farm, which is close to where I live. The cows have land to roam and they are raised naturally. It was the first time I had the real milk and it was so delicious. I loved it!
February 17th, 2011 at 7:01 am
It is absolutely delicious, no doubt about it!
September 8th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
I’m a real estate attorney and directly involved in this matter. I spent many hours at this specific auction in the past as well. anyone and their momma could bid on any property, any time, for any amount. what was the problems?