A few years ago, supplements and sports nutrition were mainly used by top-level athletes. Today, amateur athletes are also taking various nutritional supplements, including whey protein, a protein-rich powder. Although whey supplementation has become commonplace, professionals preparing for a competition need to be extremely careful in their choice of protein powder or other dietary supplements.
Consuming poor-quality dietary supplements can have deleterious consequences for athletes. They could gain weight unexpectedly, test positive for doping or expose their health to a variety of disorders. So here's our advice to help top athletes choose their whey.
High-level sport and whey protein: why?
For the past ten years, protein supplementation has been a matter of course for top-level athletes. But beforeintroducing a protein powder into one's diet, it's important to understand the objectives of this practice. We won't go into the different types of whey here, for which you can read our article on the difference between whey protein, whey isolate and vegetable protein.
Firstly, the level of the athlete and the type of sport play an important role in the choice of a particular supplement. Choosing a whey when you're a beginner doesn't involve the same considerations as when you're competing at a high level.
For endurance athletes, it's all about speeding up and improving muscle recovery. As a general rule, 20-25 g of rapidly assimilated protein taken after exercise is sufficient to repair muscle damage sustained during training and promote muscle rebuilding. We give more details on this point in our article entitled What to take for muscle recovery.
For strength sports and bodybuilding enthusiasts, consuming protein powder is essential for mass gain. The amino acids and BCAAs provided by whey help the body to synthesize more muscle fibres. The recommended dose will vary from one individual to another, depending on diet and goals. In any case, aim for a protein intake of between 1.6 and 2 g/kg/d.
Note that the competition period sometimes involves increased weight monitoring, so choosing a whey suitable for dry training is a point not to be overlooked for optimum results. To find out more, read our article on the differences between whey and casein.
Sportsmen and women have a choice of protein supplements. However, whey seems to be the most suitable product for sports supplementation. Obtained by mechanical filtration, without solvents, it is very rich in essential amino acids, especially BCAA, leucine, isoleucine and valine, the amino acids most involved in muscle metabolism. What's more, this substance is easily and rapidly assimilated by the body. To find out more: Why take whey?
Can athletes trust the quality of whey sold on the market?
Yes and no! Choosing the right whey for your goals and metabolism is not always easy without the help of a nutritionist. Legislation governing whey and protein powder production varies from country to country. Within the European Community, the dairy industry is fairly regulated.
For protein powder from outside the European Union, the situation is a little more worrying, with loopholes that encourage various forms of contamination. Today, most whey sold is made up of numerous ingredients and additives from different production sites.
Beyond the marketing that describes each whey as THE best on the market, qualities seem to be very heterogeneous. One study1 points to a worrying contamination with anabolic steroids. In short, choosing a cheap, poorly controlled whey is not the right choice for high-level athletes.
But potential contamination with anabolic steroids aside, is whey doping? To reduce the risk of exposure to doping, top-level athletes are well advised to opt for high-quality, additive-free, anti-doping-certified protein powders and whey. There is a French anti-doping standard, AFNOR NF V 94-001, which certifies dietary supplements as non-doping. You can still find products bearing this certification, which will gradually disappear, replaced in May 2021 by a European standard NF EN 17444. These anti-doping certifications are essential for top-level athletes.
Before choosing any whey, it's important to check for the presence of this label, even for whey made in France. Similar initiatives have been launched in other countries. So, for example, if athletes wish to buy American or Canadian wheys, they must recognize the anti-doping labels in force on the other side of the Atlantic.
Finally, beware of organic whey because the milk is often of Austrian origin. If the ecological impact of your diet is important, always check the country of origin of products. On the subject of health, see also these articles:
- Is whey dangerous for the heart?
- What are the real dangers of whey protein?
- What are the side effects of protein powder?
Beware of products containing additives
Contamination with steroids and other doping substances is often linked to the addition of additives, which increase the risk of undesirable compounds finding their way into whey. Endurance and bodybuilding sports enthusiasts should therefore choose their whey protein according to the presence or absence of additives. This detail can be taken as an indicator of quality.
Apart from the correlation between contamination and additives, the latter could be directly harmful to consumer health. Many researchers point the finger at sweeteners, particularly sucralose. This highly sweetening compound can alter the perception of sweet flavors and encourage athletes to seek out ever more sugar in their diet, lowering their sensitivity to sweet taste. This ultimately exposes them to weight gain and/or various disorders such as diabetes.
Specialists encourage athletes to be particularly careful with additives. Remember that taking whey or protein powder is a long-term process. In this sense, the risks are those of long-term exposure. Even a very low dosage of a substance could ultimately wreak havoc. Hence the need to choose a whey without additives.
In conclusion
Both top-level and amateur athletes need to choose their whey carefully. Consumers should look for the anti-doping label on the product's packaging.
They should also consult the list of ingredients. It's not just a question of looking at the amino acid and BCAA content. Choose a product with no additives or synthetic sweeteners. A whey from a local, high-quality milk source is also a plus for top-level athletes.
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