Whey Protein Concentrate

Three forms, one protein, filtered to different degrees

Concentrate, isolate and hydrolysate are not three different proteins. They are the same whey, taken to different stages of filtration.

• Concentrate (WPC): around 70 to 80 per cent protein, with some lactose and milk fat left in. It mixes thicker and keeps the milk fraction that carries most of the flavour.
• Isolate (WPI): filtered further, to about 90 per cent protein, with most of the lactose and fat removed. See the whey protein isolate range.
• Hydrolysate (WPH): broken into shorter peptide chains before you drink it, which speeds absorption and eases digestion. The most processed of the three, and noticeably more bitter.

Many products blend two. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey and Rule 1 Whey Blend both combine concentrate with isolate, which is why their protein percentage sits between the two.

A kilo of tub is not a kilo of protein

Read the per-serve column, not the front of the pack. A 30 g scoop of a 75 per cent concentrate delivers about 22 g of protein; a 1 kg tub at that concentration holds 750 g of protein, not a kilo. Two tubs the same size can differ by 150 g of actual protein, and nothing on the front tells you that.

Whey is around 10 to 11 per cent leucine, the amino acid most closely tied to muscle protein synthesis, which is why a 25 to 30 g serve is the standard recommendation rather than something smaller.

When concentrate is not the right protein for you

Concentrate retains a few per cent lactose. For some people that is enough to cause bloating or discomfort, and isolate or a plant protein is the better fit. If you are managing a diagnosed dairy allergy rather than lactose intolerance, whey in any form is unsuitable, because the allergen is the milk protein itself.

Where a practitioner changes the answer

The most common thing our practitioners find when someone asks about protein powder is that the powder is not the gap. Protein intake at breakfast and lunch usually is. Before recommending a form, they look at total daily intake across meals, how well you digest dairy, training load and recovery, and for women, iron and ferritin status alongside it.

Sometimes the honest answer is that you do not need a powder at all, and we would rather tell you that than sell you one. Mr Vitamins has been trading since 1992 with practitioners on the floor, and that conversation is free: book a 10-minute phone consultation, or read who you will be speaking to on our practitioners page.

Building the rest of it

Protein is the base. Creatine monohydrate is the most studied addition for strength and power work, and amino acids and electrolytes cover the recovery side.