Proteins Lesson: Whey, Casein or Vegan

I probably don't need to tell you that proteins are important to you. In the world of nutritional supplements, whey is usually spoken of, while there are also various other forms of protein. So today I want to take a closer look at whey or casein, two proteins that – I'm already secretly telling you – complement each other well.

Vegetable proteins

You also have various other types of vegetable protein such as pea and fava protein. In terms of effect, these are not inferior to whey or casein. The absorption is slower than whey protein but still significantly faster than casein. If you are lactose intolerant or simply do not want to consume animal products, then this is it Vegan protein powder is your best choice. 

Whey or casein? 

You have probably heard of whey protein if you are familiar with the world of protein shakes. Whey is made from the rennet of milk when cheese is made. Halfway through production, the whey protein is filtered out of the milk. Another protein – casein – does remain in the milk and is also used for cheese production. Did you know that milk only consists of 3,5% protein and that 80% of it is casein? But what exactly is casein?

Fast vs slow protein

Cottage cheese is a typical product that contains a lot of casein proteins and which is often advised to eat at the beginning of the day or before going to sleep. But why? Casein is also called a slow protein because it takes longer for your body to absorb and enter the bloodstream. This happens relatively quickly with whey, but it is much less present in the daily diet. That's why whey is such a well-known protein product in the world of sports, while casein is just as important but has received much less of a name.

When do you eat what

You could already read it a little bit above, but cottage cheese is often advised to eat it in the morning or in the evening. Casein – which makes up a big part of cottage cheese – is slowly absorbed by the body due to a different amino acid composition and releases protein building blocks to the body over a longer period of time. Whey, on the other hand, is quickly absorbed due to the amino acid composition and purity. This protein is therefore very suitable to take as recovery immediately after training, while casein has many advantages to eat it in the evening. Your body then has time at night to digest it and throughout the night. So you can easily eat these two types of protein next to each other. It is just good to provide your body with different amino acids.

How do you use casein

An easy way to get enough casein is to eat cottage cheese. But I can imagine that you don't always feel like doing that. You can also buy casein protein powder. I am a big supporter of getting all the nutrients from your daily diet, but sometimes it is easy to use another product. Casein powder you can just like whey powder use for a shake. Casein often makes a shake a bit creamier. But what is also nice to make with casein is a so-called protein fluff. A hype that I completely missed, but have now discovered because I have the new one casein protein from Ekopura and the recipe below to try.

Casein is known for becoming super fluffy in this recipe. The recipe for protein fluff is very easy, pulse in a food processor 125 grams frozen fruit into powder (make sure you use a powerful food processor), add 20 grams casein protein & 100 ml milk and mix until creamy. Transfer to another bowl and beat with a hand mixer for about 3 minutes until creamy and fluffy.

Enjoy! Were you already familiar with casein and do you ever use it?