Dietary Supplements II. Protein

In the past week, two questions preoccupied me the most. One is whether women really believe that guys aren't thinking of another girl during sex when they close their eyes? And the other is whether a short Black man or a tall Chinese man has a bigger penis. For the novice starting workouts, the question of protein is a similarly unanswered mystery. Which protein should you choose, which brand should you go with, and in general, what makes a protein a premium brand? If I recommend something here, people have every right to ask me why this one, and how can one tell which protein is good and which is crap, equivalent to the sand remaining in our shorts after a trip to the beach. The question is valid because, although the composition and ratios are on every box, there are about 70 pieces of information with endless names and data that, specifically, made me sick in chemistry class. Let's assume that this blog now has a readership that already knows what the protein, carbohydrate, and fat ratios listed on a food product mean, based on which they can roughly tell which food is healthy and which should be fed to stray dogs. In this post, I will compare and explain as clearly as possible how, when you pick up a box of protein powder, by looking at the labels, you can easily decide the quality of the protein product solely based on the quantity of ingredients. This is better for you, and not least, you won't be completely at the mercy of salespeople when you go into a supplement store. Read this post, and if you order online or go into a store, you'll know what's what, that is, if we can believe what's written on the label...

Protein is like the gym. If you go to the gym for the first time and you're a woman, what do you do? You look for the leg machines and start working on your glutes. If you're a man, you look for the bench press and the bicep curl bar. Finding these machines, you start messing around with them, and it's almost certain that you're doing it wrong because what first comes into view, and especially what you think you need, isn't what you'll actually need. Something similar happens when you first decide to take your first supplement, which will always, in every case, be a protein shake. This also has its evolutionary process. You wander around the gym, see others drinking it, maybe you've even heard somewhere that you need it, but you're afraid of it because, in your head, Schwarzenegger and the bodybuilders from the 60s who injected themselves with cyanide still live. You finally commit, but you don't buy a whole box yet; instead, you go to the counter and ask for a serving of protein shake. So what will you drink? Whatever is available at the gym. What's available at the gym? Proteins that are most profitable for the gym owner, meaning what they can get cheaply, but still not some completely unknown noname brand. You will almost never drink quality premium brands in any gym, because good, quality powders are expensive, and the owner won't bother to stock them. They won't give a damn about whether what they stock is good quality, partly because those who will drink it will drink anything put in front of them under the guise of a protein shake. Of course, they'll drink it because they have no idea about anything, but most importantly, what would be ideal for them. Especially in these new wellness centers, only the truly clueless attend, those who only go because a gym membership is part of their benefit package. For them, it doesn't matter what they're given at the counter; they'll drink anything without question, and the only question will be what flavor the drink should be; the rest doesn't matter. It's a huge business to build on people's ignorance and naivety, and it's a big business, especially in a world where there's no control from the other side, because that would require 10 minutes of research, which, of course, isn't cool; whatever shines brightest and is pushed loudest in our faces will do. Which manufacturer uses what process to make their products? What do you want to train for? What type of supplement do you need? What processes does protein induce in you, and what would you need for it to be absorbed normally and be useful to you? Does anyone reading this article know the answers to these questions? Of course not, because you're currently agonizing over whether to order a double or triple chocolate shake, or maybe strawberry or some other flavor, I don't know. You're throwing thousands of forints at this month after month, but you don't even know what's being put in front of you, and what you've been drinking for years in the worst case. The taste is what matters, of course, not the active ingredient in it.

What makes a protein powder good? Its biological value, and this is the essence of it all. I will try to explain it very clearly. Biological value shows what percentage of the digested protein is incorporated into the body, meaning whether the amino acid composition of the consumed protein is most suitable for muscle cells to be built from it. These are the most important because they generate the entire process. Their proportion and presence induce a better appearance, more shapely muscles, and all the extra that a protein powder can give you, as without them, the protein could not be incorporated into the muscles. This is where the wheat is separated from the chaff, and this fundamentally determines the effectiveness of a protein powder. They lie the most with these numbers, and these numbers are often not real because they shamelessly put higher numbers on the labels, and that's why I will have these products tested, so that this huge supplement bluff finally comes to light. 

The biological value (BV). For quality products, this number is around 85-90%. Now come the tricks. Some manufacturers achieve a more pleasant taste by mixing sugar and extra carbohydrates into protein powders, which is one of the biggest rip-offs against you, because by pouring these carbohydrates into yourself, you won't be able to lose weight, let alone get in shape, even with the strictest diet. This is the primary point of why some protein is crap. Then... It's good to be aware of a few things. It really matters where, how, and according to what quality production standards your protein is made. There are three globally recognized quality systems; look for their names on the packaging: HACCP, GMP, ISO. There are insane differences between manufacturers and, within them, between the production processes of the preparations. I imagine it matters to you whether the ingredients of your protein powder are mixed by Pakistani refugees in a basin, or if the method developed for NASA ensures all this (HACCP). These quality manufacturing process controls ensure that no single ingredient is left out of any production process, and that they are included in your protein in appropriate quality and quantity, REGULATED. Let me give you an interesting fact about ingredients and how reducing, or even radically reducing, certain ingredients can generate enormous profit for manufacturers, and believe me, some do take advantage of this. Marlboro announced this spring that it would reduce the nicotine content of all its tobacco products by 0.1 mg per cigarette. My buddy says he doesn't understand why this was necessary, because there's no noticeable difference anyway, and how much do they save per cigarette, 0.02 cents? Maybe not even that. Yes, you idiot, I tell him, but calculate how many billions of cigarettes they sell daily. Multiply that by 0.02 cents, and you'll get hundreds of millions of dollars in profit in just a single week. What they save this way is negligible on a small scale and the difference isn't even noticeable, but in mass production, they can generate significant, demonstrable profit. It's the same with manufacturers. Just a little bit taken from here, a little from there, and we can go to hell.

Times change, and what we once thought was good and unbeatable might be worthless today. Such is Nokia, which was swept away by Android phones and Apple devices, and such are indeed dietary supplements, which have undergone enormous and continuous development in the past few years. New factories have been established, and since the atomic explosion of competitive sports, they have been developing their products, reminiscent of space technology. Weider might have been God in 1993, but times change, so do yourself a favor and don't fall in love with a single manufacturer or product, because what was good once might be a sad warrior of a bygone era today, due to lack of development or the strengthening of competition... Finally, a few words about the difference between the excipients found in proteins. The importance of these excipients is incredibly underestimated, as the amino acids in proteins do not bind to ribosomes, and without them, the building process does not take place. Are you looking at me like a fish now? I'll explain it simpler and slower, so even Ildikó Lendvai can understand. You buy the tiles you've picked out for your bathroom. Great, but someone needs to install them. In this case, the professional who installs the tiles is the excipient, and the difference between professionals is how they tile the wall and how it will look in the end. You can buy the world's most expensive marble, but if some incompetent ass comes along and screws up the whole job. Protein is the tile, and the professional who delivers the protein to the muscle is the excipient. These are the most important basic things, and now comes the stripped-down simplicity, the numbers and data found on the labels.

1. calories (kcal), 2. protein 3. carbohydrates 4. fat 5. sugar content 6. presence of vitamins.

For each protein powder, I calculated the values for 30 grams. Where more was given on the label as a serving, I divided it back to 30g and calculated the quantity and ratio of ingredients. These are the numbers that appear on the sides of the boxes, incidentally, these are the products that will also be tested in laboratories. All data refers to 1 serving, i.e., 30 grams.

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