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Whey Vs. Casein: Which Is Best For Building Muscle? | Nutritionist Explains | Myprotein
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Jan 30, 2025
Whey vs. casein — which is best for building muscle? Nutrition researcher explains the difference and benefits of both. So, you want to build muscle, but aren't sure whether to go with a whey or casein protein powder? Expert nutritionist, Richie Kirwan, is back with another super-helpful explainer video to help you learn more about the difference and make an informed decision that suits your goals. Find Richie on Instagram: @be_more_nutrition ********************************* Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/MyproteinUK?sub_confirmation=1 If you like this, you'll love this: https://youtu.be/zBDYkgfh37c Find more nutrition help here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkb17OgnhB-E3HuYJuEacRqMjrokvPxpI Download the Myprotein App: https://bit.ly/3dhVVUE ********************************* #whey #casein #musclegrowth #myprotein
View Video Transcript
0:00
so you're getting serious about
0:01
nutrition and you want to get some
0:02
protein but should you get casein or
0:04
whey
0:06
let's talk about that
0:07
[Music]
0:11
how's it going guys my name is richie
0:12
kirwan and today we're going to talk all
0:13
about the differences between whey and
0:15
casein protein i'll tell you where they
0:16
come from how they behave in your body
0:18
and how that has an effect on muscle
0:20
growth as always i want to point out
0:22
that i'm not recommending any particular
0:23
protein supplements what i'm going to do
0:25
is talk about the difference between two
0:27
of the most popular protein types on the
0:29
market and how they can help you build
0:31
more muscle let's get started
0:35
so for anyone who doesn't know yet both
0:37
casein and whey come from the exact same
0:40
source
0:41
milk milk is actually made up of two
0:43
major types of protein about 80 of that
0:45
is a protein called casein which doesn't
0:47
dissolve very well in water as you'll
0:49
probably have noticed whenever you've
0:50
mixed up a casein shake and the
0:51
remaining 20
0:52
is made up of whey proteins which
0:54
dissolve really well in water to help
0:56
you understand how they're made when we
0:58
make cheese for milk which we believe
1:00
there are a lot of people who don't
1:02
actually know where cheese comes from
1:04
anyway the casein proteins coagulate
1:06
together and form solid curds and the
1:09
remaining liquid drains off and it's
1:10
called whey the curds are then processed
1:13
a little more by pressing salting aging
1:16
depending on the variety of cheese for
1:17
years the whey was considered a waste
1:19
product and dairies actually had to pay
1:21
to get rid of it until someone realized
1:23
that they were wasting huge profits in
1:25
the form of whey protein now whey and
1:28
casein are part of a multi-million
1:30
dollar protein industry i mentioned this
1:32
just so you're aware that casein and
1:34
whey are perfectly natural products
1:36
derived from whole foods because some
1:38
people like to look down on protein
1:39
powders like they're completely
1:41
artificial they're not and there's
1:43
nothing inherently wrong with peeing
1:45
artificial either
1:46
you'll probably have seen different
1:48
types of whey and casein so it's worth
1:50
mentioning what they are weight
1:51
concentrate is the most basic form of
1:53
whey and is produced by filtering the
1:55
whey protein it's got a slightly lower
1:56
percentage of protein but that's only
1:58
because it's a little higher in fat and
2:00
carbs those carbs will mostly be lactose
2:02
so if you're lactose intolerant you
2:04
might want to be cautious with whey
2:05
concentrate whey isolate is further
2:07
processed and purified to remove the
2:09
fattened carbs from the whey concentrate
2:11
it's a little higher in protein
2:12
percentage lower in fat and carbs and
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also calories people who are lactose
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intolerant often find that they have no
2:18
problem with whey isolate because the
2:19
lactose has been removed but it still
2:22
can contain a little finally there's
2:24
hydrolyzed whey which has been partially
2:26
broken down or hydrolyzed with enzymes
2:29
which makes it easier and quicker to
2:31
absorb as for casein the most common
2:32
form is micellar casein which is made by
2:35
membrane filtration of skin milk which
2:37
is then sprayed dried if you've used it
2:38
before you'll have noticed that it
2:39
doesn't dissolve as well as whey in a
2:41
shake and tends to clump together
2:43
there's also hydrolyzed casein which is
2:45
partially broken down with enzyme just
2:46
like hydrolyzed way this process
2:48
actually helps to speed up the digestion
2:50
and absorption of casein by almost 30
2:52
percent finally you may also find
2:54
something called milk protein isolate or
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milk protein concentrate these are made
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by heating skim milk and concentrating
2:59
both whey proteins and cases using
3:02
special membranes this means milk
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protein concentrates contain a mix of
3:06
about 82 casein and 18 whey proteins so
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long story short both of these proteins
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come from milk so they're both the same
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right
3:15
not quite
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now casein and whey are both excellent
3:19
quality proteins and by that i mean that
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they are both really high in all
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essential amino acids which we need to
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help build new muscle tissue they're
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both high in branched-chain amino acids
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especially leucine which is the specific
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branched chain amino acid which
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stimulates muscle protein synthesis
3:34
which leads to muscle growth that's it
3:36
weighs higher in eas bcaas and
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specifically leucine than casein don't
3:42
get me wrong casein is still an
3:44
incredible quality protein it's just in
3:46
this case whey has the advantage the big
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difference between the two is their
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speed of digestion one of ways most
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famous properties is that it is very
3:55
quickly digested and absorbed that means
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if you take away shake you'll get a very
4:00
large increase in amino acids in the
4:02
blood however after that your blood
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amino acids drop back to normal pretty
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quickly on the other hand casein is
4:08
famous for being a very slow digesting
4:10
protein this is because when casein hits
4:11
the acid in your stomach it coagulates
4:13
into lumps kind of like the curds that
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form when making cheese which take much
4:17
longer to digest this means that after
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drinking a casein shake you don't get as
4:22
big an increase in amino acids in the
4:23
blood as you would get with whey but
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that slow digestion means that casein
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can keep your blood amino acid levels
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elevated for considerably longer up to
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seven hours or more depending on the
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amount that you take the fact that whey
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can raise blood amino acid levels so
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quickly and in particular the fact that
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it raises leucine so quickly means that
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whey is very good at stimulating muscle
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protein synthesis and can increase mps
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about twice as much as a similar amount
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of casein and this seems to translate to
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greater gains in muscle size too in a
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study by cribidol two groups of
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recreational bodybuilders supplemented
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their diet with either whey or casein
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for 10 weeks and the whey group had
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significantly greater increases in
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muscle hypertrophy so in the story right
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whey is better we'll stop well there
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might be some situations where casein
5:08
has an advantage specifically because it
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digests so slow remember when i
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mentioned that casein can keep blood
5:13
amino acid levels elevated for seven
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hours or more while that might not be
5:16
the best for stimulating muscle protein
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synthesis it actually does a really good
5:20
job of preventing muscle protein
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breakdown muscle protein breakdown is
5:24
the opposite process of muscle protein
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synthesis and having a greater net
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balance of mps leads to muscle growth
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over time in reality you can achieve
5:32
that positive net mps in two ways by
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increasing muscle protein synthesis or
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reducing muscle protein breakdown the
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good thing with eating a meal is that it
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temporarily reduces mpb and increases
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mps at the same time at least for a few
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hours what if you haven't eaten for a
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long time
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like when you sleep that's where casein
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comes in because casein raises blood
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levels of amino acids for so long due to
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its slow digestion
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it also reduces muscle protein breakdown
6:00
for an extended period too this is why
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pre-bed protein doses of casein are a
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popular strategy for people trying to
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maximize muscle growth let me explain
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how it works we already know that
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exercise is the most important factor
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for increasing mps and muscle growth and
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that a session of resistance exercise
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can stimulate mps for 24 hours or more
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to take advantage of this bodybuilders
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often eat protein heavy meals quite
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regularly during the day to further
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stimulate mps and to reduce muscle
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protein breakdown sleeping is the
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longest time most of us go without food
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so taking a slow digesting protein like
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casein before bed may be a really good
6:35
idea to take advantage of that time when
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mps would otherwise be really low 30 to
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40 grams of casein just before bed
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should be a decent amount to promote net
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mps while you sleep so there you have it
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the similarities and differences of
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casein and whey protein
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hopefully you can see that both can be
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really beneficial if maximizing muscle
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growth is your goal i should also
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mention that there is some evidence to
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suggest that mixing whey and casein in a
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one-to-one ratio might also be
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beneficial for muscle growth as you get
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the quick acting mps promoting spike in
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leucine from whey along with the
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extended release of essential amino
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acids needed for muscle growth from
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casey it's kind of like getting the best
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of both worlds so did this answer your
7:15
way and casein questions as always if
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you have any more let me know in the
7:18
comments below and remember to like and
7:19
subscribe to the myprotein youtube
7:21
channel for more great evidence-based
7:23
nutrition information
7:25
[Music]
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