T Nation

Protein Questions.

Bodybuilding
#1

Here’s a few questions that hopefully someone out there can answer, all relating to protein/protein powder. Some of them may be considered stupid, but none the less I am really interested in getting answers to all of them for I feel they are quite important. So, let’s begin :slight_smile:

1)Aren’t there 20 essential amino acids? Why do on all the labels of protein powers (that I’ve seen) do they only list 19? Where’s the 20th?

2)What exactly is an isolate? What benefits do protein supplemets have that contain more or double?

3)Is the protein in meat any better than the protein in a tub?

4)Is the protein that I buy at the health food store in a bulk plastic bag, with no additives any better or worse than the more commercial powders?

5)Is there any evidence that sucralose or other artificial sweeteners cause cancer, or other biological malfunctioning?

Thanks, Nick.

#2

Some good questions here. I can answer a couple. Re: 20aa’s. This is the BIG one, in my opinion. Many, MANY, will list their glutamic acid content but skip their glutamine content - they’re very different aa’s. I’m thinking that they hope people look at the glutamic acid and mistake it for glutamine (or think it’s the same thing). They’re not. It’s a type of marketing scam.

Whether the protein in meat is any better than in a tub, I can’t really say. Tub protein digests much more quickly, and leaves the blood much quicker.

There IS evidence that some artificial sweetners cause cancer. But there’s also evidence that bread contains carcinogens as well. But, not everyone is getting cancer. I’m not 100% sure why, and I’m pretty sure it’s being studied. For example, there’s a sweetner that’s made of two aa’s. It might cause cancer in large doses, but in small doses the stomach acid breaks it down easily.