Paleolithic pros and cons of whey

A reader question, and a fair one. If you preach paleo, why are you using whey protein? Paleolithic humans did not cultivate dairy, the argument goes, and our genes are not particularly equipped for it. Both statements are true. So why does a quality whey protein still earn a spot in a paleo style program?

The lactose problem and the hydrolysate answer

The main issue with milk and most milk derived products is lactose, the milk sugar. A meaningful percentage of adults lose the ability to digest lactose well after early childhood, and the gastrointestinal results are familiar. Lactose intolerance.

A high quality whey protein hydrolysate is a different product. Hydrolysis is a partial pre digestion of the protein fraction down to individual amino acids and small branched chain peptide groupings. The lactose is removed in processing. What is left is one of the most rapidly absorbed protein sources available, with a near complete amino acid profile and essentially no carbohydrate load.

If you are sensitive to dairy at the lactose level, a clean hydrolysate is almost always tolerated. If your sensitivity is to the casein fraction or to other milk proteins, that is a different conversation, and you may do better with a hydrolyzed beef protein or a clean pea and rice blend.

The IGF 1 and insulin objection

The second paleo argument against whey is that it stimulates insulin and IGF 1, which is structurally related to growth hormone. The reasoning goes that elevating IGF 1 is undesirable because IGF 1 elevation has been associated with certain cancer risks in observational work.

This is partially true and partially misleading. Whey does drive insulin and IGF 1 acutely. In the context of training, that is exactly what you want. Anabolic signaling after resistance work is how you maintain or build lean mass, particularly important after age 50 when sarcopenia is the more pressing threat. Chronic excess IGF 1 from poor sleep, excess refined carbohydrate, and excess insulin is the actual problem. A 25 gram whey shake after a workout is not that.

If you are post training, or you are using whey as a tool to hit a daily protein target that is otherwise hard to reach, the acute IGF 1 bump is doing useful work. If you are drinking three shakes a day on top of an already high carb diet, your concern should be the pattern, not the protein.

What whey is good at, briefly

• Rapid absorption, useful around training.
• Near complete amino acid profile, especially leucine, which drives the muscle protein synthesis switch.
• Appetite control and satiety. Studies have shown reduced subsequent meal intake when whey is consumed earlier in the day.
• Convenient for hitting protein targets that most people in their 50s and 60s miss. The target is roughly 0.7 to 1.0 grams per pound of lean body mass per day. Almost no one hits that on whole food alone.

The pure science versus reality observation

There is an academic literature that finds problems with everything. Whey, in pure cell culture or in isolated metabolic studies, has objectionable features the way almost every concentrated nutrient does. In population scale studies, where whey is being used as part of a real nutritional plan in real people, the outcomes are favorable. The science of the dish does not always survive contact with the science of the human.

The body does not check the source of an amino acid before using it. Leucine is leucine. The body uses it to fuel and to rebuild, whether it came from fish, eggs, beef, or whey.

How to use whey in a paleo style program

• Pick a hydrolysate or a clean isolate. Read the label. No added sugar, no artificial sweetener if you can avoid it, no proprietary blends.
• Use it around training, or as the second protein source of the day if you are not hitting your target.
• 20 to 30 grams per serving is the useful range for muscle protein synthesis in adults over 50.
• If you tolerate dairy poorly even with hydrolysate, switch to a clean beef, pea and rice, or egg white powder.

The paleo objection to whey is not wrong on its face. It just misses how the modern product is processed and what role it plays in a real life nutrition plan. For the right person, around the right training pattern, it is one of the cheapest and most reliable tools you can have.

— Doc