Soy Protein Shake Vs Whey

Cannot decide between soy protein shake and whey? Well, then you just need to find out the difference between the two. We will examine the following criteria as we examine the soy protein shake vs. whey controversy:

Biological Value (BV): The Biological Value indicates both how digestible the protein is and how available the protein is for use by the body. The higher the number, the better.

	Soy Protein shake	Whey Protein shake
BV	74	104

Here whey protein scores over soy protein.

Net Protein Utilization (NPU): Net Protein Utilization (NPU) is the amount of amino acids converted to protein inside the body versus the amount of amino acids from protein eaten. A value of 100 means that the body uses 100% of the protein provided. Again, higher the number, the better.

	Soy Protein shake	Whey Protein shake
NPU	61	92

Whey protein scores over Soy protein once again.

Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER): The protein efficiency ratio measures the gain in body weight divide by the weight of the protein consumed for infant laboratory rats. Any protein having greater than a 2.7 PER calculation is considered an excellent source of protein.

	Soy Protein shake	Whey Protein shake
PER	2.2	3.2

Whey protein scores over Soy protein yet again.

Amino Acid Score (AAS): It measures essential amino acids in a protein compared to a reference protein. A value greater than 1 indicates that the protein being considered contains a greater amount of essential amino acids than humans require.

	Soy Protein shake	Whey Protein shake
AAS	0.99	1.14

Whey protein scores over Soy protein yet again
One limitation of the AAS is that it does not consider the digestibility of the protein. This is taken care by Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score.

Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS): It measures essential amino acids in a protein compared to a reference protein. The reference protein meets the essential amino acid requirements of humans, and is given a PDCAAS of 1.0.

	Soy Protein shake	Whey Protein shake
PDCAAS	1	1

Both have the same score.

Protein Digestibility Percentage (PD%) : The protein digestibility percentage (PD%) measures the percentage of protein eaten that is absorbed in the body.Protein digestibility is the PD component of the PDCAAS above.

	Soy Protein shake	Whey Protein shake
PDCAAS	95%	99%

Whey protein scores over Soy protein yet again

Glutamine per 100 Grams: Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid. Glutamine also increases muscle cell volume and growth hormone levels. It is obvious that the protein that has the highest concentration of glutamine is the most preferred.

	Soy Protein shake	Whey Protein shake
Glutamine per 100 gm of protein	10.5 g	4.9g

Soy protein scores over Whey protein for the first time.

Essential Amino Acids (EAA) per Gram : Essential amino acids need to be obtained from dietary sources. A right combination of non-essential and essential amino acids in sufficient quantities is required in order to build muscle.

	mg EAA per g of Protein
Essential Amino acids	Soy protein	Whey protein
Total of 9 Essential Amino acids	378mg	480mg

Whey protein scores over Soy protein yet again

Arginine per 100 Grams: Arginine also helps to facilitate muscle growth through promoting the release of both growth hormone and insulin in the body during intense exercise such as bodybuilding.

	Soy Protein shake	Whey Protein shake
Glutamine per 100 gm of protein	7.6 g	2.9g

Soy protein scores over Whey protein for the second time.

Conclusion: Based on the criteria mentioned above, the facts are heavily in favor of whey protein especially when the protein intake is supplemented with a glutamine supplement and arginine supplement. Hence, whey protein shakes can be considered to be highly beneficial as compared to soy protein shakes.

However, nothing can be taken away from soy protein. soy protein too is shown to be an excellent source of protein and can be used effectively in bodybuilding supplementation, particularly for the vegans or lactose intolerant.

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Soy Protein Shake Vs Whey