Whey and casein both are extracted from milk and there is no doubt that they are world’s best selling protein supplements. If there is a battle between that two what do you think who would win ?

Before getting into the debate , let us understand a bit about proteins and muscle growth. Proteins are made up of amino acids. When many amino acids unite together, they create proteins. This protein gets into the bloodstream and breaks down into amino acids. These amino acids create muscle proteins. When muscle protein synthesis is more than muscle protein breakdown. This creates bigger and better muscles.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHEY AND CASEIN

1- Whey and Casein are complete proteins which contains all the essential amino acids

2- Both are easily digestible and 97% of digested proteins gets absorbed in the body.

3- Even though they have similar benefits, there are two major differences. The first is digestion rate. Whey is very fast digesting. After consuming, it reaches the bloodstream fast and elevates blood amino acids. However, it starts disappearing after three hours. On the other hand Casein is slow digesting protein that is released slowly into the bloodstream. Benefit is that casein can stay in the bloodstream for upto 8 hours.

4- The second difference is of their protein profile. Even though both whey and casein are complete proteins, their amino acid profile is different. Now we know that for muscle growth, amino acid leucine is very very important. Whey protein has higher Leucine content. However Casein has better muscle preserving properties. It is good to understand that muscle growth is seen when muscle protein synthesis is higher than muscle protein breakdown.

5- The third difference is their leucine. On one hand Whey which has higher Leucine content increases muscle protein synthesis.
On the other hand Casein which has muscle preserving properties, reduces muscle breakdown

Now let us understand this technically and scientifically

6- Research clearly indicate that Whey Protein increases amino acids levels because whey reaches blood fast. For a long time we have been told that muscle protein synthesis remains elevated for a short time after an intense workout. In order to capitalize this, bodybuilders consume whey protein just after an intense workout. Whey protein reaches bloodstream one hour after the digestion, which is very fast. Casein is also found in the bloodstream after an hour, but not to that extent as compared to Whey Proteins

7- Whey increase amino acids levels to a great extent, It moves out of the blood stream fast too. Even though a good workout increases muscle protein synthesis to a great extent for a short period of time. This muscle protein synthesis remain elevated above the baseline upto 36 hours. Hence Casein which stays in the blood for a longer duration, its effect is similar to Whey as far as muscle growth is concerned.

Now the second factor is Leucine

8- Whey has higher Leucine content and as Leucine is important for muscle growth, is Whey not the ultimate winner? Even though Casein has lesser Leucine, casein users have higher Net Leucine. Casein has the capability to prevent protein breakdown it has muscle preserving properties. This is the reason why Leucine usage is reduced by Casein, thereby leading to better Leucine overtime

WHICH ONE IS BETTER ?

If we look at the Human studies we will find that Whey increases muscle growth over a short duration. However if we examine longer studies lasting for few weeks, then there was no difference between Whey and Casein. In both cases there were growth in muscle mass which was similar.

We would like to conclude saying that it does not really matters whether you take Whey protein or Casein protein. At the end of the day, total protein intake matters.
Doesn’t really matters if you take Whey, Casein or use protein rich foods to meet your protein requirements. If you do not know which protein foods should you consume to meet your protein requirement.

However if you personally ask me who is winner out of the two is and if I have money for just one supplement then I would choose Whey protein only, not because it will yield better muscle growth. It is due to the fact that Whey tastes better, easy to consume and is cheaper than Casein.