For General Health & Fitness
Why Whey Protein For General Health & Fitness?
Often people take a general multivitamin or multimineral supplement to make up the shortfall in nutrients that they may not be consuming in their daily diet.
Aside from the muscle strength and muscle gain benefits enjoyed by body builders and athletes, and the body fat loss benefits for weight management, for people seeking to improve their general health, the nutritional profile of whey protein powders are exceptional.
- Whey protein powders are a complete protein and ‘functional food’ that contain an amazing range of essential amino acids and other health-giving nutrients.
- Whey protein concentrate powders contain a diverse and health-giving profile of vitamins and minerals such as calcium, potassium, phosphorous, vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B3, B5, B12, folic acid and biotin.
Furthermore, the easy-to-absorb protein found in whey protein concentrate powders and whey protein isolate products is superior to other types of protein sources available.
The Health Benefits Of Whey Protein
To support your general health and wellbeing, over the well-known muscle strength and mass benefits, and weight management benefits, whey protein has been found* to have additional positive health benefits such as:
- supporting healthy blood pressure
- supporting healthy blood sugar levels
- supporting healthy bone density
- improving immune function
- improving liver function
- reducing inflammation
- reducing symptoms of stress and anxiety
- reducing feelings of depression
Plus, whey protein has been shown to positively affect longevity, may help curb type 2 diabetes and may help protect against some cancers.
Whey protein supplementation can be added to almost anyone’s diet to support a healthy, happy lifestyle. Of course, please check with your health practitioner first, if you have a medical condition before trying whey protein.
Notable Nutrients In Whey Protein
In addition to protein being the main component of whey protein powders, whey also contains other beneficial biological nutrients for health and fitness. These include:
- lactoferrin – this functions as an anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and promotes growth of beneficial bacteria.
- beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin and glycomacropeptide – all contain essential branch chain amino acids that are important for tissue growth and repair, thus useful for athletes and muscle recovery, as well as providing general health benefits.
- immunoglobulins – that support your immune system function.
Furthermore, whey protein is extremely high in cysteine, an amino acid at the heart of many health benefits due to its impact on increasing the level and activity of glutathione in your cells.
Glutathione is one of your body’s major natural anti-oxidant molecules—to fight free radicals, oxidative stress and even aging. Because athletes put more oxidative stress on their bodies through exercise compared to non-athletes, whey protein supplementation may help decrease muscle fatigue by increasing glutathione. As a consequence, athletes and body builders can train harder for longer.
Moreover, glutathione is a key molecule responsible for supporting your immune system function. Glutathione activates immune system cells, called lymphocytes, to be more reactive, which in turn improves your immunity and health.
The low fat, high protein content, the high vitamin and mineral profile, plus the added active biological molecules in whey protein concentrate powders make it a popular health supplement for general health.
Find out more about whey protein for building muscle mass and whey protein for diet and weight control.
*Our website information relating to whey protein health benefits has been compiled from this comprehensive review and this published article.