---
title: 'How To Pick The Best Protein Powder (CHOOSE WISELY!)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=44WTG33KtpU'
video_id: '44WTG33KtpU'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 725
---

# How To Pick The Best Protein Powder (CHOOSE WISELY!)

> Source: [How To Pick The Best Protein Powder (CHOOSE WISELY!)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=44WTG33KtpU)

## Summary

The video provides a comprehensive guide to selecting a high-quality protein powder, focusing on whey protein and its subtypes as the most effective for muscle growth. It also covers plant-based alternatives and warns against common deceptive practices like proprietary blends and protein spiking. Key tips include checking the protein-to-serving ratio and looking for third-party certifications.

### Key Points

- **Whey is best** [0:34] — Whey protein is superior due to higher leucine content and better absorption.
- **Whey subtypes** [1:25] — Concentrate (35-80% protein), isolate (≥90%), hydrolysate (pre-digested). Isolate is best value for most.
- **Plant-based options** [2:58] — Plant-based can be good for those with whey intolerance, but often lack certain amino acids; blends of pea and rice are recommended.
- **Avoid proprietary blends** [4:44] — Proprietary blends hide exact ingredient amounts, allowing use of cheap fillers.
- **Protein spiking detection** [7:07] — Adding non-protein nitrogen (e.g., creatine, glutamine) to inflate protein content; avoid labels with 'amino acid matrix'.
- **Check protein-to-serving ratio** [5:59] — Check protein per serving relative to serving size; higher ratio means higher quality.
- **Contamination risks** [9:40] — Many powders contain heavy metals; look for NSF/GMP certifications and transparent testing.

## Transcript

if you've seen any of my supplement
videos then you know i'm a big fan of
protein powder because of its
practicality and the various advantages
and potential muscle building benefits
they can provide but once you do decide
that you're ready to invest in a protein
powder it's important that you first get
well informed of the various differences
between the various types of protein
powders out there as well as the things
to look for and things to avoid when you
compare different brands by the end of
this video you'll know exactly what type
of protein is right for you and how to
separate the good from the not so good
options out there
first let's cover what type of protein
powder may be best for you despite the
overwhelming amount of different protein
powders on the market research has made
it clear that whey protein comes out on
top this is because whey protein is both
higher in leucine one of the most
important amino acids for muscle growth
and more effectively absorbed and used
by the body when compared to various
other protein powders and other protein
sources in general
casein protein does come in at a close
second with a slightly less leucine and
overall protein content but it is a much
slower digesting protein than weight in
theory this would mean that casein would
be the more effective option to take as
a pre-sleep meal so that we can
stimulate protein synthesis overnight
however recent research seems to suggest
that any high quality protein such as
whey would do the job just as
effectively so whey seems to be the best
option but whey protein can be further
broken down into three different types
weight concentrate whey isolate and whey
hydrolysate the main differences here is
that whey concentrate can range anywhere
from 35 to 80 protein and typically
contains the highest amount of lactose
carbs and fats whereas whey isolates
although typically a bit more costly
have to go through an additional
filtration process and are required to
be at least 90 protein by weight and
therefore have considerably less fats
and carbs hydrolysates on the other hand
are whey concentrates or isolates that
have just been pre-digested to help with
its absorption but have not been shown
to be any more effective at increasing
size or strength as the other two
options yet is typically the most
expensive option so essentially it's
just like buying chicken whey
concentrates can be thought of chicken
thighs they deliver a good amount of
protein but come with additional fat and
calories whereas whey isolate can be
thought of as chicken breast a bit more
costly than thighs but pack a much
higher protein content with less
additional fat and calories whereas whey
hydrolysate could be thought of as extra
lean ground chicken breasts it goes
through a bit more processing is
typically the most expensive option yet
it delivers the same amount of protein
relative to calories fats and carbs as
chicken breast does meaning that for the
best bang for your buck for most people
a good quality whey isolate protein is
your best bet as it delivers the highest
amount of protein and is slightly better
for those who are lactose intolerant or
just tend to have digestive issues in
general
now as for plant-based options this can
be a good option if you do have
intolerances or sensitivities to weight
the problem with plant-based proteins
though is that they tend to be deficient
in certain essential amino acids and are
less effective at promoting protein
synthesis than whey is
but research has shown that you can
partially compensate for this by
combining different plant-based protein
sources for example p protein is low in
the essential amino acid methionine
whereas rice protein contains
considerably more methionine but is
lower in the essential amino acid lysine
meaning that when you look for a
plant-based protein powder one with a
good blend of rice and pea protein would
likely be the best option soy protein
although subject to much controversy is
another good plant-based option since it
has a good amount of all the essential
amino acids and is therefore something
worth considering
now after you've chosen the protein
powder that best suits your needs the
next step is learning how to separate
the good brands from the not so good
brands because unfortunately there's a
lot of tricks that supplement companies
can use to deceive you and to help us
out with this is examine.com researcher
bill willis who has done a considerable
amount of research and work within this
exact topic so bill the first thing that
you recommend that we look out for is
the use of something that's called
proprietary blends would you mind just
explaining a little bit more about what
exactly that is and then what that means
for us as a consumer
sure yeah that's something you have to
watch out for uh with any protein
product the issue is that most whey
proteins in particular are made of
isolates and concentrates generally
sometimes some protein hydrolysates and
what you'll find is uh you know a
proprietary blend on the listing label
and in this blend uh the company doesn't
really have to disclose
uh the amount of anything that's in that
blend so for instance uh if you look at
the back of a label of whey protein
powder
and it's uh it's a blend of whey
concentrate and isolate you know that's
great concentrate can be good an
effective source of protein as can
isolate
but the issue is is that the concentrate
could be a really cheap low quality one
and there could be just a tiny little
trace amount of isolate so
in that example let's say you an
unscrupulous manufacturer put a
proprietary blend in there because they
got a delivery of some really cheap way
concentrate that they got for a good
price that was low quality
in this case that weight concentrate
could be you know as low as 25 or 30
total protein now uh the the claims on
the label in terms of the pro
the total protein content may be met
with that blend you know everything
might be on the up and up there
but what you can look out for is the is
the serving size in particular is how
much protein is present per serving
relative to the serving size um so you
take a look at the label and let's say
you're you know you're dealing with whey
protein and product a is in a 35 gram
total serving let's say there's 20 grams
of total protein that's going to be
relatively low
indicating a lower quality protein on
the other hand let's say for that same
35 gram
serving size another
type of whey
has maybe 25 or even up to 28 grams in
that total 35 gram serving size that one
would be higher quality and
that's what you want to look out for you
want to get the protein with the
most
total protein per serving
those proteins are higher purity
otherwise you'll be paying for less of
what you really need in a protein and
more of just the junk and the fillers as
far as i know even if we do look at the
protein content on the back of the label
there's still another loophole that
companies can actually use to deceive us
and this was something that's called
protein spiking
yeah
what exactly is protein spiking and
again how can us as consumers avoid
falling into this trap
yeah that's uh that's a dirty trick um
and how dirty it is i guess depends on
what exactly they do
so protein spiking uh is adding uh
non-protein
nitrogen-containing substances to the
protein powder
that will be measured as protein and the
thing is that the fda
tests just total nitrogen levels and
it's a
quick and dirty way to assess protein
content
now
the manufacturer could add extra
nitrogen containing
agents in there that aren't protein
creatine is commonly used or maybe a
cheap free-form amino acid such as
glutamine and again you'll see this in
like a proprietary blend you might see
whey isolate weight concentrate
and then uh glutamine well you know you
don't know exactly how much of which is
in there and that's when they do it
legally when they do it in illegally
they're just going to throw any extra
nitrogen containing substance in there
and it's not going to be stated on the
label
the latter is as i mentioned just a
little sneakier it's a little harder to
detect i guess again what you could also
do is just
look at the ingredients label and avoid
protein blends avoid
like you mentioned
amino acids glutamine or amino acid
matrix matrices or amino acid blends as
those are potential indications that the
protein has actually been spiked
yeah yeah actually you have to watch for
that because a lot of times the these
proprietary blends or especially like
the amino acid matrix will will show up
in their marketing like you'll you'll be
thumbing through a fitness magazine and
you know you'll see this big bright
shiny uh bottle of protein and you know
the superhero looking like
people that are you know supposedly got
their physique that way
and uh you know proprietary amino acid
matrix um they sort of use that it's
hidden in plain sight in a way
um the consumer links you know this this
fancy term
uh to the physique of the you know
whoever they're getting to endorse the
product and really that's where they're
hiding you know the lack of protein
quality on the label so you really have
to watch out for that look for brands
that fully disclose the amount of amino
acid or the amino acid profile rather
of their protein
this helps indicate
that they're fully transparent about the
specific amino acid content of their
product
and are less likely to have spiked it
the last and final thing to look out for
is contamination third-party testing
results from a 2018 analysis by the
clean label project found that among 134
tested protein powders the vast majority
of them had detectable levels of heavy
metals and plastic derivatives as a
result of their ingredient sourcing and
manufacturing practices
now detectable does not mean dangerous
but many of these protein powders did
indeed have levels that surpass the
acceptable levels which is something
you'd obviously want to avoid and this
is a common occurrence because
supplement companies aren't required to
test their products for contaminants and
are instead left voluntarily to run
those tests if they wish to pay the
additional cost which as you'd expect
many companies just don't do so to
minimize your risk as a consumer simply
do a little bit of digging around to see
what their testing protocols are and
specifically what they test for and
looking for certifications such as nsf
and gmp on their website are also good
signs and indications that they take
their quality control practices
seriously so to sum the video up here
are the main points to keep in mind and
look out for when you purchase your
protein if you're going to be investing
in protein powder it's worth putting in
that additional effort to ensure that
what you're getting is a high quality
product aligned with your specific goals
for step-by-step program that applies
the same level of science and detail to
your workouts your nutrition and your
supplementation so you can truly
transform your body in the most
efficient way possible and simply head
on over to buildwithscience.com and take
our analysis quiz to discover which
program is best for you and your
specific body and big thank you to bill
willis from examine.com for his help
today for those who are unfamiliar with
examine.com it's just a free database of
unbiased nutrition and supplement
information that's led by a team of
scientists and researchers if you want
to learn more about any specific
supplement and the current state of the
research for that supplement then i
highly recommend that you check out
their site anyways that is it for today
guys thank you so much for watching hope
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time
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