When it comes to carving your dream body, you know what you need: eat right, work out hard and stay on track. But what else can you do to get the most out of your efforts? In order to achieve your fitness goals, you shouldn’t overlook the importance of bodybuilding supplements, since they play a vital role in maximising gains and getting optimal results.
For many bodybuilders, whey protein is the ideal pre-and post-workout protein choice. But there is one other type of protein that can also deliver numerous benefits to your bodybuilding program – the potent protein casein supplement.
What is Casein Protein?
This accounts for roughly 80% of total milk protein, with whey protein accounting for the remaining 20%. It’s categorised as an animal protein, meaning it contains all the essential amino acids your body needs to function properly, as well as important minerals such as calcium and phosphorus. Although whey is also a complete protein, it doesn’t have the same amino acid profile and absorption rate as casein.
According to research, whey protein has the ability to promote higher amounts of essential amino acids (EAAs), which are normally digested at greater speeds. Casein, on the other hand, forms a gel or a clot that ensures a sustained, slow release of EAAs, usually lasting several hours. While whey protein provides more immediate benefits, the slow-releasing of casein can be extremely beneficial before bed as long-acting support for muscle growth.
Nowadays, you can find a variety of protein casein supplements available on the market. You should look for a micellar-based supplement as it’s the last adultered form of supplemental casein, which means it’s left in its “intact” molecular structure. This is important because it’s digested in a series of enzymatic and nonenzymatic processes in the body encouraging slow breakdown and absorption in the bloodstream.
Benefits of Casein Protein
Seeing as casein is a high-quality protein source, it’s not surprising that this type of supplement comes with a plethora of benefits. Here are some of the most important ones:
Permanent Supply of Amino Acids
Proteins serve as the musculoskeletal system’s adhesive. They are also involved in several metabolic activities, some of which are more important to the body than muscle development. As a result, the human body draws from its muscle reserve to obtain the amino acids required for survival – a process that’s known as catabolism. The breakdown of proteins during this metabolic phase results in muscle loss.
Supplementing with protein casein is especially useful in reducing this condition. Because its nutrients are digested at a slow rate, there’s a constant supply of amino acids to the cells. This inhibits catabolism and enhances muscle protein synthesis, promoting bulk gain. This is why casein is commonly utilized in athlete nutrition.
Improved Recovery and Increased Strength
Strength is required for bodybuilders to achieve a particular degree of performance in every workout. However, after physical exertion, muscles tend to get tired, which is a natural reaction to physical activity. To prevent this fatigue from happening and to maintain the effort for an extended period of time, the body’s ability to recover muscle must be optimal.
The process of relaxing and rebuilding the muscles used during intense exercise in order to increase performance is known as recovery. It’s during this period that your muscles adapt to the recent training and remove accumulated toxins. Proteins and amino acids, the building blocks of muscle, are necessary for recovery and muscle growth.
This is when casein’s sluggish absorption feature comes into play. Its prolonged supply of proteins and vital amino acids speeds up the healing process. They also help with muscle strength by increasing calorie intake through protein synthesis. If you’re using progressive overload as the basis of your workout, you should use casein as a meal supplement to increase your performance at each training session.
Improved Fat Loss
In bodybuilding, an effective gain of mass is often accompanied by weight loss to emphasise the newly-built muscles. Ideally, you should burn fat with the help of a specific diet without compromising muscle mass. To achieve this, you should reduce your carbohydrate and fat intake while getting enough protein to prevent them from breaking down.
Casein’s full potential is realised at this level. When ingested, this protein powder slows down digestion and improves feelings of satiety. This allows you to spread out your meals as much as possible and so limit your calorie consumption. The benefit is that this process occurs concurrently with muscle protein synthesis. As a result, fat reduction is accompanied by strong muscle maintenance and growth.
High-Quality Protein Source
Another great reason to add casein protein to your diet is that it’s one of the best high-quality sources of protein available. Aside from helping you to meet your minimum protein requirements, casein minimises the body’s breakdown of muscle proteins. This is extremely important for athletes and bodybuilders as it helps prevent muscle loss, even during periods of inactivity.
Taking in lower quality protein sources with the simple goal to meet your minimum requirements can negatively impact you if not all of that protein is absorbed, which means you’ll not actually be meeting those minimum requirements. If you’re following a vegetarian diet where meat is limited, adding in casein (if you are fine with dairy products) can be highly beneficial.