Whey hydrolysate from Body and Fit review

Geschatte leestijd: 10 minutenAbout many, if not most, supplements, I’m not particularly positive. In many cases, objective scientific research does not support the claims of the manufacturers. However, if a supplement does seem to have significant added value, it should be emphasized. That’s why I’m now discussing Optipep’s hydrolyzed whey protein despite having covered the topic of hydrolyzed protein in a review of PeptoPro.

Not without reason, as it turns out, as there do seem to be important differences. The Optipep hydrolyzed whey sold by Bodyenfitshop has a much lower degree of hydrolysis than the PeptoPro from DSM that Bodyenfit also offers. This seems to justify the considerably higher price of PeptoPro, but it immediately raises the question of whether there is still an advantage compared to the (slightly) cheaper “normal” whey protein.

Gehydroliseerde whey proteïne

Last year, I wrote a very extensive review of PeptoPro, the hydrolyzed casein protein from DSM, offered by Bodyenfitshop. In that article, I extensively covered hydrolyzed protein: what it is, what its advantages are, how it works, what the research says, etc. In this current article, I will only briefly outline the background of hydrolyzed protein. If you want to read the detailed explanation, please go to the article about PeptoPro first.

I will mainly focus on the differences between the hydrolyzed casein from DSM that I discussed at that time and the hydrolyzed whey protein Optipep from the Irish Carbery (also offered by Bodyenfit) that I recently received for this purpose. A big advantage for me is that I also covered the studies specifically on Optipep’s hydrolyzed whey at the time, so that saves a lot of searching for the right studies. At least that’s what I thought until I found out that there are multiple variants of Optipep.

Di- and Tripeptides: Fastest Absorption of Amino Acids

When you consume proteins, the long chains of amino acids they consist of are broken down in the stomach and small intestine. This results in free amino acids, but also in chains of various lengths. These can be broken down into chains consisting of two amino acids (dipeptides), three amino acids (tripeptides), or more (tetrapeptide, pentapeptide, etc.).

Especially di- and tripeptides are remarkable because of the high speed at which the amino acids in them are absorbed into the blood. A high absorption rate is particularly important after or during training when you need amino acids quickly as building blocks for the muscles. On the one hand, to build more muscle mass, on the other hand, to limit the breakdown of existing muscle mass [1,2]. Various studies have shown that di- and tripeptides are absorbed faster than free amino acids and longer chains of amino acids [3 to 11]. In the graph on the right, you can see the differences in absorption rate of free amino acids, di- and tripeptides, and tetrapeptides (chain of four amino acids) as determined in a study from 1977 [11].

“Peptide-carrier-system”

The reason that chains of two and three amino acids are absorbed faster is because of the so-called peptide-carrier-system [5,11]. Nutrients can be transported in different ways in the body. Chains of two and three amino acids, di- and tripeptides, are transported via the peptide-carrier-system, which is faster than the transport of free amino acids and longer chains [12 to 16].

Imagine a factory with two conveyor belts. The fastest conveyor belt is the one that can accommodate chains of two and three amino acids. So, they reach their destination first. Free amino acids are transported via a slower belt. Longer chains must first be broken down into chains of up to three amino acids to be allowed on the fast belt. How long this breakdown takes depends on the length of the chain. As long as it is not longer than six amino acids, including breakdown time, they will still arrive faster via the fast belt than the free amino acids that went directly on the slower belt [11].

In addition to the amino acids arriving faster in the blood, they also arrive in larger quantities because less is lost during transport through, among other things, the stomach, spleen, and liver [3,5,17].

Hydrolysis: The Process

The breakdown into shorter chains normally occurs in the body by an enzyme called protease enzyme, other names are peptidase and proteinase. In fact, there are different types of this enzyme, all of which break the bond at different points in the chain of amino acids.

In hydrolyzed protein, this enzyme has already been added to the protein beforehand so that this process takes place before the protein is ingested. In this respect, it is similar to lactose-free milk to which an enzyme is added that normally breaks down lactose in our body (but not or less in people with lactose allergy). Just like with lactose-free milk, this does affect the taste. The extent to which the taste is affected depends, among other things, on the degree of hydrolysis.

Unknown Degree of Hydrolysis?

A very important point in assessing hydrolyzed protein is the so-called degree of hydrolysis. When you buy a pot of hydrolyzed protein, not all protein in it is cut into chains of two and three peptides. The degree of hydrolysis indicates the percentage of bonds between the amino acids that have been broken by the enzyme. The higher the degree of hydrolysis, the higher the number of di- and tripeptides.

DSM is proud with PeptoPro that it has managed to achieve a degree of hydrolysis of 28-30 percent and still maintain an acceptable taste. At the introduction of the first version as the official sports drink of the Dutch Olympic team in 2004 in Athens, the taste was found to be too bitter by many athletes.

The degree of hydrolysis of 28-30 percent at PeptoPro would result in a product with 85% casein protein, of which 7.5% consists of free amino acids, 8.5% of dipeptides, and 39% of tripeptides.

Last year, when writing about PeptoPro, I had the problem that I did not find this degree of hydrolysis anywhere in official sources from DSM. The Carbery website also presents the same problems as those of DSM. One page seems to lead to more information (“enter the Optipep zone!”), but then leads to a non-working page.

That’s very unfortunate because the degree of hydrolysis largely determines the value of the product. You now pay about 4 times as much for Pepto Pro as for, for example, Whey Perfection (Bodyenfitshop prices). Four times as much for a product of which “only” 30% is processed. So, you want to be able to assume that it is at least really 30%. Yesterday, I received official documentation from DSM via Bodyenfitshop of the test of a batch, showing that the degree of hydrolysis is 27.9%. In line with the 28-30 percent that selling parties indicate about this.

I also had a similar, even bigger problem with the whey hydrolysate Optipep from Carbery Foods. Unlike with Pepto Pro, Bodyenfitshop does not mention anything about the degree of hydrolysis on their site. So I look for official sources from Carbery where I find the following [20]:

Optipep 90 DH 4 Instant is an enzyme hydrolysed Whey Protein Isolate providing a high quality source of peptides. It is lightly
hydrolysed offering a low bitter flavour profile and is suitable for use in enhanced nutritional and functional applications.

Further in the text:

Degree of Hydrolysis (%) 4.0 ± 2

Four percent!? I was quite shocked by that. Especially since in the article about Pepto Pro I wrote that I would probably choose Whey Hydrolys

ate from Bodyenfit/Optipep because it is cheaper and the studies were not convincing enough in favor of Pepto Pro. With 4% compared to 28%, however, they would not be comparable at all, although that would explain the large price difference. For the 4%, according to the above quote, it would have been chosen because of the taste while DSM has solved that differently.

However, when I reread the research from my previous article comparing regular whey with whey hydrolysate, it turned out to be about Optipep 80tm [19]:

…subjects ingested whey protein isolate (WPI; Isolac®, Carbery Food Ingredients, Ireland) or whey protein hydrolysate, 30% DH (WPH; Optipep 80™, Carbery Food Ingredients, Ireland).

O. Power, University of Limerick

Meanwhile, it has also become clear to me from other sources (not from Carbery themselves) that Carbery has a range of Optipep products ranging in degree of hydrolysis from 4% to 40% [21,22]. Some are “normal hydrolysates” (the so-called “80 series”) while others are made with hydrolyzed whey isolate (the so-called “90 series”). The isolate version, like normal whey isolate, is filtered and therefore contains a higher percentage of whey protein (about 90%) than the non-isolate, which contains about 80% whey protein.

Hydrolysis Degree of Whey Hydrolysate Optipep 4% [update]

A few days after the publication of this article, I received information from Bodyenfitshop that the degree of hydrolysis of the sold whey hydrolysate is 4%. The provided text seems to be the same as the one I showed above from the study, with the same degree of hydrolysis of 4% with the same possible deviation.

Thus, it is confirmed that this is the version that Bodyenfit sells. It explains the enormous price difference compared to PeptoPro, which has a much higher degree of hydrolysis.

Negative Studies on Hydrolyzed Whey with a Note

Are there only positive sounds about hydrolysates? No.

There have been two studies comparing whey with whey hydrolysate and found that the amino acids were absorbed faster after ingesting whey than after the hydrolysate [18,19].

In one case, a whey hydrolysate from Dairy Farmers was used, where the degree of hydrolysis was not mentioned in the study. Without knowing this, it does not make sense to say anything about the outcomes of this study.

In a second case, however, the Optipep 80tm was specifically mentioned with a degree of hydrolysis of 30%. In this study too, after ingesting “normal whey”, the amount of amino acids in the blood was increased faster.

Be aware! In both cases, it is not certain to what extent the measured amino acids actually came from the ingested protein or from the breakdown of protein already present in the muscles. By not using so-called “labeled amino acids”, this distinction could not be made.

Personal Opinion: Whey (Hydrolysate) or Pepto Pro

Personal Effect

Now that I have used both, I can ask myself the same question again. Whey hydrolysate or Pepto Pro? You may wonder why I had to use it first before I always base my opinion on research instead of personal experience. Personal experience doesn’t mean much. I am just one person with all my changing circumstances. What I notice or don’t notice, I can never attribute to a supplement, if only because I usually use several at the same time.

Therefore, I normally only describe ease of use in this regard. Things like taste and clumpiness, for example. In the review of PeptoPro, I broke with this rule because I simply noticed that I had become considerably stronger and I wanted to mention this. In the case of whey hydrolysate, I can say that I don’t notice these effects. Again, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Maybe I ate or slept worse, or used other supplements alongside it this time.

Easy choice due to degree of hydrolysis:

The question seemed difficult until yesterday when I received the information indicating the low degree of hydrolysis. I already found the whey hydrolysate Optipep much less bitter. I do taste some bitterness, but not comparable to the Pepto Pro. Now this could be because Carbery (more than DSM) had succeeded in keeping the taste acceptable despite a high degree of hydrolysis, as mentioned on the Bodyenfitshop website. The latter turns out to be the case, as I suspected in the earlier version of this article.

So whey, whey hydrolysate from Optipep, or Pepto Pro as the fastest protein?

In that respect, my conclusion in the article about Pepto Pro remains unchanged. With a degree of hydrolysis of 27.9% vs. 4%, Pepto Pro is clearly the winner. However, this also translates into a price three times higher. The price difference between Optipep and regular whey is small, so you can’t go wrong there, but whether that 4% is worth it.

In short: You seem to get what you pay for. If you want the “best” in terms of absorption speed, then Pepto Pro still seems “the way to go”, but you’ll pay a premium for it (at least, at Bodyenfit usually quite a bit cheaper than elsewhere). As a top athlete, I could imagine making this choice, like the Olympians who received it as an official sports drink.

As “Kenneth the hobby builder,” I think I’ll stick with good old trusted whey because personally, I would always choose a mix of fast and slow protein after training and beyond. To stimulate muscle growth, I want the fast protein, and to limit muscle breakdown, I want the slow protein [24,25]. For this, the “Perfect Protein” from Bodyenfit is my favorite considering the price. It contains whey and casein in a ratio of 80-20. If they offered hydrolyzed whey combined with casein for the same or slightly higher price, I would probably find that comparable. Of course, you can also assemble such a combination yourself.

By the way, B&F’s regular whey also contains hydrolyzed protein, but since we don’t know how much and what the degree of hydrolysis is, the added value of this cannot be determined.

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