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Mailbag: Protein Powder
03-May-2004

Brand Recommendations - What happens when you bake protein powders?

Brand Recommendations

There are so many protein shake powders on the market. Any suggestions as to what ones actually taste good and are a good source of protein and low in carbs. If you have a review I would love to read it!

Thanks,
Carrie

Dear Carrie,

I haven't written a review of protein powders, but I do have a couple of favorites. For cooking and baking, I like Designer Whey Protein Powders. I've used the natural, french vanilla, and the chocolate (which is great for baking chocolate things!).

Some other products I have heard recommended for cooking with are Nature's Best Isopure and EAS Precision Protein, but I don't have any experience with them. I tried Trader Joe's house brand and didn't get the results I got with Designer Whey, so I went back to Designer. I also know some folks who are very happy with the protein powders they get from the bulk bins in their health food stores, but since the Trader Joe's protein powder was a disappointment, I just decided to stick with Designer.

For meal replacement shakes, I really love the Keto brand line from Life Services. The Egg Nog is really great around the holidays, and the peaches and cream is just divine any time, as are the vanilla and chocolate. I make these using my DrinkMaster blender, using chilled water and a dash of half-n-half.

I'm sure there are some wonderful soy protein powders out there, but I can't recommend any from personal experience. I'm sensitive to soy since I became hypothyroid a few years ago -- it puts me right to sleep!

What happens when you bake protein powders?

Also on the topic of protein powders, I received this e-mail from reader Sheri:

While protein powder is good to add to a cooked recipe if we need to help the texture (as in low sugar, low carb brownies), I do not believe in adding it for the purpose of increasing the protein content of the food. My contacts with the manufacturers indicate that heating most of the powder above lukewarm damages the protein and makes it no longer available to us.

I admit, I had never heard this before, and so I did a little web search on the topic, but I didn't really come up with anything definitive. The FAQ page on Designer's page does says "Any extreme temperatures, freezing or high heat (above ~140ºF), can denature protein (produce cross-linking) and reduce its solubility, digestibility and bioavailability." That doesn't sound very good, does it? And yet, protein powders of all sorts are used as ingredients in commercially prepared products that are obviously heat-processed. So, for more information, I wrote to Designer's customer service folks, and recieved this reply from their representative Janet Bryant, who assured me, "No worries on cooking with Designer Whey." Here's the detailed response (emphases added):

Designer Whey contains virtually all non-denatured protein. However, exposing protein to extreme temperature (hot or cold) will denature the protein to a certain degree. For example, heating whey protein to temperatures above 140 degrees F (60 degrees C) results in denaturation. For this reason, cooking or baking with DP denatures the protein. In addition, repeated freezing and thawing of a protein solution can result in deanaturation, but simply exposing the powder to low temperatures does not cause denaturation.

This does not mean that the amount of the protein is diminished. Denaturation can affect biological value (bioavailability) and may slow the digestion and absorption of the protein. (However, not to worry here; although the biological value is lowered somewhat by cooking, it is not reduced to zero.) Regardless, denatured protein still retains full nutritional value with regard to amino acid composition. And Designer Whey is a good source of all essential and non-essential amino acids; therefore, even if it is denatured, it is still a very high quality protein source. Also, all proteins are denatured when cooked (e.g., eggs, meat, soy, etc.). I hope this helps to explain the full nutritional value of the amount you use, and the Amino Acid content is still the same.

So, there you have it: Sheri is correct in that baking a protein will cause denaturization, but the effect is small and should not be of concern to us. A big thanks to Janet Bryant and the folks at Designer Whey for their help with this question!