What is protein powder?
Protein powder is derived from cows' milk. At True we source our whey from New Zealand dairy cows as the quality of the milk is superior thanks to their rich pasture-fed diet and New Zealand's idyllic climate that allows nutritious, healthy grass to grow in abundance.
To get protein powder, first milk is collected and pasteurised before enzymes are added to encourage coagulation, a process during which the fatty parts of the milk change to a solid or semi-solid state. The solids are called curds and the liquid left behind is whey. The whey gets separated from the curds, which goes on to make cheese, and is filtered to strip away most of the fat and lactose. It is micro-filtrated to become whey protein concentrate and goes through a further ultra-filtration process to become whey protein isolate, a purer whey with only trace amounts of fat and lactose. The filtered liquid is then evaporated and dried to become a powder, at which point it leaves New Zealand and arrives at True Protein HQ here in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. At our own on-site facility, we blend the whey powder with all-natural flavours and sweeteners as well as natural stabilisers and fibre. The delicious final protein powders are then packed into resealable bags ready for distribution.
Why milk?
Cows’ milk naturally encourages growth. When fed to calves it helps to build muscle, a strong immune system and provide the cornerstone of a healthy adulthood. When concentrated and isolated into whey protein powder for humans, all those fantastic growth-encouraging attributes are multiplied whilst the carbohydrates, lactose and fats get considerably reduced, resulting in a healthy superfood packed with benefits, including a complete amino acid profile.
Why New Zealand?
To get the maximum out of milk it’s important to source the best quality, and quality is directly related to diet. Great grass makes great milk.
New Zealand’s unique position on the globe makes it an ideal environment to grow premium quality grass surrounded by clean air and plenty of rain and sunshine, and it's one of the few places in the world where cattle can graze on grass throughout the year.
The New Zealand grass-fed cows we source our whey protein from feast day in and day out on lush green pastures full of natural goodness. The temperate New Zealand climate allows them to graze outside year-round to produce some of the best quality milk in the world. With strict feeding guidelines and a humane free-range lifestyle in place, this makes for healthier, happier cows overall.
A whole host of vitamins, minerals and essential fats are found naturally in grass and in New Zealand the farmers work tirelessly to maintain year-round pastures that provide nearly 100% of the herd feeding requirements. In addition, New Zealand has some of the most stringent standards that all dairy products produced are safe and true to label. The government also mandates that all dairy products are to be free of chemical residues, growth hormones and antibiotics, ensuring the milk is as clean and healthy as possible.
Grass vs. Grain
Grass is the natural diet of a cow and it plays an integral role in helping to maintain a cow's gut health. Grass is surprisingly complex and it’s thanks to the extremely specialised digestive system of a cow that it can get as much goodness out of it as possible. A cow has a four-chamber stomach and when it eats grass it chews only briefly before swallowing. The grass then goes into the rumen, the largest part of a cow’s stomach. Here, millions of organisms’ help extract nutrients from the grass. Once the rumen is full, the cow then re-chews its food. The gastric system turns fibre into energy by fermentation, allowing the cow to fully utilise the rich and abundant resource, unlike any other animal.
The way cows are fed affects the nutrient composition of the milk they produce. Cattle fed on a supplementary diet of grain-based feeds are not consuming a natural diet. The beef and milk from a grain-fed cow can contain more fat than grass-fed, fewer antioxidants and is less nutritious overall. The composition of fatty acids is also different. Grass-fed meat and dairy contain less monounsaturated fat, up to five times more omega-3 fatty acids and twice as much CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), proven to have beneficial anti-inflammatory properties.
Grain-fed cows are usually supplemented with a diet of corn, soy, cottonseed and so on. This is not a species-appropriate diet and studies have shown it makes cattle more liable to suffer from bacterial contamination, causing illness and increasing the chance of the animal requiring antibiotic treatment.
Grass-fed milk is richer in omega-3 fats, vitamin E, beta-carotene and beneficial fatty acids in comparison to milk produced from a grain-fed diet.
Benefits of whey protein
Whey protein has been proven to:
• Aid muscular recovery
• Provide an excellent source of quality protein
• Promote muscle growth
• Be highly satiating which may reduce hunger and food cravings
• Improve immunity
• Could assist with weight loss
• Contains a range of essential amino acids, including BCAAs
• Absorbed and used quickly by the body compared to other types of protein
• Can assist with controlling blood sugar levels
Shop our Whey Protein Range >> www.trueprotein.com.au/protein-powders/whey
