Does Protein Powder Spike Insulin?

On Aug 27, 2022

Does protein cause an insulin spike? So does proteincause an insulinspike? Short answer – yes.

Does Casein Protein Cause An Insulin Spike? You will find that ingestion any type of protein will have an increasing effect on your insulin levels. Which means that no matter what type of protein you ingest, whether it be chicken, meat, fish, beans, or protein powder you will experience an increase in insulin production.

Does Pea Protein Spike Insulin? Yes. But it’s a bit more complicated than that—almost any food will increase insulin response. That’s what insulin does: it stores the energy absorbed from food, shuttling it to the various parts of the body that require glucose-energy like the brain and muscles. The question is about a spike in insulin levels.

Unlike fat and carbohydrates, the human body does not “store” protein, so it has to be provided to the body through the foods we eat. It’s important to get enough protein, but not too much. Believe it or not, excess protein can actually raise blood sugar! By eating too much protein, you can trigger the body to release glucose into the bloodstream.

While protein does generate an insulin response, increasing the protein content of our food typically decreases our insulin response to food. Increasing protein generally forces out processed carbs from our diet and improves the amount of vitamins and minerals contained in our food. [7]

Dietary proteins have an insulinotropic effect and thus promote insulin secretion, which indeed leads to enhanced glucose clearance from the blood. In the long term, however, a high dietary protein intake is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

Whey protein is generally safe for most people to take, as long as they don’t have a dairy allergy. But there are some drawbacks: Calorie content: Whey protein may be low fat and low carb, but it still has calories. “Too many calories from anything, including protein, leads to weight gain,” Smith explains.

What is the insulin index?

While the glycemic index calculates the relative blood sugar rise induced by given foods, the insulin index evaluates the insulin response generated by 38 different foods. The insulin index, which first made its appearance in a 1997 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition article, was primarily the creation of Susanne Holt, a graduate student at the time and now a doctor. Interestingly, Holt, her supervisory co-authors, or other researchers haven’t chosen to conduct further research to update the “preliminary” results of their insulin index study since its creation eleven years ago now. While Holt and her co-authors found a high correlation between glycemic index and insulin index measurements, they stumbled upon an intriguing exception. High protein, virtually no-carb foods like meat and eggs, while low on the glycemic index, measured high on the insulin index. In other words, while the meat and eggs didn’t cause a spike in blood sugar the way most carbohydrates do, they did result in an unexpectedly significant rise in insulin. (Baked goods, with their high levels of refined carbs, elicited a very high rise in insulin as well. Of course, this comes as less of a surprise.) Obviously, the index has some eyebrow-raising potential, especially in those of us who choose a high protein diet. But there’s more to the story here. First off, let’s remember that the protein-rich foods didn’t result in the physical stress of blood sugar spikes. But what about that rise in insulin? Why? Should I be concerned about that omelet I ate for breakfast? Insulin, in and of itself, is a good and necessary thing. It promotes the storage of nutrients after all. In ou Continue reading >>

Build muscle, reduce body fat, support immune health and more Once regarded as a waste product of cheese-making, whey protein is now highly valued. A growing body of work has associated whey protein with improved body composition and a host of other health benefits. Compared to other proteins, the most notable difference of whey is its higher percentage of essential amino acids (the ones your body does not make). Specifically, whey is the richest source of the amino acid leucine that sparks muscle protein synthesis. Researchers have discovered that when leucine levels in the blood are increased, this is a strong signal to increase the synthesis of muscle proteins. Studies have shown that whey protein consumed before or after exercise rapidly increases the rate of muscle protein synthesis. Whey is absorbed quickly, and gram for gram contains more leucine than other protein sources. Regular consumption of whey is ideal for maintaining muscle during weight loss and muscle building when paired with exercise. For example, researchers at the University of Illinois reported that women who followed diets consisting of 1,400 kcal per day and consumed 25 grams of whey protein twice daily for 6 months lost almost twice as much body weight (-8% versus -4.1%) as a group who consumed 25 grams of carbs (maltodextrin) twice daily. In order to examine changes in the composition of the thigh area of their legs in greater detail, magnetic resonance imaging showed a greater amount of muscle tissue present and less fat in the whey group. Unless you specifically want to gain weight, the answer is most likely no. The problem with consuming simple carbs with protein is that insulin levels will spike in your blood. Overstimulation of insulin by fast-acting carbs can have a more insidious effec Continue reading >>

Some argue against the use of whey protein when you’re trying to lose fat, mainly on the basis that it raises insulin levels. “Whey is a fast protein that spikes insulin,” they say. “Every time you chug down a whey protein shake, there’s a big insulin response, and fat burning is stopped dead in its tracks. If you want to lose fat, stop using whey.” It’s true that whey is a highly insulinogenic food, which means that it triggers a large release of insulin after you eat it. In fact, whey has a much bigger impact on insulin levels than even pure glucose. But this has little to do with changes in blood sugar levels. Rather, the amino acids in whey trigger insulin secretion directly in pancreatic beta cells. The branched-chain amino acids, leucine in particular, appear to be the most potent insulin secretagogues. Whey also stimulates the release of a couple of gastrointestinal hormones known as GIP and GLP-1, both of which have the effect of raising insulin levels. Should you stop using whey if you want to lose fat? Whey comes from milk. Around 20 percent of milk protein is whey, with the remaining 80 percent coming from casein. So if the “whey prevents fat loss” claim was true, you’d expect to see a slower rate of fat loss in people eating large amounts of dairy produce like milk and yogurt. In one study, researchers compared low (0–1 serving of dairy per day), medium (3–4 servings of dairy per day) and high (6–7 servings of dairy per day) dairy diets. All three diets were set up so that the women taking part consumed around 500 calories less than they needed to maintain their weight. After 16 weeks of diet and exercise, all three groups lost weight. If whey or dairy had a negative impact on weight loss, then you’d expect it to show up in this s Continue reading >>

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What is the insulin index?

It’s pretty well known that eating carbs causes an insulin release. But what many people don’t realize is protein causes a similar response. What is an insulin response? When we eat a meal, our digestive system breaks down food into nutrients that are absorbed into the bloodstream. Carbohydrates are broken down into sugars, which lead to an increase in blood sugar after consuming them. It’s this rise in blood sugar that triggers the release of the blood-sugar-lowering hormone, insulin. This process is known as an insulin response. This process is crucial because of the delicate balancing act we call blood sugar. The body likes to keep a tight reign on blood sugar as too low or too high can have deleterious effects. We often hear insulin and think “bad” when in fact it is absolutely essential for optimal health and function. Proteins are broken down into amino acids, which also stimulate an insulin response. However, the type of insulin response varies depending on the protein food source. Benefits and dangers of an insulin response The rise in insulin after eating helps move sugar into body tissues, and therefore keeps your blood sugar from getting too high. Note from Luke: Think of insulin as a traffic cop. It tells the blood sugar (glucose) where to go. In normal and healthy individuals the glucose fuels your nervous system, red blood cells, brain and muscle tissue. With optimal amounts and good insulin sensitivity, glucose fuels your nervous system and is burned off as energy. With too much or poor insulin sensitivity your muscle don’t readily grab the glucose and it goes to where it’s always welcome: fat stores. But the release of insulin can have negative effects. Too much insulin, for instance, can stress the pancreatic cells that secrete insulin. And this ad Continue reading >>

Did you know that 100% whey protein can cause massive insulin spikes? Many don’t! In fact, those on ketogenic diets are told to avoid 100% whey protein drinks because they can throw you out of ketosis. Research shows that while whey protein causes an increase in serum levels of leucine, isoleucine, and valine, it also causes an increase in the hormone glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1). The most interesting finding in this study is that not only did whey protein caused an increase in serum insulin levels, it caused an increase of insulin, GIP. GLP-1 greater than carbohydrates from white bread (1). This study found that after ingestion of whey (grey bars), white bread (the carb group, white bars), and glucose alone (reference, black bar), whey protein caused the biggest spike in insulin (figure 1). These findings of this study was backed by further research, thus confirming that simply supplementing 100% whey protein causes significant insulin spikes (2). By incorporating a slower digesting protein with your whey, like casein protein, you will lower the overall insulin response. This is exactly what milk protein isolate is; a combination of whey and casein. Milk protein isolate is also the first ingredient in Select Protein. Research shows that although casein and whey have the same rate of muscle protein synthesis overall, casein has a much lower insulin response (3-4). Once again, the whey+casein blends have taken the lead. As you can tell, casein does not cause the same massive spike in insulin that whey does (refer to figure 1). References: Salehi, A., Gunnerud, U., Muhammed, S., et al. (2012). The insulinogenic effect of whey protein is partially mediated by a direct effect of amino acids and GIP on β-cells. Nut Continue reading >>

What is the insulin response?

This is called insulin response. Dietary proteins, broken down into amino acids, also stimulate the insulin response. However, the insulin response triggered by protein varies, depending on the food source. Additionally, the insulin response differs depending on whether the person has diabetes or not.

The food insulin index (FII) classifies foods according to their after-meal insulin response.

Whey protein isolate was designed to be consumed after your workout , where an insulin spike is desirable/intentional in order to deliver essential protein & nutrients to your muscles as quickly as possible. It’s one of the fastest absorbing proteins available and is fully digested by your body within an hour.

From the pancreas, insulin enters the blood stream and travels to various tissues, including muscle tissue. The muscle fibers (or cells) are lined with insulin receptors, similar to a docking station.

Along with casein, whey is one of the two main proteins found in milk. Eating protein is known to stimulate the production of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a hormone that triggers the production of insulin.

After eating a meal, the digestive system breaks foods down into nutrients that are absorbed into the bloodstream. Carbohydrates, broken down into sugars, cause an increase in blood sugar after meals. Rising blood sugar triggers secretion of the blood-sugar-lowering hormone insulin. This is called insulin response.