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I stumbled upon this article by Jerry Brainum a couple weeks ago. Of special interest to me was the portion about human mothers' milk and how it differs from cows' milk (pasted below). Typically, I've been mixing my casein and whey together in a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio because of what we know about milk protein isolate. As I guess I should have expected, however, milk protein isolate for one animal does not equal milk protein isolate for another. Lately, I've been adjusting my ratios to match what is discussed in the article more closely. Of course, I change the ratio for specific times (i.e. pre-bed), but the bulk of my protein supplementation is now roughly at 50/50.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/im1.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/im1.htm
Q: Mother's milk is often called the ideal protein, but are the protein proportions in mother's milk ideal for active, athletic adults?
A: Human mother's milk contains a balance of 50 to 60 percent whey protein-to-40 to 50 percent casein protein. That's a far different balance from what you find in cow's milk, which is about 80 percent casein and 20 percent whey protein.
Also, the types of proteins present in the two milks are significantly different. Human mother's milk contains as much as 17 percent lactoferrin, while cow's milk contains about 1 percent lactoferrin.
The dominant whey protein fraction in human mother's milk is alpha-lactalbumin, while the dominant whey protein fraction in cow's milk is beta-lactoglobulin. Human mother's milk doesn't contain any beta-lactoglobulin, a highly allergenic protein in humans compared to alpha-lactalbumin.
Nature doesn't do anything by chance, and the high content of lactoferrin found in mother's milk is there for a reason. Among other properties lactoferrin has antiviral activity and is a potent immune system booster. That's clearly advantageous for newborn humans, who lack full immune system function. From an athletic standpoint, lactoferrin may reduce tissue regrowth time. Some studies have shown that it may assist in increasing tissue regrowth.
Lactoferrin is one reason that you can't duplicate mother's milk. The cost of purified lactoferrin is prohibitively expensive. Another factor making it difficult to duplicate mother's milk is the beta-lactoglobulin content of cow's whey protein. Infant formula companies have experienced considerable difficulty in making efficacious products from cow's milk protein. In order to make the formula less allergenic to human infants, they usually hydrolyze the whey protein to a high degree. If the beta-lactoglobulin is sufficiently hydrolyzed, its allergenicity in humans is decreased.
It may be difficult to exactly duplicate human mother's milk, but one can at least try to achieve the proper whey-to-casein ratio. It's only logical to conclude that if nature makes mother's milk 50 percent whey protein-to-50 percent casein, that ratio is probably best for growing humans. Nature didn't make mother's milk from 100 percent whey protein or 90 percent casein. It seems obvious that growing humans should thrive on the natural balance of whey protein and casein that's found in mother's milk.
A: Human mother's milk contains a balance of 50 to 60 percent whey protein-to-40 to 50 percent casein protein. That's a far different balance from what you find in cow's milk, which is about 80 percent casein and 20 percent whey protein.
Also, the types of proteins present in the two milks are significantly different. Human mother's milk contains as much as 17 percent lactoferrin, while cow's milk contains about 1 percent lactoferrin.
The dominant whey protein fraction in human mother's milk is alpha-lactalbumin, while the dominant whey protein fraction in cow's milk is beta-lactoglobulin. Human mother's milk doesn't contain any beta-lactoglobulin, a highly allergenic protein in humans compared to alpha-lactalbumin.
Nature doesn't do anything by chance, and the high content of lactoferrin found in mother's milk is there for a reason. Among other properties lactoferrin has antiviral activity and is a potent immune system booster. That's clearly advantageous for newborn humans, who lack full immune system function. From an athletic standpoint, lactoferrin may reduce tissue regrowth time. Some studies have shown that it may assist in increasing tissue regrowth.
Lactoferrin is one reason that you can't duplicate mother's milk. The cost of purified lactoferrin is prohibitively expensive. Another factor making it difficult to duplicate mother's milk is the beta-lactoglobulin content of cow's whey protein. Infant formula companies have experienced considerable difficulty in making efficacious products from cow's milk protein. In order to make the formula less allergenic to human infants, they usually hydrolyze the whey protein to a high degree. If the beta-lactoglobulin is sufficiently hydrolyzed, its allergenicity in humans is decreased.
It may be difficult to exactly duplicate human mother's milk, but one can at least try to achieve the proper whey-to-casein ratio. It's only logical to conclude that if nature makes mother's milk 50 percent whey protein-to-50 percent casein, that ratio is probably best for growing humans. Nature didn't make mother's milk from 100 percent whey protein or 90 percent casein. It seems obvious that growing humans should thrive on the natural balance of whey protein and casein that's found in mother's milk.
