165: More Than Muscle: The Protein Conversation

Protein isn’t just about building muscle. In this episode, I break down why protein plays a critical role in performance, recovery, body composition, and long-term health. It helps repair tissue, support hormones and enzymes, strengthen your immune system, and even protect bone health. At the end of the day, if you want to perform better, recover stronger, and build a body that lasts, you have to start by getting the fundamentals right. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Welcome 02:40 Key Protein Takeaways 06:16 Protein Beyond Muscle 10:53 What Protein Is 13:49 No Protein Storage 16:01 Digestion and Excretion 22:25 Thermic Effect 25:54 Satiety and Body Composition 31:03 Common Protein Myths 36:46 Whey Protein Basics 50:40 Daily Protein Targets 57:40 Low Protein and Vegan Risks 01:02:34 Final Recap ORDER MY BOOK HERE: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Go-One-More-Intentional-Life-Changing/dp/1637746210 FOLLOW: Become a BPN member FOR FREE - Unlock 25% off FOR LIFE ⁠ https://www.bareperformancenutrition.com/collections/performance-nutrition IG: ⁠instagram.com/nickbarefitness/⁠ YT: ⁠youtube.com/@nickbarefitness This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal [health or profession] advice. Bare Performance Nutrition (BPN) is not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast. This podcast is not intended to replace professional medical advice. This podcast may not be republished without the written consent of Bare Performance Nutrition (BPN)

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Nick Bare?

  Well, guys, we've done it. You've been asking for years. And over these last couple of months, we have been working on the product you've been asking for, which is a grass-fed whey protein isolate, offered in two delicious flavors, fudge chocolate and vanilla, which goes live today, March 16th, 2026, 10 a.m. Central Standard Time at bpnsubs.com.

• 0:39Nick Bare?

  All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the podcast. Today, we're talking protein, everything about protein. And the working title of this episode is more than muscle, the protein conversation. Now, I'm a big fan, advocate, consumer, producer,

• 1:05Nick Bare?

  all things of protein. Protein has been foundational for much of my life, for at least the last 18, almost 20 years now. But I think a lot of people get protein wrong, and they think that it is just a muscle-building supplement or macronutrient, but it is much greater. It is much more important. It is much larger than that. And that is my hopes in this protein conversation today. Now, in preparation for the podcast that I record,

• 1:46Nick Bare?

  I do a lot of prep work. I do a lot of research. I'll listen to audiobooks. I'll read research papers. I'll listen to podcasts, read books, take notes, all of the things, because I want to come into these episodes prepared to share accurate information, but also in a way that is easy to understand, consumable, and interesting. And I'll be honest, as I listen to a bunch of different podcast episodes, and listen to some sections of audiobooks from

• 2:28Nick Bare?

  Very educated individuals, very smart, they know their stuff. They've conducted research studies on their own. I found that a lot of the information about protein out there was almost just too much. It was overcomplicated, too much in certain parts of the science. And it lost me. And I just became uninterested because it wasn't applicable to me. And hopefully, this podcast conversation, discussion around protein is applicable to you.

• 3:13Nick Bare?

  Now, there's some key takeaways. We'll just go really high level. One, protein is really important. I hope if you don't know that right now, by the end of this episode and this conversation, you realize protein is really important. And we should try to get in a lot of protein, probably more protein than we are consuming on a regular basis right now, on a daily basis. So number one, protein's important. Protein is, it's, it's really, I don't know how to drive that home anymore meaningfully. It's really important. Number two,

• 3:55Nick Bare?

  protein functions very differently in the body compared to carbohydrates and fats. Now carbohydrates and dietary fat, these can and normally act as fuel sources. Carbohydrates, which break down into glucose, are readily available energy sources. But both carbohydrates and fats can act as energy sources. Short term, term, and long term. Protein can be an energy source, but it is a very inefficient energy source. It is mainly used to build structures, maintain the integrity of.

• 4:40Nick Bare?

  Muscle, of enzymes, hormones, many different things. So protein is important, number one. Number two, it functions very differently compared to the other primary macronutrients being carbohydrates and fats. And number three, if you don't take anything else away from this episode, hit your protein goals on a daily basis, choose quality nutrient-dense sources, and lift weights. Incorporate resistance training into your regularly scheduled training program. You will build muscle, you will feel better, and you will set your life up for success,

• 5:24Nick Bare?

  not just for performance and body composition goals, but for longevity.

• 5:34Nick Bare?

  You know, if you look at the people who are living long lives, and not just years on their life, but quality of years, the later they get into their lifetime, the more they age. If you look at the people who are really still getting after it, they prioritize protein, they work out, they move their bodies, they train, resistance training, they have muscle. That will add not just years on your life, but quality of years on your life, not just for you selfishly, but for the time and quality of time you can spend with other people, traveling,

• 6:19Nick Bare?

  with your family, playing with your grandkids, all the things. And you might not be thinking of that right now, if you are in your twenties, or thirties, or even forties, but that time's coming. And it's coming faster than any of us want it to. The best way we can set ourselves up for success, hit our protein goals, choose quality nutrient-dense sources, and lift your weights. Okay. Now, protein.

• 6:52Nick Bare?

  Protein is more than muscle.

• 6:56Nick Bare?

  And I think when most people think protein, if you close your eyes and you say the word protein to yourself, what comes to mind? It might be one of those old school bodybuilding magazines. It might be just this jacked pumped guy or girl in the gym. Maybe the classic Venice Gold's Gym, golden era of bodybuilding nostalgia. But protein is so much more than just building muscle. Protein on itself isn't going to build muscle.

• 7:36Nick Bare?

  You require weight training, strength training, resistance training. And then protein, consuming protein on a regular basis, is going to facilitate muscle protein synthesis, the repair and building of muscle. That's only one of the functions of protein. Now, what are the other functions? Well, we talked about it builds and repairs tissue or structure. One of the quotes I have here from Dr. Lane Norton, who I'm a huge fan of, we've had Dr. Lane Norton on the podcast before.

• 8:21Nick Bare?

  I mean, he's been in this space ever since I can remember. When I first started getting into strength training and bodybuilding and when I was sitting in my college dorm room in Pennsylvania, filing for Bear Performance Nutrition to be an organization, I was watching Dr. Lane Norton YouTube videos. I was reading his articles on bodybuilding.com. And one of the things I heard him say recently is that lean tissue is metabolically expensive.

• 8:58Nick Bare?

  Another reason it's important to have, build and maintain muscle. Because when you have muscle, you have lean tissue, more lean tissue as opposed to fat. It is metabolically expensive. Your body has to work harder to maintain that muscle, build and maintain that muscle. It's gonna work harder, it's gonna burn more calories, it's gonna require more food, more calories. That's a good thing. Metabolically expensive means that your body is functioning very efficient and optimally. And it's consuming and burning, consuming and burning, maintaining and building.

• 9:42Nick Bare?

  That's what you want. That's what lean tissue does. Having more lean tissue has that pro, has that advantage. Protein, dietary protein also helps form enzymes that are needed for many bodily processes and functions. It plays a significant role in hormone signaling. It supports healthy immune function. And also supports bone health, stronger bones. And in many other things that dietary protein does. But let's go into this conversation

• 10:25Nick Bare?

  of accepting the fact that protein is more, it's much more than just building muscle and getting jacked. And protein alone is not going to get you jacked. It is a combination of a few things. One, resistance training. Two, consuming dietary protein to facilitate and initiate muscle protein synthesis. It's sleep, it's low stress, it's quality nutrition overall, carbohydrates, dietary fat. But protein is an ingredient in those outcomes and results that many of us desire.

• 11:10Nick Bare?

  Like, I want to build more lean tissue, I want to build more muscle, I want to get stronger.

• 11:16Nick Bare?

  I love training,

• 11:19Nick Bare?

  but I also love eating healthy and I love seeing the results from the training and the diet.

• 11:26Nick Bare?

  Now, what is protein?

• 11:30Nick Bare?

  Protein is one of the main macronutrients. So we can think of the three main macronutrients being protein, carbohydrates, and fat.

• 11:42Nick Bare?

  Protein and carbohydrates both yield four calories per gram. Dietary fat yields nine calories per gram. And if we want to include alcohol, alcohol yields seven calories per gram.

• 12:00Nick Bare?

  So dietary fat is the most chlorically dense by weight. And both protein and carbohydrates yield four calories per gram.

• 12:12Nick Bare?

  There are complete and incomplete proteins. Now, this is important.

• 12:19Nick Bare?

  Foods that contain all nine essential amino acids are known as complete proteins. And foods that don't contain all nine essential amino acids are considered incomplete proteins. Now, we want to opt for more complete proteins because our body can utilize those in a more effective and efficient way. And a lot of the complete proteins come from animal sources, which we'll get into here a little later. Talking about one of the potential consequences or downfalls of a vegan-based diet.

• 13:02Nick Bare?

  Because a lot of the protein sources that are popular on a vegan diet, if you're not intentional with all of the food choices that you're making, you can find yourself consuming a lot of incomplete proteins. Now, they're called essential amino acids because those nine essential amino acids you have to get from your diet, from foods you're consuming or supplements. Your body can't make them on their own. So there's nine amino acids that are essential. Histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, valine.

• 13:49Nick Bare?

  The branched-chain amino acids, if you're familiar with BCAAs, so essential amino acids, you might see marketed as EAAs, and there's branched-chain amino acids, there's three. It's leucine, isoleucine, and valine. Branched-chain amino acid supplements used to be really popular, and now essential amino acid supplements are more popular, which I'll talk about here in a little bit.

• 14:22Nick Bare?

  What's really interesting, and we need to know about proteins compared to carbohydrates and fats. Our bodies can store excess carbohydrates and fats.

• 14:38Nick Bare?

  We store fat, like excess dietary fat, and when we consume dietary fat, our body will use some of it for necessary function and bodily processes, but the excess, we can and will store as fat, body fat.

• 15:00Nick Bare?

  When it comes to carbohydrates, we can store excess carbohydrates in the form of glycogen. So when we consume carbohydrates, our body will break that down into glucose, it'll use certain amounts of glucose, but the excess can be stored in the muscle and liver as glycogen. And then when our body needs to tap into those stored carbohydrate or fat sources, it can break it down and utilize it.

• 15:31Nick Bare?

  When it comes to protein, our body actually can't store protein or amino acids in excess.

• 15:43Nick Bare?

  And we'll talk about that here a little bit. And that's what makes protein so different and why we have to get in our protein every single day. It's why it's important. When it comes to carbohydrates and fats, we can store, we can break it down and utilize if we're not consuming enough. But when it comes to protein, because we don't store protein or amino acids, we have to make sure we're consuming our protein consistently every day. We're hitting our goals. That's something I really want to drive home. Protein is the one macronutrient we can't break down and store.

• 16:25Nick Bare?

  And that's why it's so essential that we consume it and prioritize it in our diet daily consistently. So how does our body break down protein and use the amino acids? Proteins are made up of strands of amino acids. So we consume protein sources. Say you eat a steak or protein powder or chicken or fish or eggs or beans or any of these things, you will consume the protein and then the protein begins to break down,

• 17:04Nick Bare?

  become denatured into individual amino acids in the stomach and the small intestine. So protein starts breaking down after consumption, being denatured into amino acids. These amino acids, individual amino acids, you know, each amino acid has a very specific function in the body. Like your body will use histidine in a certain way, lysine in a certain way, valine in a certain way, isoleucine, leucine for specific functions and purposes.

• 17:43Nick Bare?

  The amino acids are then absorbed through the intestinal wall. They enter the bloodstream and travel to the liver where they are regulated and distributed to the rest of the body where the body needs those specific amino acids.

• 17:59Nick Bare?

  Amino acids that are not used initially for bodily processes can enter an amino acid pool. And this pool just has amino acids in circulation that can use as needed. But it's not this massive storage space like glycogen. I mean, our bodies can store, depending on the size of the individual and the muscle mass, 400 to 800 grams of carbohydrates in the form of muscle, primarily muscle and liver glycogen.

• 18:39Nick Bare?

  Our bodies are not storing 400 to 800 grams of proteins broken down into amino acids in this free amino acid pool.

• 18:51Nick Bare?

  So there's some amino acids that are stored in this pool. Not much. The amino acids that aren't used and are broken down, now this is important to understand because we're going to talk about this when we start talking about some of the myths of protein.

• 19:12Nick Bare?

  So the amino acids that aren't used, they are broken down, and they have a nitrogen attached to them. So the nitrogen has to be removed first before the amino acids can be excreted. So you consume protein, your body will use it as needed. The excess has to be excreted. The way that this excess protein and amino acids are excreted, one, the nitrogen molecule is removed from the amino acids.

• 19:45Nick Bare?

  The liver converts the remaining into urea, and the urea is filtered by the kidneys and excreted in the urine. So both the liver and the kidneys play a significant role in being able to excrete additional unused, unnecessary amino acids. Liver and kidneys. Put a bookmark in that right there because we're going to come back to it. So as I've mentioned, there are the essential amino acids, the EAAs.

• 20:27Nick Bare?

  We at BPN, we actually have an essential amino acid product. Our amino acids are sourced from one of our favorite suppliers, Compound Solutions. We utilize amino nine, which is the nine essential amino acids in this product. This product right now is called Recover by BPN. In June, we're actually going to be rebranding it to Post. So I've shared this briefly, but we're relaunching our Strength Collection through BPN in June. So right now we have a pre-workout called Flight.

• 21:11Nick Bare?

  Flight was the first product we ever developed in 2012. We used to have a pump supplement called Endo Pump, which we discontinued. And then we have an essential amino acid that has additional leucine and ingredients for recovery called Recover right now. I sip on Recover during every one of my strength training workouts. It is my intra-workout slash post-workout supplement. Well, we're relaunching our Strength Collection with BPN in June. So Flight is being rebranded to Pre. We're bringing back a pump supplement and we're rebranding Recover as Post.

• 21:54Nick Bare?

  So it's going to be Pre, Pump, and Post. There will be three supplements within our Strength Collection that we're promoting to be used as a system. Use Pre and Pump. 30 to 45 minutes before your workout starts and you either sip on post during or after your workout, which is going to provide you the essential amino acids, the nine essential amino acids with added leucine. We'll get into why we added more leucine because leucine is known as the anabolic trigger that triggers muscle protein synthesis. But if you've never used that product of ours, it's a great amino acid supplement. Like I said, I sip on it

• 22:39Nick Bare?

  during every strength training workout and love it. It's great for initiating muscle protein synthesis, but also helping to facilitate just optimized recovery while you're breaking down the muscles as you're training.

• 22:58Nick Bare?

  Now, protein has a significant thermic effect of food compared to the other macronutrients. So the thermic effect of food refers to the energy or calories your body burns by digesting and absorbing food. So when you consume nutrition, you put food in your mouth, you break it down, you consume it, your body has to work to break it down further, right?

• 23:30Nick Bare?

  So your body's gonna have to do some sort of work to break down dietary fats, your body's gonna have to do some work to break down carbohydrates into glucose, and your body's gonna have to do some work to break proteins down into amino acids. And this work that is required actually burns energy. It burns calories. It is not super significant, but it is significant. There is a reason that we talk about the thermic effect of food, the thermic effect of certain macronutrients, because there's a big difference. So protein has the highest thermic effect of all macronutrients, which means your body burns more calories

• 24:15Nick Bare?

  digesting and processing protein than it does carbohydrates and fat.

• 24:22Nick Bare?

  Protein is actually an inefficient macronutrient for energy production.

• 24:28Nick Bare?

  And the body prioritizes protein for structural repair. Like I said, it lacks dedicated storage and it requires a high amount of energy to metabolize protein. So in order to metabolize protein, to break protein down into amino acids that your body can then utilize, it requires significant energy.

• 24:55Nick Bare?

  So check this out. The thermic effect of food for protein, carbohydrates and fats. So your body uses about 20 to 30% of the energy of protein

• 25:12Nick Bare?

  to digest and processes it. 20 to 30% of the energy consumed is utilized to digest and process protein.

• 25:26Nick Bare?

  That's a third. Between a quarter and a third of the calories from protein are burned to digest and process it. 5 to 10% of the calories from carbohydrates are used to digest and process. And only 0 to 3% of the calories from fats are used to digest and process it. So when we think of protein, 20 to 30% compared to the 5 to 10 from carbs and 0 to 3 from fats, it does significantly have a greater thermic effect of food.

• 26:10Nick Bare?

  Which means that if we consume more protein compared to carbohydrates and fats,

• 26:19Nick Bare?

  we are going to have a greater thermic effect from the calories we are consuming. We're going to burn more of the calories we are consuming. Now, protein is also a high satiety food group. Yeah, I heard someone mention this. I think it was Dr. Lane Norton as well. But it's harder to overfeed protein than any other macronutrients.

• 26:47Nick Bare?

  So think of it this way.

• 26:51Nick Bare?

  If you put a a bowl of

• 26:57Nick Bare?

  a sweet, salty, maybe savory carbohydrate-based food item in front of you.

• 27:06Nick Bare?

  For some people, chips, like Doritos. You put Doritos in front of someone, or Chex Mix, or Cookies. It's really easy to overfeed on these things. You know, you grab a little bit here, consume it. It's dense in carbohydrates, it's dense in calories. And you keep going back for more and more and more and more. It's really over to it's really easy to overfeed on carbohydrates and fats.

• 27:42Nick Bare?

  But it's hard to overfeed on protein. And if you have a plate in front of you that's loaded up with chicken and steak. You're gonna eat until you're full. And then you're gonna be like, I'm done. I don't want to keep consuming chicken and steak. It is very satiating. It makes you feel full and content. That's why when you're building out your plate. You know, I always build out my plate, protein first, then carbs.

• 28:17Nick Bare?

  Uh, and then, you know, fat sources, sometimes the fat is built into the protein, or I'll add avocado, nuts, seeds, olives, oils. And then veggies and fruits on part of the plate. I like to start by eating the protein first. Because that is the highest

• 28:40Nick Bare?

  satiety, satiating food on the plate. And by the time you get to, you know, the other things, maybe you want to eat your veggies and fruits next, and then save those dense carbs for last.

• 28:55Nick Bare?

  But did you ever go to a barbecue joint? I mean, down here in central Texas, we have barbecue joints everywhere. And you're going through the line, at least this happens to me. I'll be taking friends who aren't from Texas to Terry Black's barbecue, for example, downtown Austin. We'll go through the line and we're starving. Our stomachs are growling. And we overorder every time. We'll take a pound of brisket. We'll take a pound of turkey. We'll take a pound of ribs. We'll take, uh, pulled pork, sausage, like, just load our order up with all these meats.

• 29:38Nick Bare?

  And then we start eating and our eyes are always so much larger than our stomach. There are times we don't even put a dent in some of the meats. So when we go to barbecue, I'm not really getting the sides. I'm going for all the meats. And I'm always surprised and kind of disappointed, to be honest, how fast I fill up. And when I fill up on the meats, I'm done. I'm tapped. I'm not like, I could keep going back for a few more bites here and there. No, I'm done. The protein is a high satiety food, which for many reasons, a high protein diet,

• 30:19Nick Bare?

  for so many reasons, can build great body composition, can maintain a level of leanness.

• 30:29Nick Bare?

  Not because it is very satiating when you consume it, but also when incorporated and paired with resistance training, you put yourself in a position to maximize muscle protein synthesis. And when you build more muscle and lean tissue, like Dr. Lane Norton said, it is metabolically expensive. And because protein has a greater thermic effect of food, you're burning more of the calories you're consuming. I mean, all of these reasons, all of these things are pointing back to why protein is so important for longevity, for, for building lean tissue, for bodily processes, but also

• 31:14Nick Bare?

  just for overall health, for staying lean, for staying healthy.

• 31:22Nick Bare?

  For not over-consuming and over-indulging, there's so many reasons that a high-protein diet, or a protein-first, protein-prioritized diet, is so valuable and important. Now, some common myths about protein. One, these have been debunked as well, scientifically debunked. You often hear, "You don't want to consume too much protein because too much protein is bad for your kidneys." False. Unless you have a pre-existing damaged kidney condition. This may be accurate.

• 32:06Nick Bare?

  But if you have healthy kidney function, a moderate-to-high-protein diet has no negative consequences for your kidneys. Where a lot of this misinformation, these myths have started, is because if we go back to how your body processes protein amino acids, to get rid of the amino acids, the excess, like we've talked about, the nitrogen molecule has to be removed, the liver converts the remaining into urea, and urea is filtered by the kidneys and excreted in the urine. So, people used to think back in the day, "Well, if you consume too much protein, your body has to excrete it.

• 32:51Nick Bare?

  It has to remove the nitrogen, convert it into urea, and it has to be filtered by the kidneys. And if you're consuming too much protein, you're going to overtax the kidneys." False. This is just part of the kidney's function. The kidney is there. It lives for this. It is there and thriving and well to filter the urea and excrete it through urine. Too much protein, unless you have, like I said, a pre-existing kidney issue, is not bad for your kidneys.

• 33:36Nick Bare?

  This has been debunked time and time and time again.

• 33:43Nick Bare?

  There's a myth that your body can only consume X amount of protein per sitting. Now, there's a lot of different information

• 33:58Nick Bare?

  that circulates the internet around this question.

• 34:05Nick Bare?

  I personally don't want to consume all the protein that I need in a day in one meal.

• 34:17Nick Bare?

  Technically, you could, if you wanted to. You could have one big meal a day, and there are certain people that do this. The one meal a day diet. This became really popular a few years ago, and I haven't heard many people talk about it since. But it was known as the OMAD diet. One Meal A Day. O-M-A-D. OMAD. I mean, technically, you could do that, get all of your calories, all your protein in one sitting. Does it sound comfortable to me? No. Does it feel realistic and feasible for me? No, but to each their own.

• 35:00Nick Bare?

  I personally like to space my protein out throughout the day. So I'm getting at least 30 grams per meal. Because if I'm getting at least 30 grams, I'm getting the sufficient amount of leucine per meal, which is about 2.5 to 3 grams. That is going to trigger muscle protein synthesis by a pathway called mTOR, which we'll get into here a little bit later.

• 35:31Nick Bare?

  Your body can consume a lot of protein at once.

• 35:36Nick Bare?

  But...

• 35:38Nick Bare?

  In my personal preference, I would rather space it out into multiple meals throughout the day.

• 35:47Nick Bare?

  So can your body consume more than 30 grams of protein per sitting? Yes. Can it consume more than 40 grams, 50 grams of protein per sitting? Yes. But I think it is

• 36:00Nick Bare?

  the most optimal, optimally, to consume your protein in large doses multiple times throughout the day. Spread those amino acids out.

• 36:15Nick Bare?

  Another common myth,

• 36:17Nick Bare?

  you only need protein if you lift weights and work out. False. For many of the other functions that protein and amino acids are used within the body. But even if you don't

• 36:32Nick Bare?

  work out, we still want to be in a positive muscle protein synthesis state as opposed to a negative

• 36:43Nick Bare?

  protein balance. Another common myth is that all protein is created equal. As we talked about, there are complete proteins and there are incomplete proteins. Some proteins are of greater nutrient density. They come with the added vitamins and minerals and healthy dietary fats associated with them.

• 37:07Nick Bare?

  Not all protein is created equal because of the additional nutrients that some proteins carry, the nutrient density of that protein source. So let's talk about whey protein.

• 37:24Nick Bare?

  Because when a lot of people think of protein, they think of bodybuilding, they think of meat, and they might think of protein powder.

• 37:36Nick Bare?

  Now, are protein powders necessary? No. But in my opinion, they help. I consume a protein powder every single day because it helps me hit my protein goals.

• 37:54Nick Bare?

  I've been consuming protein powders well before we started producing protein powders here at BPN.

• 38:03Nick Bare?

  One, I just, I love incorporating protein powders into my diet. And also, it's easier for me to hit my protein goals.

• 38:14Nick Bare?

  Where I can do two scoops of protein, get an easy 50 grams of protein, as opposed to having to eat eight ounces of chicken, or beef, or fish.

• 38:30Nick Bare?

  It's convenience. It's not super filling, which for me is nice, because I'm trying to get a lot of protein in on a daily basis. And for me, it helps. But is it necessary? No. You don't need to consume a protein supplement. But if you're not hitting your protein goals on a daily basis with just food, it can definitely be super helpful.

• 38:56Nick Bare?

  Super helpful. Like I said, I consume a protein supplement every single day. I can't tell you the last time I've gone a few days without consuming whey protein powder.

• 39:14Nick Bare?

  Now, when people think of whey protein, I think a lot of people think that whey protein powders are synthetically produced. It's a synthetic material made in a lab. But the truth is that whey protein comes from real food. It comes from cow's milk. It is a byproduct of the cheese-making process, which we're going to discuss here.

• 39:41Nick Bare?

  So how is whey protein powder made? This might make you feel a little bit more comfortable about consuming whey protein powder. Because I do believe some people still think that whey protein is made in a lab with chemicals and this powder just like comes out of nowhere. So whey protein is a dairy product and it is produced from cow's milk. And the way the process works is after the milk is produced and collected from milking cows. The milk is then heated to kill any harmful bacteria. And enzymes are added to separate the curds and the liquid whey during the cheesemaking process.

• 40:26Nick Bare?

  So during the cheesemaking process, the curds separate from liquid whey when enzymes are added. Again, byproduct of the cheesemaking process.

• 40:41Nick Bare?

  They then take the liquid whey, which is separated from the curds. It's pasteurized to again, kill any harmful bacteria. And whey protein is isolated at different concentrations using microfiltration and ultrafiltration. And then the liquid whey is then dried into a powder. So it's thrown into this dryer that makes this liquid into a powder, which then can be used to consume to get protein into your diet. Cow's milk, byproduct of cheesemaking process, curds, liquid whey are separated.

• 41:25Nick Bare?

  Liquid whey is turned into a powder. Boom. There you have whey protein. It's real food. It's not this synthetic material. It is real food. It comes from cow's milk.

• 41:42Nick Bare?

  Now, you may have seen whey protein concentrate and whey protein isolate in the market. So let's talk about what separates a concentrate from an isolate.

• 41:55Nick Bare?

  Whey protein isolate will go under additional processing and filtration to minimize lactose. So after the liquid whey is turned into a powder, you have either concentrate or isolate. Isolate will go through additional filtration and processing before turned into a powder

• 42:22Nick Bare?

  with the intent of minimizing lactose, making it for a better option for people who are sensitive to lactose. It doesn't remove all the lactose. So whey protein isolate is not lactose free, but it minimizes the lactose. So for consumers who have tried whey protein concentrate, and you'll typically know it's a whey protein concentrate because it doesn't say it's an isolate. If it's an isolate, it's going to be called whey protein isolate or WPI. Whey protein isolate, like I said, reduces lactose.

• 43:03Nick Bare?

  So for those of you who have tried a whey protein concentrate and have experienced stomach issues, gas, bloating, GI distress, stomach discomfort, you may have a lactose intolerance. I would highly encourage you to try experimenting with a WPI, a whey protein isolate, because of the reduced lactose. A lot of people can consume a whey protein isolate that can't consume a traditional whey protein concentrate. It digests much easier. It's actually leaner. It typically has less carbohydrates, less fat because of the additional purification,

• 43:49Nick Bare?

  processing, and filtration. But a lot of people who can't consume traditional whey protein can actually manage and handle a whey protein isolate very well. So this process, which produces the whey protein isolate, produces a more highly purified protein with, like I said, lower levels of carbohydrates and fats.

• 44:14Nick Bare?

  Now with all of that being said, we are really proud to announce that we are launching a whey protein isolate. And by the time this podcast episode is out, the day that we launch this episode is the day we're launching our whey protein isolate on our site. We have sold a whey protein concentrate for the last eight years, and it's one of our best sellers.

• 44:44Nick Bare?

  We source all of our whey protein from a very reputable, one of the biggest and best whey protein suppliers in the world, who we have great relationships with.

• 44:58Nick Bare?

  We're really proud of our flavor systems, of our whey protein powder, and the flavors that we have been offering for the last eight years. In these last couple of years, we have seen an uptake in the amount of requests and comments about BPN offering and producing a whey protein isolate.

• 45:24Nick Bare?

  And to be honest, we just weren't interested in the longest time, primarily because, well, a few reasons. Whey protein, it's of the largest bottle container of a product that we offer, takes up a lot of space. So if we have thousands of bottles of whey protein powder in our warehouse at our HQ, takes up a lot of warehouse space, which we have to be mindful of. Well, now we're operating out of our new HQ, which has more space, more opportunity, more room to store additional inventory.

• 46:10Nick Bare?

  That's one of the reasons, one of the unlocks that has allowed us to add a new protein SKU and offering to our portfolio, a whey protein isolate.

• 46:23Nick Bare?

  And another reason that we just haven't produced a whey protein isolate for a long time, to be honest, it's much more expensive than a whey protein concentrate.

• 46:33Nick Bare?

  Because of the additional filtration and processing and just everything that goes into producing it in a WPI, a whey protein isolate. So it is much more expensive.

• 46:47Nick Bare?

  But we have seen a greater demand over the last couple of years. I think there's more people who have issues digesting and consuming traditional whey because of lactose. And people who have had an intolerance to traditional whey protein have tried isolate and have seen a lot of success. And because we've seen greater demand and as BPN has grown over the years, we've opened up more space in our new HQ.

• 47:17Nick Bare?

  It was the product that we wanted to launch and put a lot of time and work into. So we're launching, or we have launched, BPN's Whey Protein Isolate in two flavors, fudge chocolate and vanilla.

• 47:35Nick Bare?

  And it's truly grass-fed certified. So we've sourced this whey protein isolate from a farm in Ireland that is certified under the truly grass-fed certification program. You'll see on the label in the upper right, it has the truly grass-fed certification, which has verified and certified that the, the cows that were used, the milk that was produced from these cows from this farm, were fed a diet that was made up of 95% grass.

• 48:20Nick Bare?

  Now, it's not 100%, and there's a lot to discuss and break down there. One of the things that we identified during our due diligence of bringing this product to market and going through research and development and working with suppliers, manufacturers, that we see all these products in the market that are 100% grass-fed whey protein isolates. And we went to all of our suppliers, the biggest protein suppliers in the world, and they said, "It doesn't exist." And we said, "Well, that makes no sense because company X, Y, and Z has a 100% grass-fed whey protein isolate." And our supplier said, "Yeah, doesn't exist. So I don't know what they're talking about." So we dove in. We did all of our due diligence.

• 49:06Nick Bare?

  And we found that the most credible farm and certification program was truly grass-fed

• 49:13Nick Bare?

  that can ensure that these cows were fed 95% diet made up of grass foliage.

• 49:25Nick Bare?

  And one of the reasons that it's really challenging, if even possible, to have a 100% grass-fed whey protein isolate or cow is because you have to get a cow that's producing milk to a certain health level, weight, they have to hold a certain amount of fat, and that has to be facilitated through some grain feeding.

• 49:59Nick Bare?

  So we are really proud of this whey protein isolate that we're launching, that we've launched because of the quality, the integrity.

• 50:09Nick Bare?

  It's truly grass-fed whey protein isolate, launched in two flavors. We're really proud of this product. So if you want to get more protein in your diet, not necessary through a powder, but like I said, it's something that I use every day. It's very convenient to hit your protein goals. We have attritional whey protein concentrate, and we have a grass-fed whey protein isolate. Now, the isolate is more expensive than the whey protein concentrate, but it's up to you what you want to try. And if you have a tolerance or intolerance to lactose, if you have an intolerance to lactose, I would highly suggest trying our isolate.

• 50:55Nick Bare?

  But if you don't have a tolerance or an intolerance to lactose, I'd recommend trying our concentrate. Our concentrate comes in a lot of different varieties of flavors. We'll be adding more flavors onto the whey protein isolate line. But as of right now, we're launching with two variants of flavors. So how much protein do you need on a daily basis? Well, let's first discuss one of the intents of consuming protein, and that is to initiate, maximize muscle protein synthesis. What is muscle protein synthesis? It's a natural metabolic process where the body repairs and builds new muscle tissue by incorporating amino acids into skeletal muscle proteins.

• 51:42Nick Bare?

  Muscle protein synthesis, you might also seen it described as MPS online. It is driven by resistance exercise, lifting weights,

• 51:55Nick Bare?

  and protein intake, especially leucine, which is one of the essential amino acids and branched-chain amino acids. And it must exceed muscle protein breakdown for muscle growth to occur. So you have to be in a positive balance of muscle protein synthesis as opposed to muscle protein breakdown to actually build lean tissue, to build muscle. You have to be synthesizing more muscle at a greater rate than you are breaking it down. You're breaking down your muscles through training, through exercise, by just not moving at all, atrophy.

• 52:44Nick Bare?

  So with resistance training and protein intake, you can facilitate muscle protein synthesis, lean tissue building. Now, the recommendations for protein consumed on a daily basis

• 53:01Nick Bare?

  is grams per kilogram of total body weight. So the recommendations are 1.6 to 2.4 grams per kilogram of total body weight. So for example, I'm 200 pounds, which is about 90 kilograms, 90 kilos. So for me, the lower end of the range, 1.6 would be 144 grams of protein daily. The upper range being 2.4 would be 216 grams daily. So anywhere from 144 to 216 grams daily of protein.

• 53:43Nick Bare?

  Now, I definitely like to lean towards the upper range. I'm consuming at least 200 to 225 grams of protein daily. And if you don't want to break it down through grams per kilogram of body weight and have this range, I think a really simple way to look at daily protein intake recommended is 1 gram per pound of body weight. So if I'm 200 pounds, I'm going to try to consume 200 grams of protein per day. And I'm doing this over the course of four to five meals.

• 54:22Nick Bare?

  Technically, you could do it all in one meal if you really wanted to. I wouldn't recommend that. I think at least three meals is good, three, four, maybe five meals. But if you can break down your daily protein intake between three and four meals, I think it's solid.

• 54:43Nick Bare?

  Now, it's not just about having enough protein throughout the day, but also leucine per meal. So leucine, very important. I love leucine. Again, going back to Dr. Lee Norton, a lot of his research early on in his career was all about leucine.

• 55:08Nick Bare?

  Just having leucine present in a meal is not enough. In order to turn on muscle protein synthesis, you require a minimum dose of leucine per meal, which is about 2.5 to 3 grams.

• 55:27Nick Bare?

  I was just talking to Steph about this this morning. This is one of the reasons that I don't recommend people to get like 5 grams of protein here, 10 grams here, 15 grams here, 5 grams here, 10 grams here. If you're eating trace amounts of protein throughout the day, yeah, you're hitting your protein goals. But in order to really turn on muscle protein synthesis, you need a bigger bolus of leucine within these meals. Take 2.5 to 3 grams of leucine per meal. That's not protein, that's leucine, an individual amino acid. If you can get around 30 grams of protein per meal,

• 56:08Nick Bare?

  you're hitting your your leucine goals pretty ideally. So leucine is known as the anabolic trigger.

• 56:19Nick Bare?

  So if you're thinking muscle building, you're thinking protein, you're thinking amino acids, think of leucine. Leucine is known as the anabolic trigger. Leucine is unique compared to other amino acids because it activates a key cellular pathway that tells the body to begin building new muscle protein, new muscle protein. Leucine activates what's called mTOR, little m, capital T O R, mTOR. And mTOR is responsible for initiating muscle protein synthesis. And without leucine, this pathway, mTOR, is not fully activated regardless of how much total protein you consume.

• 57:05Nick Bare?

  So it's not just how much protein you consume on a daily basis, but

• 57:12Nick Bare?

  Are we getting enough leucine per meal? To fully activate the mTOR pathway? Which initiates muscle protein synthesis? Boom. How much protein do we need? But, you know, the thing to keep in mind, how much leucine are we getting per meal? This is not one of these things where you have to track leucine separately. The key takeaway here is, if you're gonna eat protein, you're gonna hit your protein goals on the day. Try to at least within a meal, get 30 grams of protein per meal. Like larger amounts of protein.

• 57:53Nick Bare?

  This is when we say prioritize protein, protein first, protein forward diets. It's building your plate around the protein, so you get enough, you can activate muscle protein synthesis through the pathway of mTOR.

• 58:13Nick Bare?

  Now, what happens if you don't consume enough protein? Now, I mentioned this briefly earlier, but there are potential problems with the vegan diet. And a lot of times, the vegan diet, because it doesn't have animal sources, is going to lack complete protein sources. And it's harder to consume all nine essential amino acids on the vegan diet if you aren't super intentional and dialed in. So many vegan diets are deficient in essential amino acids.

• 58:50Nick Bare?

  They're also deficient in key vitamins and minerals that are typically carried densely in animal sources like vitamin B12, vitamin D, iodine, calcium, iron, and zinc.

• 59:06Nick Bare?

  And many vegan diets are commonly deficient in omega-3 fatty acids. Now, I'm not sharing this to say, if you're on a vegan diet, you're going to be deficient no matter what. I'm saying, if you're gonna follow a vegan diet, you gotta be more intentional to ensure that you're getting complete protein sources, enough protein, and you're not deficient in key vitamins and minerals.

• 59:34Nick Bare?

  For performance, but also just health. I think a diet that is omnivore in nature, it's vegetables, produce, fruits, healthy carbohydrate sources, proteins, animal sources.

• 59:55Nick Bare?

  Just eating like an omnivore is the most balanced, realistic, sustainable dieting approach. But

• 1:00:05Nick Bare?

  animal sources are dense in proteins, but also vitamins and minerals. Extremely healthy sources.

• 1:00:15Nick Bare?

  What happens when you don't consume enough protein? So this is one of the reasons we talk about building your plate around protein. Because if you're not building your plate in your diet around protein, you're probably consuming too many carbohydrates, potentially too many fats. And from all the benefits we talked about with protein, if you're not getting enough protein, you're probably not eating foods that are very satiating, very filling.

• 1:00:45Nick Bare?

  The thermic effect of food from protein is greater than carbs and fats. So you're burning more of the calories from the proteins you're consuming compared to the other macronutrients.

• 1:00:57Nick Bare?

  If you're not consuming enough protein, you're not stimulating muscle protein synthesis, promoting the building or repair of lean tissue. I mean, the list goes on and on and on, but what typically happens if you don't consume enough protein, you're going to have to get those calories in, you're going to overconsume fats and carbs, which could lead to

• 1:01:20Nick Bare?

  unhealthy health outcomes. This is the reality of it. The major reason, one of the

• 1:01:30Nick Bare?

  one of the main concerns with the popular American diet, and the reason majority of our population is overweight and obese, isn't because they consume too much protein.

• 1:01:44Nick Bare?

  It's because they consume too many refined carbs and unhealthy fats.

• 1:01:49Nick Bare?

  I mean, I've never really come across someone who's overweight and obese and be like, dude, that guy just eats too much chicken and protein shakes.

• 1:01:59Nick Bare?

  That's why they're overweight and obese. That's why they're unhealthy. It's too much protein. No, it's refined carbs and fats and convenience that is leading our population to disease, to obesity, to death.

• 1:02:21Nick Bare?

  Now, if we think long term, what happens to people as they age? You may have heard of sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is a progressive, generalized skeletal muscle disorder characterized by the loss of muscle mass, strength, and function, commonly associated with aging. So as you get older, if you don't prioritize protein, you don't resistance train, you're going to lose muscle mass. And what happens? It increases the risk of physical disability, falls, fractures, and death, mortality. And it's prevented and solved by increased protein intake and resistance training.

• 1:03:07Nick Bare?

  So I share that to wrap this conversation to say, protein is not about building vanity muscles, having a six-pack of abs, and looking good in the mirror or at the beach for summer vacation. It sets your life up for success, health, longevity, quality of life, forever. Protein paired with resistance training, that is like the formula that is going to make you healthier today, tomorrow, and 50 years from now, for many reasons. So.

• 1:03:48Nick Bare?

  That's a podcast. That's the Protein Conversation. It's more than muscle. At the end of the day, consume your protein. One gram per pound of body weight. Lift weights. Get jacked. Feel strong. Feel better. Go one more.