Casein+ | Casein Protein Powder

Why Casein+ Is 100% Micellar Casein Protein

There are two types of casein protein you can buy:

1. Calcium caseinate

   Calcium caseinate is a form of casein processed to improve mixability.

2. Micellar casein

   Micellar casein is a higher-quality form produced in a way that preserves the small bundles of protein (micelles) that are responsible for its slow-digesting properties and are often destroyed during traditional manufacturing processes.

We chose micellar casein protein for Casein+ because it has a stellar amino acid profile, providing you with 13 grams of essential amino acids—including 3 grams of leucine, the amino acid most responsible for initiating protein synthesis—per serving.[5][6]

Research also shows that micellar casein is more filling than calcium caseinate, and this is generally preferable when supplementing with protein powder.[7]

Casein is also particularly beneficial when eaten before you go to bed.

If you haven’t eaten protein in the hour or two before going to sleep, your body’s muscle-building machinery more or less lies dormant for most of the night.

By having a serving of a slow-burning protein like casein before you go to bed, however, you can keep that machinery humming throughout the night, and studies show this improves post-workout recovery and increases muscle and strength gains over time.[8][9][10]

Casein+ hasn’t been “amino spiked,” either, which is a common way supplement companies rip consumers off.

This scam exploits a simple loophole in supplement fact panel laws: you can add certain nitrogen-rich amino acids to your protein powder and count them toward the total protein count.

So, for example, if a company wants to sell a cheap, low-quality protein that contains just 15 grams of protein per serving, they can pad it with several grams of a cheap amino acid like alanine and legally say it contains more protein per serving than it really does.

This is misleading because protein is a complex chain of 21 different amino acids. There are no proteins that contain only one amino acid.

Amino spiking benefits supplement companies in two ways:

1. Better margins

   High-quality protein powder is expensive, and many amino acids aren’t.

2. Better taste

   Casein is harder to flavor than some amino acids, which are naturally sweet.

Why hasn’t this loophole been closed yet then, you wonder? Your guess is as good as ours.

A good way to protect yourself as a consumer, however, is to check ingredient lists, serving sizes, and amounts of protein per serving before buying.

Ingredients are listed in descending order according to predominance by weight.

That means that there’s more of the first ingredient than the second, more of the second than the third, and so forth.

So, when you’re considering buying a casein protein powder, look at the order in which the ingredients are listed and the amount of protein per scoop relative to the scoop size.

If a casein protein product has any ingredient other than calcium caseinate or micellar casein listed as the first ingredient, don’t buy it.

When that’s the case, there’s more “other stuff” (fillers, usually) in the product than casein protein powder.

Also, if a scoop of the product weighs 40 grams but there are only, let’s say, 20 grams of protein per serving, don’t buy it unless you know the other 20 grams are stuff you want. In many cases, it’s not.

Furthermore, if you see that a protein powder contains any added amino acids, be skeptical.

Many companies will promote this as a feature, but in most cases, it adds no value to the product and only means it’s more likely to be amino spiked.

So, considering everything we’ve just reviewed, a worthy casein protein powder is easy to spot:

• Calcium caseinate or micellar casein listed as the first ingredient.

  This means the product contains more casein protein than anything else.

• A scoop size that’s relatively close to the amount of actual protein per scoop.

  It’ll never match because of sweetener, flavoring, anti-clumping agents, and other necessary substances.

• No added amino acids.

  There’s little reason to add amino acids to casein protein, including BCAAs, and so this can mean the product is amino spiked.

Casein+ Is Made With High-Quality Milk From Small, Sustainable Irish Dairy Farms

We pay a premium to source our casein protein from small, family-owned dairies in Ireland for several reasons.

1. Ireland has stricter dairy regulations than the United States. [11]

A key measurement of milk quality is the number of somatic cells present in it, which are a fundamental type of cell that forms the body of an organism.

Most of the somatic cells present in milk are white blood cells, which protect against infectious disease and foreign invaders.

Thus, the amount of somatic cells in milk indicates how healthy the cows are. Lower numbers of somatic cells in milk means healthier cows that, in turn, produce healthier milk.

Due to Ireland’s strict regulatory policies and long-held traditions of small, family-run dairies, research shows Irish milk generally has a lower somatic cell count (and thus higher quality) than much of the milk produced in the USA. [12]

This is one reason why Ireland is the 10th largest dairy export nation in the world, with over 18,500 family-owned dairy farms producing approximately 1.4 trillion gallons of milk annually.[13]

2. The milk comes from cows that spend the majority of the year outside, eating grass.

In a way, cows are like kids—the more time they spend outside, the better.

This is why studies show that the more grass cows eat (instead of other types of feed such as grains or soybeans), the more nutritious their milk and beef is. [14][15][16]

Keep in mind, however, that just because a company claims their dairy comes from “grass-fed” cows, doesn't mean they're exclusively or even mostly grass-fed.

The “grass-fed” label can be used if the cow simply ate grass at some point in its life. It does not mean it ate or eats only grass.

Unfortunately, even the “100% grass-fed” label doesn’t guarantee anything either because it’s not regulated like the organic label.

So, when you see a supplement company boldly proclaiming that its protein powder comes from grass-fed cows, take it with a grain of salt.

Just one bite of grass in their lives technically qualifies the cows as “grass-fed,” and in most cases, no agency is verifying the truthfulness of such marketing promises.

In the case of Casein+, however, it’s made with milk that comes from cows that spend the majority of the year outside, eating grass. This leads to naturally healthier herds and higher quality milk.

Additionally, many dairy cows are injected with a genetically modified growth hormone called recombinant bovine growth hormone, or rBGH, to increase milk production.

Studies suggest consuming the milk from cows treated with such drugs may increase risk of disease in some people and that more research is needed. [17]

Thus, we’ve chosen to source milk exclusively from farms that don’t give their cows modified growth hormones.

Antibiotics are also often administered to cows to help them overcome sickness and stay healthy. When used responsibly, these drugs are an important tool for reducing animal suffering and promoting and protecting the health and well-being of both cows and humans.

That said, when cows are receiving antibiotics, trace amounts can make it into their milk, making it unfit for human consumption.

To ensure tainted milk doesn’t find its way into the food supply, the farms we buy from remove cows being treated with antibiotics from the milk cycle until they’re healthy and testing free of drugs.

3. Irish casein protein has an outstanding flavor and texture.

Irish casein is noticeably richer, creamier, and more savory than even the best American casein products.

You’ll notice the difference in your first sip!