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 Muscle Provider ReviewA Critical Analysis of 16 Proteins
Beverly Muscle Provider
By: Russell Delaney, Ph.D.
Introduction: By Sandy and Roger Riedinger
There were strong reasons why we purchased Beverly International from the
original owner, Jim Heflin. One of the reasons was certainly not profit. One
reason was certainly not for gross sales or market share. Indeed -- the prime
reason was quality.
Knowing how well 'Dr. Jim' worked with medical and research entities with some
of his finest nitrogen assays and formulations, we naturally knew that Beverly
was unsurpassed for the highest quality protein supplements anywhere. Now,
rapidly emerging as a market competitive entity, we have great concerns over the
direction of quality and marketing in today's protein field. That some companies
offer products with protein grams per serving that are much greater than our
proteins, but yet, at $10-$15 less, causes us more than a tad of consternation!
How do they do that exactly?
Truth be known, many companies put more effort and planning into the label and
marketing of a protein product than into the ingredient formulation and quality
of manufacture. The high rollers on the payroll are the writers and marketing
wizards that make their product sound like the second coming of The Messiah,
while the food chemists who design the product are at the bottom of the food
chain.
We wonder, as should you, how can proteins often touted as 'the highest quality'
actually go through 2-3 levels of distribution and still sell at a lower retail
price than it costs Beverly just for the raw materials? Trust us, there is no
one who has magical powers to buy the same precision ingredients for a cheaper
price than we do. You can only get cheaper ingredients for a cheaper price!
There's a reason that Beverly is called the gold standard of protein. At our
direction and emphasis, certified and fully accredited laboratories and food
chemists constantly upgrade and perfect Beverly proteins, while we would guess
too many other CEOs focus on marketing and profit first.
But you know, we can sing it, and sing it, and shout it all day long -- but
because it comes from us, the two owners of Beverly, lots of people may think we
are just the same old same old ' blowing our own horn, and perhaps, not being so
truthful. So, we actually commissioned an independent food scientist, Dr. Russ
Delaney, to analyze several proteins (16 of them in fact, all the data which we
have), including our Muscle Provider, and let the chips fall as they may. Here
is some of that discussion and those results.
BMJ :
Besides cost per serving, what does the typical bodybuilder consumer need to
know about buying protein?
Dr. Delaney :
How to read a label right, and to know something about different protein
ingredients. Ingredients are listed in order from the most prominent substance
by weight to the least prominent by weight. If you have a blend of proteins,
they must be listed in order, first by weight to the last by weight. By far, in
most commercial proteins, the first ingredient in the protein matrix is whey
concentrate as this is the cheapest form of protein to manufacture. Now if there
is a protein blend ' say 5 protein(s) ingredients, the last three of which might
be whey isolates, egg white and glutamine, and the next ingredient after the
protein matrix, is maltodextrin, then it could be that there's more maltodextrin
than glutamine. Or more maltodextrin by weight than glutamine, egg and whey
isolates added together. All that matters is that the first ingredient'here,
that blend of proteins contained in the matrix, is heavier than the second,
which is a grouping of sugars.
BMJ :
We use some of it, but Beverly has never been a big fan of most whey
concentrates and for the record, neither was Dr. Scott Connelly who invented
MET-Rx. We know quite a bit about whey concentrates, but perhaps you might
elucidate.
Dr. Delaney :
Well, emphasize that word most. There are cheap inferior whey concentrates and
of course, much better whey concentrates. This is problematic as a label may say
filtered whey protein concentrate but contain more lactose milk sugar than
actual whey protein. Whey protein concentrate can be as much as 50% milk sugar
and as low as 35% protein. As I stated, the cheapest protein may be listed first
and be the most prominent. Now, of course, good whey protein is efficacious.
BMJ :
Yes, but if you can't know from the label, how does the consumer tell what he is
getting?
Dr. Delaney :
In the context of an athlete eating a large variety of foods and proteins and
perhaps many supplements, in most cases, he can not tell. This is the principle
as to why so many companies can get away with it in the first place, counting on
the probable fact that the consumer will not be able to tell. However, in the
case of a whey concentrate, if a consumer uses a lot the supplement and takes it
with water and consistently gets gas, bloat and upset stomach this suggests
there's a lot of lactose sugar in the product. Other than subjective measures,
you could have the product analyzed at a lab if one is really serious, but that
is fairly impractical. Or, you can ask the Company, to provide a certified label
from a laboratory of nutrient breakouts and verification the product meets label
copy.
BMJ :
In terms of protein ingredients, again with so much conflicting marketing, how
does a consumer know what to pick?
Dr. Delaney :
The conundrum can be solved by variety. Proteins from lean meats, fish, skim
milk, egg and whey, even some vegetable proteins should be consumed. As far as
supplements, these marketing schemes that emphasize whey ingested with other
foods and taken more frequently, and casein-egg based proteins taken at bedtime,
upon awakening, and when foods are eaten less often, do make sense from
absorption and amino delivery standpoint studies.
BMJ :
What about the true actual protein content?
Dr. Delaney :
Yes, right. Well, assuming the nutrition facts on the label are accurate, the
consumer must look at the amount of protein provided per serving and how large
in grams both qualities are. I have analyzed 16 different protein models one of
which was your Muscle Provider. Here are the numbers: Muscle Provider contains
16.2 grams of protein per serving based on a serving size weight of 21 grams.
This is very good. Comparing it to one that I found advertised much more
heavily, called Meso-Tech (that I found also to be a quality product), this is
52 grams of protein per 89 grams of serving weight. Converting both to a 100g
sample I found Muscle Provider to yield 77 g protein and Meso-Tech to yield 55g.
On a percentage basis that means that Muscle Provider is 40% more protein by
serving weight. Other proteins in single serving packets seemed to range from 40
' 60 grams protein per 75 ' 88 gram weight serving size. If you supplied, say,
84 grams of Muscle Provider it would yield 64 grams of protein. So Provider is
way up the chain on actual protein content per serving weight.
BMJ :
Are the grams of protein per serving size the most critical thing for the
consumer?
Dr. Delaney :
In general, assuming an honest label, yes. Total protein (with variety) does
count. However it may not be the whole story. The greatest protein value is that
with the highest net protein utilization (NPU). The protein with the highest NPU
is digested the best (mouth/stomach/intestine), and has the best amino profile
and characteristics for absorption and assimilation (blood/muscle cell), and
would be best utilized by the body for growth. As I alluded to earlier, if a
protein inflames your stomach, that is one signal there's less than optimum
digestion or absorption. Once again with whey blends, in terms of absorption, at
the very least, those who have some compromises in their system and need
biological assistance, high hydrolysate content is considered a superior
protein. The highest quality hydrolysates are predigested in a bath of
pancreatic enzymes. Here again, cheaper forms of hydrolysate might be produced
by interaction with acid, rather than enzymes.
BMJ :
Beverly has always manufactured Muscle Provider with such technology to offer
enzymatic hydrolysis. We strive for a minimum di-peptide and tri-peptide content
of 30 percent and we KNOW that Muscle Provider has the highest percentage of
predigested enzymatic whey hydrolysate peptides in the industry.
Dr. Delaney :
My analysis revealed a 34% hydrolysate proportion so don't sell your selves
short there. Muscle Provider also has low molecular weight peptides and in
general, available research suggests that lower MW protein Peptides work best
with gastrointestinal activity to produce maximum absorption and enhanced
nitrogen retention. Another plus.
As I said too, with variety, the amino acid profile is important. There are
eight essential amino acids (EAAs) and that content should be high, naturally.
The World Health Organization recommends that new born and growing infants
require 37% of their protein from EAA's, and adults require 15% EAA content for
maintenance. The lab tests revealed that your Muscle Provider EAA content
averaged just under 50% of the protein content. I'd like to suggest too that
bodybuilders might need higher amounts of the BCAAs, (leucine, isoleucine, and
valine). I say this in the context of caloric inputs that are often reduced. I
feel that a protein product should contain 15% or more of its total protein
content in the form of BCAA. The average BCAA content of Provider was 22.5% of
the total protein. Another plus.
BMJ :
Well we can proudly recap. Muscle Provider's Essential Amino Acid content is 35%
higher than that World Health Organization benchmark (to support growth and
triple of that recommended for adult maintenance). Our BCAA content is 37%
higher than the standard of excellence for a quality protein supplement. Your
critical analysis reveals that Beverly's Muscle Provider is a very strong
protein yes?
Dr. Delaney :
I certainly agree with this assessment. If anything it could be considered
conservative.
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