Here's what the team and coaches had to say about Kiwi Nutrition:
"Having Kiwi Nutrition made a difference as a lot of our players are not used to training twice a day. It worked well in tough conditions"
]]>Here's what the team and coaches had to say about Kiwi Nutrition:
"Having Kiwi Nutrition made a difference as a lot of our players are not used to training twice a day. It worked well in tough conditions" - Sam Anderson Heather, Cook Islands National Rugby Captain and Canterbury Crusader
"Kiwi Nutrition whey protein helped with our recovery in the heat of Rarotonga and Hong Kong and made our turn arounds quicker" - AJ Campbell, prop
"Having Kiwi Nutrition whey protein powder made the players respond to all trainings and gave them the energy they needed for both training and after match recovery" - Teariki Sword, strength and conditioning coach
"It's great to have support for such a small union on the world stage. Kiwi Nutrition have been very supportive and a huge help to our Union" - Cam Kilgour, Team Manager
]]>Protein is one of the essential nutrients that we need to survive, along with fat, carbohydrates, water, minerals and vitamins. Our article on why our bodies require protein explains the essential role that protein plays in our lives. Protein can be obtained from a variety of sources, as we explain in a recent blog post on how we can meet our daily protein requirements.
Protein powder is a really convenient and low cost way of supplementing other sources of protein in our diets. It can be easily consumed before or after a workout in a convenient shake, to replenish protein stocks and nourish the muscle fibres that we have just worked out. This article is a handy read and explains what our recommended daily intake of protein is, based on age, weight and fitness goals.
Protein powder can be manufactured from a variety of sources. The most common and well known source is milk, where the milk protein whey is separated and concentrated into a powder known as whey protein powder. This can be further refined to produce whey protein isolate. To find our more about the differences between whey protein concentrate and whey protein isolate, check out our article on WPC vs WPI. Protein powder can also be made from plant sources such as peas, to produce pea protein isolate.
]]>The first is the natural environment that our cows experience. NZ cows live outside and have a natural diet of lush green grass, whereas cows in other dairy producing regions such as Europe and the United States live inside for at least part of the year and are fed a processed diet.
Another reason our whey is highly regarded is due to the fact that NZ dairy has strict rules banning the use of Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), so consumers can be confident that their whey protein is hormone free.
]]>Kiwi Nutrition offers two forms of whey protein:
Whey protein concentrate is the powder that is formed when water is removed from the liquid whey, and it contains about 80% protein, 5% carbohydrates and 5% fat, with the rest being moisture and trace elements.
Whey protein isolate is produced when the whey protein concentrate undergoes a another stage of filtration to remove as much of the fat and carbohydrates as possible. This results in a protein powder which has a higher protein content than whey protein concentrate. Kiwi Nutrition sources the premium version of whey protein isolate that is available in NZ. This has a protein content of 93%, whereas other less expensive forms of whey protein isolate have a protein content of 88.8%.
Both WPC and WPI will help you reach and maintain your health, fitness and wellness goals. The level of fat and carbohydrates in our whey protein concentrate range is minimal, and this will be the right protein powder for most people.
However, WPI is often the preferred option for athletes who are looking to minimise their fat intake, or for those people with strict dietary requirements such as those on a high protein, low carb diet. Whey protein isolate is also useful for those who are sensitive to lactose - it is virtually lactose free so can be more agreeable to those with a sensitive gastrointestinal system. Whey protein isolate is also generally thought to be more rapidly absorbed so is often the preferred form of post-workout shake.
]]>Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18469287
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20847729
http://igrow.org/livestock/beef/how-much-meat-can-you-expect-from-a-fed-steer/
https://www.dairynz.co.nz/news/latest-news/more-milk-per-cow-fewer-cows-latest-dairy-stats/
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Whey protein powder contains approximately 80% protein, which compares extremely well to other sources of protein such as meat, fish or eggs which at best contain only 31% protein. For more information on the protein content of different foods, please see our section on how to meet your daily protein requirements.
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All of the animal sources, as well as soy and quinoa, contain all of the essential amino acids that our body requires. When our body has adequate supplies of the essential amino acids, it is able to make the non-essential amino acids it requires, as described in our article on the difference between essential and non-essential amino acids.
All of the other plant sources of protein lack one or more of the essential amino acids, so it is important for people who do not eat any animal products to ensure that they eat a variety of plant sources every day to ensure that they obtain all of the essential amino acids.
Alternatively, if you are just looking to avoid meat, then whey protein powder is a great way to obtain your daily protein intake, as it contains all of the essential amino acids.
The table below is compiled from information from the NZ Nutrition Foundation and shows the protein content of a range of foods:
Food Type | Protein (%) | Protein (g) |
Whey protein isolate (30g) | 93% | 28 |
Whey protein powder (30g) | 80% | 24 |
1 chicken breast (107g) | 31% | 33 |
1 lean beef fillet steak (135g) | 28% | 38 |
1 can tuna in spring water (100g) | 25% | 25 |
Edam cheese (2cm cube, 8g) | 25% | 2 |
1 Hoki fillet (122g) | 22% | 27 |
10 almonds (12g) | 21% | 2.5 |
1 egg (50g) | 12% | 6 |
1 slice of whole grain bread (45g) | 11% | 5 |
Tofu (100g) | 8% | 8 |
1 pottle of low fat yoghurt (150g) | 5% | 7 |
1 cup trim milk (250ml) | 4% | 10 |
The following examples show how daily protein requirements can be met:
The daily protein requirement can vary depending on the size of a person, their activity level, lifestyle, state of health, whether they are growing teenagers or actively trying to add more protein to their body in the form of muscle, as in the case of body builders.
People who are recovering from injuries or illnesses (such as cancer) can also have increased protein requirements, as the body will be working hard to replace cells that have been damaged during the injury or illness. Protein also keeps our immune system healthy, as the blood cells that fight infection need enzymes (which are proteins) to do their job, and antibodies are actually proteins themselves.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women have increased protein requirements in order to support the changes in the mother and provide the protein required for foetal growth and development.
For this reason, the recommended daily intake varies between individuals.
One approach to determining what your required daily intake is to consider whether you are aiming to increase muscle mass, or whether you are just aiming to maintain your current physique.
If you are aiming to maintain your physique, are not engaged in an intense training program and are not recovering from illness or injury, the table below from the NZ Nutrition Foundation provides a useful guide for your Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) of protein:
Age (years) | RDI (grams/day) | |
Infants/toddlers | 1-3 | 14 |
Children | 4-8 | 20 |
Boys | 9-13 | 40 |
14-18 | 65 | |
Girls | 9-13 | 35 |
14-18 | 45 | |
Men | 19-70 | 64 |
>70 | 81 | |
Women | 19-70 | 46 |
>70 | 57 | |
Pregnancy | 60 | |
Breastfeeding | 67 |
If you are aiming to add muscle to your physique or are an active athlete engaging in intense exercise, your daily protein requirements will be higher than those outlined in the table above. The bodybuilding community has used a rule of thumb for many years, where the Recommended Daily Intake is 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, or 2.2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight. This has recently been supported by research - in a 2017 article published in The Journal of Nutrition, it was found that the daily protein requirements of young male bodybuilders was between 1.2 to 2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight.
Sources:
They all have the same basic backbone, but they each have a slightly different shape or contain slightly different molecules attached to that backbone. Our body is able to break amino acids down to their basic backbone and rearrange the shape or add different molecules to the backbone, so that it creates a different amino acid.
Nutritionists group amino acids into essential amino acids or non-essential amino acids.
However, it is not just our muscle cells that require protein – there are many other proteins in our body that are important. Our skin, bones and tendons are formed from the proteins collagen, keratin and elastin while our blood contains the protein haemoglobin that carries oxygen around our body. Enzymes that break down food in our stomach are another type of protein, while the antibodies that fight disease are yet another type of protein in our body.
Protein is also a source of energy, as it can be broken down to its basic molecules and then added to the common metabolic energy pathway.
Proteins are made out of smaller molecules known as amino acids, which are linked together like beads on a string. These strings fold up to form shapes that become the specific building blocks in our body or have specific functions related to their shape. For example, haemoglobin is a protein that has a specific shape that provides a place for holding oxygen as it carries it around our body to our tissues.
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