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I am normally very reserved towards food supplements in powder form, but after reading a bit about protein supplements, I decided to try it out and decide whether or not it's something I am willing to take on a regular basis.

I train often, in form of team/ball sports such as football or squash, and go to the gym to lift weights and do physiotherapy for old injuries. My goals with training are strengthening the muscle groups affected by injuries, and genuinely getting in better shape (better condition and some weight loss).

So keeping that in mind, I started looking at different products from the local distributors here, and noticed that there is a wide variety of products available. I have read about whey and casein, as well soy-based products. I see that they have different pros and cons, each, and I wonder whether or not it makes sense to blend them. Considering that I am slightly lactose-intolerant I think a mix of soy, whey (Optimum Nutrition have a version which has 1% sugar) and casein based supplements could be an interesting option. I would like to know if there are any potential problems with this approach?

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  • I doubt there would be any problems mixing them beyond problems that you might encounter from taking one of the mix ingredients individually. Usually lactose intolerant people can handle whey protein fine though, and it's the best (and cheapest) protein supplement, so I don't see a benefit to mixing either.
    – Robin Ashe
    Commented Aug 13, 2012 at 13:39
  • Only benefit I could see might be mixing for taste, i.e. various flavors.
    – JohnP ♦
    Commented Aug 21, 2012 at 18:41
  • @JohnP what about diversifying the sources of protein to get different composition of vitamins/minerals etc, or decrease the risk of overloading a particular type of nutrition?
    – posdef
    Commented Aug 21, 2012 at 21:41
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    @posdef - You should be getting all your vitamins/minerals from real food. Protein supplementation if needed should only be for protein considerations. If you are mix/matching protein powders for vitamin supplementation then your diet needs some serious attention. I could see a case for not overloading a nutrient however, but about the only ones I would worry about would be the fat soluble. The rest get flushed out quickly.
    – JohnP ♦
    Commented Aug 21, 2012 at 22:50

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Usually the reason people mix protein powders is to have differing rates of absorption of protein within one meal. Whey is absorbed the fastest. Casein is absorbed the slowest. Egg and soy protein is absorbed at a rate between whey and caesin. Whey is ideal for post workout. Casein is used by some before bed to have protein available for recovery while fasting overnight, but this is not necessary for the average fitness enthusiast. Mixing proteins is thought to sustain you longer when using a protein shake as a meal replacement.

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