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Summary: Ranking of whey protein powders with the highest amounts of protein per serving.
How can you find which whey supplements have the most protein?
Just check out the nutritional information either on the protein supplement's website or check the back of your tub. The amount of protein per 100g (or per serving) should be near the top of the label. Some sites and tubs only show the numbers per serving instead of per 100g, which is annoying. If so, you'll need to do a bit of converting to get that easier-to-use per 100g amount.
Better yet, just check out WhichProtein.co.uk. I'm putting all these comparison tables together for a reason – to make it easier to answer questions like "which whey protein has the most protein?"
What's a good amount of protein/100g?
Any good whey protein supplements will have at least 75g of protein in every 100g of powder, ideally being closer to the 80g mark.
Anything on or over 80g of protein for every 100g of powder is impressive.
Ideal serving size in grams of protein.
- Small serving = 20g
- Man serving = 40g
As with anything and everything, it depends. You want to try and consume at least 1g of protein every day for every pound of your body weight (roughly 2.2g for every kg), so put as much protein in to your shakes as you need to get you toward and above that figure. For some, 20g will be enough. For most it's going to be 30g+.
If you're not sure how much protein you should have in your protein shake, take 40g and get massive. This is how much protein I put in each of my 3x daily shakes. You're not going to overdose on protein (not unless you're also eating a whole cow for lunch as well), so you're better off getting more than enough than too little.
Whey protein is low on calories as well (check out the table at the bottom of the whey protein nutrition ranking page), so that extra protein from your shakes is hardly adding much to your overall daily calorie intake.
Whey protein compared to whole foods.
Whey protein supplements have a much, much higher concentration of protein than any other whole food.
| Food | Pro | Calories | Calories per 1g Protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein (ON Gold Standard Whey) | 77g | 374 kcal | 4.9 kcal |
| Chicken Breast | 31g | 165 kcal | 5.3 kcal |
| Tinned Tuna | 24g | 128 kcal | 5.3 kcal |
| Steak | 27g | 205 kcal | 7.6 kcal |
| Soybeans | 17g | 173 kcal | 10.2 kcal |
| Eggs | 13g | 143 kcal | 11.0 kcal |
| Cheddar Cheese | 25g | 403 kcal | 16.1 kcal |
| Whole Milk (100ml) | 8g | 146 kcal | 18.3 kcal |
A high concentration of protein isn't a huge deal though, because as long as you're getting enough protein in your meals the protein/100g isn't going to make any difference. The biggest benefit of having such large amounts of protein in every 100g is that you're able to get protein in to your body more quickly and easily.
The other big added benefit of whey protein shakes is that you're able to take in fewer calories for every 1g of protein you consume. This is handy if you're trying to limit the number of calories in your daily diet. Supplements are certainly no replacement for actual food, but if you're watching the calories (and assuming you already have a nice, balanced diet) you're better off getting those extra grams of protein from whey protein shakes than pints of milk.
| Food | Protein | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Protein (ON Gold Standard Whey) | 100g | 486 kcal |
| Skimmed Milk | 100g | 1,030 kcal |
| Semi-Skimmed Milk | 100g | 1,455 kcal |
| Whole Milk | 100g | 2,000 kcal |
Useful links.
- Top 10 High Protein Foods – List of common whole foods that are rammed with protein. They're not all lean foods (nuts and cheese also have a lot of healthy fats), but they are rammed with protein.