What Is Protein Powder Spiking?
Supplement manufacturers sometimes dump cheap ingredients into their powders to pass tests to claim a higher protein content than they truly have, so that they can boost their profits.
This is called protein powder spiking. It’s a classic example of supplement industry bullshit.
We gym bros like protein powder. It’s a quick, convenient, and cost-effective way to hit our daily protein targets.
Whey protein is not the cheapest, but it is popular due to the high BCAA content, particularly leucine, which is critical to the muscle-building process.
Now, with consumers becoming wiser there is a rising demand for products that claim to have been lab-tested, but this comes at a time of overall rising global demand (and thus prices). Consumers are becoming sensitive to these price increases and given a lack of general education about what they should be looking for on the packet, the incentives for companies to cut costs by cheating the system are all there, and many do.
This is called ‘protein spiking’ or ‘amino spiking.’
How Amino Spiking Works
Some labs test for the nitrogen content of protein powder rather than the amounts of the individual amino acids – the building blocks of protein.
Under normal circumstances, as every amino acid contains nitrogen, measuring the nitrogen content of a powder should indicate how much protein it contains. However, this assumes that the manufacturers are honest, ha!
The first way they cheat the system is to dump cheap amino acids like glycine and taurine into the mix.
Amino acids are not all of equal value. This robs you of some of the ones that are critical to the muscle building process.
The second is to add other nitrogenous, but non-proteinogenic (protein creating) acids into the mix, such as creatine and beta-alanine.
These are cheaper by the gram, and gives the manufacturer the benefit of being able to list these on the packet, knowing that consumers have enough general awareness of these to think they are good, but not be educated enough to realize that, in fact, they are just being robbed of the protein they should be getting.
So, let’s say you are looking at a tub of protein and considering whether you should purchase it. The front of the packet advertises 25 g protein, 5 g creatine; the back label does not have the amino acids listed.
This could potentially mean that you have only 12 g of whey, with 5 g of creatine, 4 g of added glycine and 4 g of taurine added. – Without the individual amino acids listed, you simply do not know.
HOW TO CHECK PROTEIN POWDER QUALITY
Let me tell you specifically what to look out for to ensure that you are using a quality product. I’ll then show you examples of me checking a few popular powders.
Amino Acids And Other Red Flags Indicating Protein Spiking
1. It has a proprietary blend (or doesn’t list leucine content).
Proprietary blends are just a way for manufacturers to hide the quantity of the ingredients in the mix.
2. Leucine content is lower than 2.7 g per 25 g of protein content.
11% of whey protein content should be leucine, so we should see ~2.75 g per 25 g of protein.
(Sometimes leucine isn’t listed individually, but the BCAA content is. 25% of whey protein should be BCAAs, which is ~6.25 g per 25 g.)
3. The cost per 25 g of protein content is considerably cheaper than average.
Whey is a commodity traded on the open market. You can pay too much, but you should not ever find a powder that significantly cheaper.
I’ve seen 11x market price protein from one “luxury gym” called RIZAP in Japan which targets rich but ignorant people. They are highest on my shit-list. But you should not ever find a powder that is significantly cheaper than everything else. It’s like trying to buy cheap gold bars – if you manage to find one, it is not gold.
If your protein powder doesn’t pass these checks, you’re rolling the dice with the quality of what you’re getting and I advise you to buy something else.
EXAMPLE CHECKS OF SOME POPULAR WHEY, BEEF PROTEIN AND, VEGAN PROTEIN
Let’s show these principles in action by checking some popular products.
1. Dymatize Elite 100% Whey
You can see that there is 2.8 g of leucine listed on the front of the packet per 25 g of protein.
The leucine quantity is only listed as 7.8 g per 100 g, but this was per 100 g of powder (the whey makes up 70% of it). Dividing 7.8 by 0.7 gives us the ~11% we are after.
This product passes our quality test.
***
2. Beef Protein Isolate Sample Protein
‘Beef Protein’ appeals to consumers because the name suggests quality. But as far as I can see, this must be the only reason for the existence of this category of protein products because the quality pales in comparison to whey.
The protein that we get from meat has approximately 30% less leucine and BCAA. Powdered versions are much lower than this because the manufacturers are not creating it from the typical cuts that we like to eat, but including various parts of the animal that we don’t.
There are two red flags for this product:
- Just 2 g of BCAAs are listed (whey would give us 6.25 g).
- There are more grams of amino acids listed than protein, 28 g vs. 25 g.
This should be enough for you to rule it out of consideration. But you can see evidence of their shitfuckery on the back label:
- Glycine is 22.8% of the mix. This is very high. (Beef contains ~7% on average, whey protein a lot less.) Recall that glycine is one of the cheap filler amino acids that manufacturers use to pass the nitrogen testing for protein content.
- Hydroxyproline is in the mix. This comes from collagen, which comes from skin, bones, and tendons. This explains why the amino acid number is higher than the protein number because it is a non-proteinogenic amino acid.
This powder does not pass our quality test. I cannot recommend this product.
***
3. SunWarrior Warrior Blend Plant-based Protein
Note: The amino acids are listed per serving, each containing 19 g of protein.
Most of the vegan protein powders do not have amino acids listed. The few that do are very low quality; this is one of the exceptions.
- The leucine content is 8.6% versus whey’s 11%.
- The BCAA content (noted by the red stars) is 17.7% versus whey’s 25%.
- The essential amino acid (EAA) content is 39% (this is the red plus yellow stars) versus whey’s typical 50-60%.
- When I looked this up on Amazon US, it was 3.3x the cost of typical whey powders.
Even if you are a vegan, I don’t recommend this product. ❌ Order a custom protein blend online. A 70:30 mix of pea and rice protein closely mimics whey’s amino acid profile and should be cheaper.
Protein Spiking and Quality FAQ
Protein spiking is the name for the scam where supplement manufacturers dump cheap ingredients into their powders so that they can pass tests to claim a higher protein content than they truly have. Make sure you check for it when purchasing a powder, as I have outlined in this guide.
Amino spiking is also known as protein spiking. It is a scam where supplement manufacturers dump cheap amino acids (like glycine and taurine) into their powders so that they can pass tests to claim a higher protein content and make larger profits.
It’s not possible to know for sure whether your protein has been amino spiked without lab testing. However, the BCAA content of whey powder should be 25% of the total protein content, leucine should be 11%, and if there is a proprietary blend (or these things are not listed), choose another product.
The side effects of taking too much protein powder can be bloating, gas, or even constipation. There is no evidence that protein causes these issues, but some people have trouble digesting the lactose in whey, which is a dairy-based protein because they have insufficient amounts of an enzyme called lactase.
If you have this trouble, consider a non-dairy based protein. A 70:30 mix of pea and rice protein closely mimics the amino acid profile of whey. You can order custom blends from several stores online.
Whey concentrate has a slightly lower quantity of protein and typically a few more carbs per scoop, compared with isolate. Often, whey isolate isn’t worth the extra cost.
Hydrolyzed whey is similar to whey isolate, but the protein has gone through a process called “enzymatic hydrolysis,” which makes it faster to digest. It’s significantly more expensive, so unless you have less than 30 minutes between when you wake and when you lift something heavy, I wouldn’t bother.
For now, we have to assume they are not stupid enough to lie. Some independent websites test label claims though I’m not sure if any are doing so down to the amino acid level just yet. I’d go with a larger company with more to lose if caught.
I will not make specific recommendations because a manufacturer can change the formula of their products at any time. Use this guide to make an educated decision on buying a product that is available to you at a reasonable cost and shipping rate in your country. I’m not here to make that decision for you.
Yes.
A 70:30 mix of pea and rice protein closely mimics the amino acid profile of whey. You can order custom blends from several stores online.
The Dymatize Elite Whey. It passed the quality test at the time of purchase (product formulas change, so always check), is as reasonably priced as anything else I can get here in Tokyo. They agreed to fund my friend Alan Aragon’s protein research regardless of the results — a rare honest gesture that I appreciate.
Similar enough to whey to not have any meaningful difference.
LabDoor is a site that gives protein quality rankings. Seems good, right? Well, the site makes money off of affiliate commission. The ranking process includes factors like heavy metal contamination and claimed protein content, but it is not clear how these are weighted. Additionally, it is still unclear whether they now test for the individual amino acids, which is the only way we know if there has been amino spiking. (Probably not though, as this is far more expensive, and they don’t make a fuss about having done it.)
Whey is a powdered food source. There is no upper threshold of how much protein you should get from shakes, but you should be sensible about balancing solid food with shakes. It’s best to think of protein powders as compliments to an already varied diet – supplemental. The one serious consideration is that when you are dieting, hunger will be your enemy at some point, so it’s best to limit the calories you drink in favor of real food to help.
Thank you for reading. Questions welcomed in the comments.
– Andy
Please keep questions on topic, write clearly, concisely, and don't post diet calculations.
Privacy policy.
How do you know that whey protein percentage is 70% in elite brand?
how could you determine the whey protein percentage in a random brand?
Hi German, look at the label, see what the grams of protein are per scoop.
So for example, if it’s 25 g per 32 g scoop (as is the tub of whey I have in my hand right now), that’s 78%.
Hi Andy,
Thank you for an awesome article. I have learned a lot!
Two questions
1)
Can you provide us with the source or explain your methodology on how you arrived at 11% leucine and 25% of BCAA content to be considered a good amino profile?
2)
I have also heard from some youtubers that BCAAs are quite cheap ingredients and some manufacturers are replacing whey derived from milk with imported BCAA to make margins. Do you have any thoughts or have more insights to this allegation?
Thank you and happy new year!
Hi Leo, thank you for the questions.
1. This is what’s in whey protein if it hasn’t been messed with. Whey is the highest quality protein source in terms of the leucine and BCAA content, so others can be compared with this. It’s not that 11/25% is good and others are bad per se. Things aren’t black and white like that.
2. Nonsense. This would be like trying to mix gold into silver ingots to increase your profit margins on silver. Protein is made of amino acids. The branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are the more expensive amino acids because those are the ones in demand and they are in shorter natural supply. So, either you heard wrong or they are mistaken. The way manufacturers fiddle with protein to increase their margins is by mixing in the cheaper ingredients, which I covered above.
Thank you for replying back so promptly.
1. I understand now. I also googled some more amino acid profiles of various types of protein and your numbers are pretty close to the averages calculated from the compositions I found online.
2. I have reviewed the video once again and the speaker’s argument was that BCAAs are mostly imported from China. And the way the Chinese factories produce these amino acids is supposedly very cheap. They allegedly use animal furs or feathers and even human hairs to extract the contents of BCAA. That definitely is cheaper than synthesizing them.
– continued from above due to character limit
Considering how creatine and taurines are added to the powder at the cost of whey, I can see BCAA being handled the same. One might think that having higher contents of BCAA is better because those are the key ingredients that synthesize muscles. But as you have mentioned earlier, the ratio of these amino acids are also important for our body to efficiently use them. I just need to find out the production cost of BCAA compared to whey protein. I think that will answer our question. And I don’t think the store price correctly represents the production cost.
Hi Andy, I am a new subscriber of your content and find it very insightful.
I have been using Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard Whey for the longest time and have just taken a look at the Amino Acid profile.
It does indicate that Leucine is present, but does not state the amount. A website called Massnutrition.au states that the Leucine amount is about 2470mg (not sure about the truth in that).
What would be your take on this? Appreciate your advice!
Hi Chance, thank you.
I’d finish the protein you have, then choose something that lists the content on the label next time.
Thanks a lot for *another* highly interesting article, Andy!
Just one thing I really can’t understand yet: Why do you take ‘[leucine/BCAA]content per 100g *protein*’ as the criteria instead of per 100g *powder*? – Dymatize Elite Whey protein passed your criteria, but the powder contains only 70% of protein! So if I compare 30g of Dymatize powder with 30g of a powder which contains e g 85% of a protein perhaps failing your criteria, 30g of the latter powder still might contain more BCAAs than 30g of the Dymatize powder. So wouldn’t it make sense to check/compare BCAA and leucine content of 100g powder?
Or am I understanding something wrong here?
Hi Thomas, thank you for the question.
It’s the only way to fairly test the quality of the protein in a powder.
There are different types of whey powder that have different quantities of protein in them (a by-product of the manufacturing process I believe).
The two most common are whey concentrate (the product you are looking at, and the type I tend to buy), and whey isolate. The former contains more carbs but is typically 20-25% cheaper.
Additionally, there is a variance between those two types depending on the brand. Manufacturers know that customers purchase a protein powder at least partly based on taste, so they may add in a few more carbs or fats to improve it.
Therefore, the only way to test whether a product has been messed with is to test the leucine/BCAA content per gram of protein.
I have heard that amino acids have to have an L in front of the name orherwise it’s garbage. What is your thought? And is there anything organic out there?
Gave people with tons of issues in my family.
Thanks
Hi Martina,
Ignore whoever said that, they don’t know what they’re talking about. Here’s my article on supplements. Anything not listed, consider it not worth considering.
Hi Andy, would you mind giving your opinion about bone broth protein powders and collagen powders, each listing 20g of protein per scoop… is this good enough to use instead of whey protein? Thank you!
Hi Laura,
Whey has the best amino acid profile of all the powders. I’m not sure the specific quality difference on average for these specifically. (It will also depend on the actual products themselves.) So, take a look at the BCAA content listed on the products and compare them. If that’s not listed, avoid. If they are more expensive, why bother?
Don’t pay more for an inferior product.
Hi Andy – Thanks for all of the great information. I often see the 100% hydrolyzed Whey products online next to the ones I typically buy (100% Whey). From what I can gather via google, the main difference is supposedly faster and more efficient absorbtion than “normal” whey. Based on reading your guide and this article, I doubt that this would make much of a difference if I’m consuming it 30 minutes before a workout, but I wanted to get your thoughts if you don’t mind. Thank You.
Correct.
I know this is an old post but I’ve just stumbled across your stuff and am loving your articles. This is really helpful and I’m using your guidelines to help choose a new protein. I’ve narrowed down to a couple that I can buy in 10lbs because I hate extra plastic tubs filling up the world. One question, I see some “blends” that fit the profile of what you describe above. They market themselves as having a blend of protein types so that you get protein absorption throughout a longer period of time. Is this valuable or just hype? Thank you.
Hi Andy! (Great name btw.)
Basically, it’s just hype; manufacturers playing into consumer fear of missing out, relying on a grain of truth and a lot of ignorance of the bigger picture.
Unless someone’s diet is mostly protein powder rather than real food, it’s hard to think of a situation where this would confer any benefit over whey.
Most people use protein powders to help them top up their protein intake to meet their needs for the day. In this context, it doesn’t matter.
Additionally, if you’re training fasted, you’d want to take whey prior, not this.
Hope that helps!
Andy – I’ve grown to like the taste of just pure EAA mixed with lemonade. I also find it easier to drink than a full protein powder shake. Doing the math on my EAA powder, 11g (~1 tbs) provides 2.75g leucine.
Can I just drink EAA instead of whey? Can I count 11g EAA as the equivalent of 25g whey for the purposes of meeting my protein needs?
You *can* but whey is likely better. Article on this here: Training ‘Fasted’? Take Whey Protein, Not BCAAs or EAAs
Hi Andy,
thanks for the info. I am looking at a product and it listed leucine per 100g as in the example. It is a whey concentrate. how did you determine that the whey was 70% of product (in your example) ? It doesn’t say on the label of product I am looking at.
also if it is slightly below the leucine threshold of 2.75g like 2.5 or 2.3 does it make a difference?
thanks
Hi Lela, thank you for the question.
The nutritional information section had the content listed per 100g (not in the photo). This will be where you find the calorie, fat and carbohydrate content listed too. Sometimes it’s listed on a “per scoop’ basis. So for example,
“Per 35 g scoop:
Calories: 130
Protein 25 g
Carbs: 6 g
Fat: 0 g”
You just do the math from there.
Also if it is slightly below the leucine threshold of 2.75g like 2.5 or 2.3 does it make a difference?
Potentially a small difference in outcome over time. But if your plan is to finish the tub of whatever you have and then move on to something of the right quality, then I wouldn’t worry about it.
Just wanted to say thank you for helping me out with this post. I’ve been trying for a long time to figure out the protein powder game and thought I found one I liked but ALWAYS wondered why it didn’t have anywhere on the tub or website the amount of leucine. And NOW I know why. ISO 100 here I come. Thanks again…
It wasn’t common practice until consumers wised up and started to demand it. This certainly doesn’t mean those that didn’t label it previously were crooks.
Anyway, most welcome, Lando!
Hi Andy! I’m having trouble eating as much as I should (I weight 98kg and do concurrent training with Sprint Tristhlon and the Novice Bodybuilding program as shown in the book). I lost 2kg in 3 weeks, but I’m not having trouble with recovery or progression (at least yet). Do you have any thougths about weight gainers? Do you have any idea for a homemade one? Couldn’t find any article talking about gainers, neither in the books in the supplement section. Thank you very much! Best regards, Marce
Hi Marce, see the FAQ section “I feel too full, what can I do?”
Hi
Labdoor lists Acesulfame-K and Sucralose in their “Watchlist items”. Acesulfame-K is a controversial artificial sweetener linked to a negative influence on taste preference. Pending research is testing hypotheses regarding Ace K’s negative effects on cognitive function, prenatal development, and carcinogenicity.
what’s your take on that as all Dymatize Elite flavors contain Acesulfame-K ??
Hi Uzi, thanks for the question.
For things like this, I defer to the information the team of researchers at Examine.com put out. Here’s one of the relevant pages on artificial sweeteners, though I’m sure you’ll find more if you dig further.
I haven’t heard anything new since I last looked into artificial sweeteners that was cause for concern, but if I do I will update my recommendations.
I have an isolate powder that lists 9.158g of leucine per 100g of powder, giving me 13%. Is a higher than 11% amount of leucine also a red flag?
Not necessarily. They could have added leucine, but that would be unusual. I’m not sure if there is another reason it would be slightly above. Unless the math is off.
Anyway, if it’s a known brand at the right (average) market price, there’s less cause for concern. Otherwise, your call.
Hi Andy,
this is a great article and really helpful, the protein I am currently using is one of the cheapest on the market and does provide amino breakdown. Would you be able to help me understand if it is a quality protein.
Thank you.
Yes, that’s what this article is for.
Now, if you’re asking me to look at the product and tell you, then no. — I teach people how to fish, I don’t fish for them.
But if there’s something you don’t understand, please feel free to ask.
Actually I have tried to look into it in a way you mentioned in the article, it only list’s about 18 of the amino’s out of 21 and also they are way cheaper than most other brands I can find
(30g serve –> approx 27g protein with ~3.5g Leucine (roughly 12% so it falls within the range you mentioned)
My concerns
– I am OVO-vegetarian (so I already find it difficult to complete the complete amino chain just through whole food diet and if I am missing important amino’s from my protein powder too Ill have to look for other sources…- (should there be more than 18 amino’s?)
Thanks
There are 21. Regardless, if they’ve already tripped the red flag of being significantly cheaper I’d avoid them for reasons stated above.
It’s like buying cheap gold, there isn’t any. Gold is gold.
Now, there are profit margins on whey, obviously, but they’re slim relative to other products. So, if this brand is significantly cheaper than most other brands on the market, they are either selling in such bulk that they can afford to bring the price down, or… well, they’re doing something dodgy.
If I were you, I’d avoid them.
Thank you, Andy… I really appreciate the information you provide…Thank you.
Most welcome, Andrew!
hi there is a company(perfect sports) that is doing something strange tell me what you think. they have whey isolates and the list their amino acid profile. but when it comes to their concentrate there is no list yet the website says BCAA 6g EAA 7G non essential 11G for a total of 24G of protein from 1 35g scoop.
they breakdown the bioactive fractions in %. when i asked them to tell me the amino acid profile of their whey concentrate they said “Hi, We’ve yet to do an analysis on the specific amino acid breakdown on the product. So, we unfortunately, can not provide the amino acid profile at this time.” does that make sense or are they hiding something?
They have the BCAA and EAA content on the website, which suggests they have done the test. So, either the website is wrong or the customer support person is wrong. Either way, I’d go with something else.
I guess the other possibility is that there’s a way to test for BCAA and EAA content, without testing for the individual amino acids.
yeah i’m going with something else. i have bought 3 or four different protein supplements and i would have to say getting a response to a question via telephone is impossible they have no number and email is rarely responded too. i emailed one company dec 2018 and contacted them on facebook and still almost a year later no response to the question about their amino acid profile. as a general rule i believe if something was good about the product they would have it on the container if it’s not there it’s cause it’s not good.
In the past, consumers weren’t aware of what the amino acids and what to look for, so brands didn’t dedicate label space to it.
However, as consumers have become more educated, brands are now more incentivized to update their labeling. Some will still be behind on this, and some aren’t behind but are purposefully not, because they don’t meet the standard.
So, they could just be slow in updating their product labels, but even so, the best thing is to avoid anything without it on there.
Hi Andy,
Thank you for managing this thorough website dedicated to helping people for FREE! What are your thoughts on protoleyic enzymes and the science claiming we can only absorb a small amount of protein per hour?
There is indeed a limit to the rate at which we can absorb protein per hour (~8-10g per hour for whey), but that doesn’t mean that the rest isn’t put to good use, nor that this rate limitation is a bad thing.
There are three proteolytic enzymes produced naturally in the body to break down protein in meals. I don’t have any particular thoughts on them. Unless you’re asking because this is a new thing being marketed as a supplement. If that’s the case I’d need to see research pointing to this being more beneficial over the long term.
This paper is easy to read and provides an excellent summary on this topic: How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution.
Thank you for the quick response, that article speaks slightly over my head but I tried to understand it as best I could. I was asking about the supplements or consuming enzymes from fresh food sources such as papaya/kiwi/pineapple. For now I plan to avoid the supplements until an authority on the subject confirms its usefulness. Ultimately I want to avoid over spending hard earned money on expensive protein if it is just wasted through excrement. Your reply suggests that’s not the case.
Correct! Though there is no need to supplement with it if you get enough protein through food throughout the day. Whey is just a powdered food, helpful to hit protein targets if you struggle otherwise.
Thank you for the post. Sometimes it’s hard to teach a man to fish, tho. For those who are curious about MyProtein, here’s the profile for all Impact whey protein (isolate, blend, etc): [Deleted]
Sometimes it’s hard to teach a man to fish, tho.
People have to be willing to learn to actually learn. Most just want to be spoon fed. This is fine, but I don’t write for nor work with the latter group.
I’m not sure if you’ve listed the My Protein because you’re confused as to how to assess the quality of it as it’s listed as 100 g, but it’s quite simple: The BCAAs add to 22.9 g, the leucine is listed as 10.6 g. The quality check is 25% and 11% respectively. This is close enough in my eyes.
I deleted your link because I won’t have external links to supplement companies on my website, so I took a screenshot of the relevant section here:
Hi Andy, finding your info online is always like finding a treasure!
Regarding the MyPr. , I have some doubts, after reading your article:
– Leucine is not mentioned on the label
– After asking the customer service here is what they sent me:
“L-glutamine is synthetically sourced.
Amino Acid Profile: Per 100 g Valine 5,80 – Isoleucine 6,31 – Leucine 10,43 – Phenylalanine 3,10 – Threonine 6,68 – Methionine 2,01 – Lysine 9,24 – Aspartic acid 10,74 – Serine 4,55 – Glutamine acid 17,73 – Proline 6,27 – Glycine 1,75 – Alanine 4,93 – Tyrosine 2,88 – Histidine 1,89 – Arginine 2,38.
As i am not expert in evaluating the BCAA content, what you think of this?
Kind Regards
Hi Francesco, thank you for the compliment and for the question.
It’s not for me to comment on specific brands. What you’re asking me is whether I trust the rep. This is not my call.
Hi Andy, Great article! Do you still use The Dymatize Elite Whey ? Hope you will answer, Ty 🙂
Hi Jiman,
I understand you asking, but what I personally choose is truly irrelevant, how I decide what I buy is what’s important.
I choose a protein based on quality, which you now know how to do. The next thing I look at is price, when including taxes and shipping fees to Japan, which is where I live.
Hello, Andy
What do you think of Rule 1 protein products? They use a “nutrition facts” rather than a “supplement facts” label. They also include lecithin as an ingredient.
Please see the first FAQ item.