Every day, I see ads for beef isolate protein powder, and we get so many emails asking if it’s good and why we don't carry it.
First, I want to clarify that this article is not bashing beef eating. Beef is an extremely healthy food full of good nutrition, and we encourage people to include it in their diet. Regenerative beef, in particular, is excellent as it helps to sequester carbon in the soil and provides a host of environmental benefits, but that’s a blog for another day. This is an article solely about what is being sold as beef or steak protein powder and why it’s not at all what these companies make it out to be.
Beef Isolate Protein Powder
The marketing these companies use makes people think that they are basically eating powdered steak, and I have to tell you, this is incredibly dishonest and not what those products are. Before anyone says the companies are not comparing it to eating steak, they have Instagram posts literally comparing a steak to whey protein and saying their protein powder is like getting the steak. We could make a lot of money throwing up a beef protein powder on our website and telling a great story like these companies are, but I would rather be able to sleep at night.
Beef Isolate Protein Powder Versus Beef Amino Acid Profile
Let’s start with some basics. If a protein powder is made from a particular food, it will have a similar amino acid profile to that food. It won’t be exact, but it will be pretty close. One of the largest sellers of “beef protein” isolate powder claims each scoop has the same amount of protein and is the same as eating 4 oz of lean beef. So, we are going to use that as the starting point. Here is the approximate amino acid profile in 4 oz of lean beef and one scoop of that protein powder:
Amino Acids * Essential Amino Acid ^Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) | Approximate amount in Grams In Four Ounces Of Lean Beef | Approximate amount in grams in one 25-gram scoop of a very popular unflavored “beef protein” isolate powder |
Alanine | 1.541 | 2.2 |
Arginine | 1.616 | 1.89 |
Aspartic Acid | 2.362 | 1.5 |
Cysteine | 0.273 | 0.03 |
Glutamic Acid | 3.978 | 2.75 |
Glycine | 1.094 | 5 |
Histidine* | 0.845 | 0.28 |
Hydroxyproline | .5 | 2.55 |
Isoleucine*^ | 1.293 | 0.43 |
Leucine*^ | 2.014 | 0.93 |
Lysine* | 2.163 | 0.95 |
Methionine* | .622 | 0.23 |
Phenylalanine* | 1.019 | 0.58 |
Proline | 1.019 | 3 |
Serine | 0.895 | 0.85 |
Threonine* | 1.094 | 0.53 |
Tryptophan* | 0.273 | 0.09 |
Tyrosine | 0.845 | 0.33 |
Valine*^ | 1.417 | 0.75 |
Beef isolate protein powder versus beef gelatin amino acid profile
Now, let’s compare the amino acid profile of the beef isolate protein to beef gelatin.
Amino Acids * Essential Amino Acid ^Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) | Approximate amount in grams in one 25-gram scoop of a very popular unflavored “beef protein” isolate powder | Approximate amount in grams in 25 grams of beef gelatin |
Alanine | 2.2 | 2.318 |
Arginine | 1.89 | 1.863 |
Aspartic Acid | 1.5 | 1.408 |
Cysteine | 0.03 | 0 |
Glutamic Acid | 2.75 | 2.395 |
Glycine | 5 | 5.74 |
Histidine* | 0.28 | .153 |
Hydroxyproline | 2.55 | 2.8 |
Isoleucine*^ | 0.43 | 0.343 |
Leucine*^ | 0.93 | 0.685 |
Lysine* | 0.95 | 0.95 |
Methionine* | 0.23 | 0.19 |
Phenylalanine* | 0.58 | 0.495 |
Proline | 3 | 3.26 |
Serine | 0.85 | .875 |
Threonine* | 0.53 | 0.455 |
Tryptophan* | 0.09 | 0.002 |
Tyrosine | 0.33 | 0.075 |
Valine*^ | 0.75 | 0.533 |
The “beef protein” isolate powder contains an almost identical amino acid profile to beef gelatin. That's strange since it's advertised to be just like eating steak, which has a very different amino acid profile.
Now let’s compare some of the nutrient content of one scoop of “beef protein isolate powder and 4 oz of lean beef.
Nutrient | Approximate amounts in 4 oz of lean beef. | Approximate amounts in one 25-gram scroop of unflavored “beef protein” isolate powder. |
Zinc | 5.06 milligrams | Trace amounts |
Iron | 2.36 milligrams | .5 milligrams |
B12 | 2.45 micrograms | 1 microgram |
Potassium | 379 milligrams | Trace amounts |
Selenium | 17.85 mcg | Trace amounts |
Niacin | 5.25 mg | Trace amounts |
As you can see, it has virtually none of the nutrient content of beef, which is weird since they say it is the equivalent of eating a steak. If it were a whole-food protein powder, it would still have most of the nutrients present in fresh beef.
Next up is mixability. If you dried and powdered beef, it would not mix well in cold water or cold beverages. Yet, somehow, these “beef protein powders” mix great. They also taste almost nothing like beef. If it were just powdered beef, it would taste like it, similar to how beef liver powder tastes like beef liver.
What is beef isolate protein powder?
Here's how it is actually made. Gelatin (which is not made from steak or choice cuts of beef) is further processed and then marketed as beef or steak protein. This is incredibly dishonest. It is nothing like eating a steak; marketing should not make people think they get the same benefits and nutrition from beef. They should not claim the benefits of beef and apply them to this ultra-processed product. They are certainly not whole foods, and selling protein powder made this way and labeling it as whole food protein powder is terrible. While gelatin has benefits, it should not be used as a primary protein source because it is very low in essential amino acids and BCAAs. Beef gelatin is really cheap for them to buy in bulk, but if you rebrand it as beef protein, you can get a lot more money for it, which is what these companies have done.
How is beef isolate protein powder made?
Here’s how that beef protein isolate is made.
Collagen and gelatin (already isolated ingredients, not whole foods) are further processed to remove nearly all the remaining fats and carbohydrates. This is done by:
Hydrolysis: The collagen, gelatin, and other by-products are hydrolyzed with water, heat, and enzymes further to break down the proteins into their amino acid constituents. It isolates the amino acids, creating a finished product that has an amino acid profile very similar to beef gelatin but more isolated and broken down.
Filtration and Purification: This is then filtered to remove impurities, fats, and carbs through various methods to concentrate the protein content further. This achieves a protein content of upwards of ninety percent.
Drying: This slurry is dried, usually via spray drying and occasionally freeze-drying.
This ultra-processed finished product contains virtually none of the nutrients from the beef and is nothing like a whole food. Marketing it to people as if it were the same as eating steak should be illegal.
How does beef isolate protein compare to other protein powders?
Amino Acids * Essential Amino Acid ^Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) | Approximate amount in grams in one 25-gram scoop of a very popular unflavored “beef protein” isolate powder | Approximate amount in grams in 25 grams of Johns Killer Protein Native Whey Protein - Unflavored | Approximate amount in grams in 25 grams of unflavored Promix Pea Protein |
Alanine | 2.2 | 0.639 | 0.583 |
Arginine | 1.89 | 0.625 | 1.417 |
Aspartic Acid | 1.5 | 2.475 | 1.833 |
Cysteine | 0.03 | 0.450 | 0.083 |
Glutamic Acid | 2.75 | 3.575 | 2.667 |
Glycine | 5 | 0.425 | 0.500 |
Histidine* | 0.28 | 0.400 | 0.333 |
Hydroxyproline | 2.55 | 0 | 0.167 |
Isoleucine*^ | 0.43 | 1.100 | 0.917 |
Leucine*^ | 0.93 | 2.075 | 1.583 |
Lysine* | 0.95 | 1.775 | 1.500 |
Methionine* | 0.23 | 0.450 | 0.417 |
Phenylalanine* | 0.58 | 0.700 | 1.000 |
Proline | 3 | 1.250 | 0.583 |
Serine | 0.85 | 1.225 | 0.750 |
Threonine* | 0.53 | 1.500 | 0.667 |
Tryptophan* | 0.09 | 0.375 | 0.167 |
Tyrosine | 0.33 | 0.625 | 0.667 |
Valine*^ | 0.75 | 1.150 | 1.833 |
Look at how much higher the whey and pea proteins are in essential amino acids, BCAAs, and cysteine than the “beef protein” isolate. That is the mark of better-quality proteins. They also contain many nutrients found in the original foods they were made from, such as calcium in the native whey protein and iron in the pea protein. The amino acid profile of good pea protein and native whey protein is much better for supporting healthy muscles than the beef isolate protein powder, with native whey protein coming out on top. High-quality pea protein is the next best choice for those who cannot tolerate dairy.
Beef Isolate Protein Powder Cost Comparison
In addition to being an inferior protein powder choice, it’s also much more expensive in terms of the cost per gram of protein comparison, despite each gram not being as good as a gram of protein from pea or whey.
Protein Powder | Grams Of Protein Per Serving | Servings Per Container | Grams Of Protein Per Container | Cost per serving | Cost per container |
Popular Beef Isolate Protein Powder | 20 | 30 | 600 | $2.13 | $63.99 |
Johns Killer Protein Native Whey Protein - Unflavored | 20 | 36 | 720 | $1.25 | $44.99 |
Promix Pea Protein - Unflavored | 25 | 38 | 950 | $1.29 | $48.99 |
As you can see, the native whey protein and pea protein are much better deals, and you get a better protein powder. A win-win. Buying overpriced, essentially relabeled gelatin will never be a good choice. Ethical collagen costs less for those looking for collagen or gelatin benefits, and good whey and pea protein costs less for those looking for a protein powder. There is no good reason to buy beef isolate protein powders unless you enjoy helping companies pay for a big marketing budget.
While the marketing of beef isolate protein powders may be amazing, the product is anything but. It costs more, has less nutrition, and has an inferior amino acid profile than other protein powders. So ignore the hype and choose a protein powder that’s better and less expensive!
Protein Powder Questions and Support
For more information on protein powders, check out our Protein Powder Project, where you can learn all about different protein powders and what to look for when choosing a protein powder.
If you have questions about beef isolate protein or other protein powders, please email us at info@rooted-nutrition.com, and we will be happy to help!