Animal Whey – Universal Animalizes their Protein Line

We’re a bit late to the party, but better late than never.

The newest member of Universal Nutrition’s Animal lineup is here:

Animal Whey.

Over time, Team Animal has released a lot of flavors because the product has been such a huge success:

Team ANIMAL is Finally in the Whey game. We look at how it stacks up, and are happy that it’s an isolate-first protein!

There’s no doubt in our minds that this is only the beginning for Animal Whey though, we’re expecting to see the formation of a handsome flavor lineup within the near future.

For now though you have the basic chocolate and vanilla, along with a cookies & cream which has been receiving superb feedback, but Brownie Batter is the one that’s stealing the show for us!

Animal Whey Ingredients

First the macronutrient composition:

Those calories break down as follows:

• 

  The Animal Whey Nutrition Facts / Ingredients. Click for a close-up

  125 calories

• 25g Protein
• Fat: 1 – 1.5g
• Carbs: 3-4g (2-3g fiber and 1-2g sugar)

Fat and carbs vary depending upon which flavor you decide to go with. However, protein dosage remains consistent, at 25g per serving.

So, as you can see, Animal Whey consists of a relatively standard macronutrient breakdown.

While it is in fact rather basic, it’s strong enough to remain competitive with similar proteins on the market.

Here’s what the macronutrients are made of…

• Animal Whey Protein Blend

  The Animal Whey protein blend is a combination of the two most popular forms of whey protein on the market.

  • Whey protein isolate
  • Whey protein concentrate

  We’ll review each one briefly, but if you’re looking for something more in depth – make sure you check out our page on whey protein.

  • Whey protein isolate

    Whey protein isolate is a highly refined form of whey, which typically consists of at least 90% protein by weight.^[1]

    There’s more than one way to produce whey. Animal Whey isolate is produced using one of the most advanced techniques available, known as, cross-flow microfiltration.

    It’s easy to just look at a term like “cross-flow microfiltration” as nothing more than a marketing phrase, but the fact is – it’s actually a cutting edge technology, which offers distinct advantages over similar methods.

    What is cross-flow microfiltration?

    

    How the membranes in Whey Protein Cross Flow Microfiltration work.

    First you need to understand what microfiltration is.

    Microfiltration is a refining method which uses pressure to force the whey through a membrane containing the smallest pores physically possible (at this point in science at least.)

    The end product results in a protein that’s been purified to a point beyond the capacity of reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, or ultrafiltration.^[2]

    What about cross-flow?

    Now that you have a general understanding of microfiltration, on to the cross-flow part. It honestly isn’t very relevant to us as consumers, it’s more important for the manufacturers.

    However, this should hopefully clear up any questions you might have about what cross-flow microfiltration is.

    So, whereas microfiltration is essentially describing the physical equipment used to process and purify the whey, cross-flow refers to a way of operating that equipment.

    There are only two ways to operate such filtration equipment.

    • Dead-end
    • Cross-flow

    Cross-flow is advantageous to manufacturers when it comes to protein production, because it’s a more efficient method for recovering protein solids – which also equates to less buildup on the filter membrane.^[2]

    So more or less, it’s a process which allows manufacturers to provide a product of both higher purity and lower cost.

  • Whey protein concentrate

    According to the American Dairy Products Institute, in order to be considered whey protein concentrate, the product must contain at least 25% protein by weight.

    Generally though, whey concentrates range between 34% – 80% protein, with the non-protein constituents predominantly consisting of fat and lactose.

    Animal Whey uses an ultra-filtered form of whey concentrate, which as you can see in the graph above, is only one step below micro-filtration – the process uses to create whey isolate.

  We’re always happy to see whey isolate as the first ingredient (for those who have minor lactose issues), and Universal passes on that test!

  It’s also how they managed to get 25g protein into a 33.7g scoop – isolate is typically more “concentrated” than concentrate!

• Animal Whey Digestive Enzyme Blend

  The second ingredient complex in Animal Whey, is a digestive enzyme blend.

  The focus here, is simple: to improve your overall digestion and assimilation of the protein blend.

  Here are the two star ingredients:

  • Papain
  • Bromelain
  

  We officially LOVE any and all of the Animal line’s branding. Hardcore for 30 years and counting

  Both components are naturally occurring protein enzymes.^[4,5]

  Here’s some background information:

  • Papain

    Papain is an enzyme derived from fruits such as papaya and pineapple.

    It’s used to help the body breakdown and absorb proteins. In fact, it’s so effective at breaking down proteins that it’s often used as a meat tenderizer.^[4]

  • Bromelain

    Bromelain has been used as a digestive aid for centuries. It’s often referred to as an enzyme, but in fact, it’s actually a group of protein digesting enzymes – which occur naturally within the pineapple plant.

    That said, it isn’t exactly reasonable to eat enough pineapple in order to experience the benefits of bromelain.^[5]

The Bottom Line

Animal Whey features a simple, yet solid ingredient lineup. Note that Universal isn’t new to the protein game – they just haven’t ever branded one under the Animal line — we’re actually surprised it took this long.

So it’s not exactly “cutting edge,” but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because at the same time… it’s free of questionable ingredients and overhyped marketing claims, yet has the trusted Animal brand behind it.

The most important aspect of any protein supplement, is the quality of the protein itself. With Universal Nutrition’s sound reputation, we can rest assured the ingredients are top notch.

User reviews

Animal Whey is already receiving excellent feedback.

The average rating on Bodybuilding.com is about 9 out of 10! Many users have indicated that it’s rich, creamy flavor is the main highlight.

Want to try Animal Whey?

Interested in giving Animal Whey a shot?

Make sure you check this page to get the best deal available – at the time of posting, it’s only available at BB.com, but we assume it’ll be on other retailers soon, so get price drop updates for the future.

You can use PricePlow as a free service to compare prices between all of your favorite, “go-to” supplement shops.