How Is Protein Powder Made?

How is protein powder made? Learn about the processes and ingredients used to manufacture protein powders.

How Protein Powder is Made

Most protein powders contain 4 key ingredients:

• Protein concentrates and/or isolates
• Sugar substitutes
• Flavors
• Additives

Manufacturers simply mix and package these components, which are supplied to them in powder form.

Protein Concentrates and Isolates

Protein concentrates and isolates are high protein foods (peas, milk, etc.) that were mechanically and/or chemically stripped of most of their non-protein components (fats, carbs, etc.).

There are several different methods used to concentrate/isolate dietary protein, and the method used depends on the type of protein.

One of the most common ways to make whey protein concentrate and isolate, for example, is a mechanical process called membrane filtration.

It involves passing liquid whey through a membrane porous to fats and carbohydrates, but not protein.

This process is repeated several times until the desired protein concentration is achieved.

Making plant protein concentrates and isolates, on the other hand, typically requires some combination of mechanical and chemical processing.

Here’s an illustration of what that might look like:

Step 1: Milling

• Whole peas are cleaned, dehulled, and ground into a fine flour. 
• Note that this flour is not just protein – it is fats, carbs, and fiber too.

Step 2: Slurry & Solubilization

• The pea flour is dumped into giant vats of water to make a slurry.
• Chemicals are then added to force only the protein to dissolve.

Step 3: Isoelectric Precipitation

• The pH of the slurry is lowered using acid, causing the proteins to lose their charge and clump.

Step 4: Neutralization & Washing

• The protein clumps are neutralized (back toward pH 7) with more chemicals.
• They’re then rinsed, removing much of the natural color, flavor, and most of the non-protein nutrients.

Step 5: Separation & Refinement

• Industrial centrifuges and filtration systems further isolate the protein.

Step 6: Drying

• The damp protein curds are fed into spray dryers.
• This turns them into a fine powder known as pea protein isolate.

As a result of all this processing, protein concentrates and isolates can contain as much as 90% protein, which is far more protein by weight than anything you could find in nature.

Sugar Substitutes

Most protein powders contain either artificial sweeteners like sucralose, sugar alcohols like erythritol, or natural sugar substitutes like stevia.

Sweeteners like these are so popular because they are intensely sweet, but virtually sugar and calorie-free.

Flavors

Most protein powders contain artificial and/or ‘natural’ flavors, which, like sugar substitutes, contribute little to no nutritional value (calories, fats, sugars, etc.)

I put the word natural in quotes because natural flavor manufactures can add synthetic solvents, preservatives, and carriers to a flavor that qualifies as “natural” under current regulations.

You would never know, however, because flavor manufacturers are not required to disclose their ingredients.

Additives

Most protein powders contain a cocktail of food additives, including anti-caking or flow agents, carriers, emulsifiers, preservatives, stabilizers, and thickeners.

Ingredients like these are used to improve characteristics like solubility and shelf life.

They are also used to mask the chalkiness of protein concentrate and isolates.

Here is a list of the most common food additives in protein supplements:

• acacia fiber
• acacia gum
• acesulfame potassium
• artificial flavors
• ascorbic acid
• aspartame
• calcium carbonate
• carrageenan
• cellulose gum
• dextrin
• dicalcium phosphate
• dipotassium phosphate
• erythritol
• gellan gum
• guar gum
• gum arabic
• inulin
• locust bean gum
• maltitol
• maltodextrin
• mono- and diglycerides
• ‘natural’ flavors
• rice bran extract
• rice dextrin
• rice hulls
• rosemary extract
• silica
• silicon dioxide
• sodium alginate
• soluble corn fiber
• sorbitol
• soy lecithin
• sucralose
• sunflower lecithin
• tocopherols
• tricalcium phosphate
• xanthan gum
• xylitol
• zinc oxide

As a rule of thumb, if you could not find an ingredient in nature or make it at home, it is a food additive.

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How is Drink Wholesome made?

As you might have gathered, Drink Wholesome is made from whole food protein sources like egg whites and almonds, not ultra-processed protein concentrates or isolates.

It is also additive and flavor-free and sweetened with monk fruit – of all the sugar substitutes, monk fruit is by far the most natural.

Our Ingredients

egg whites

coconut

vanilla

monk fruit

NOT Our Ingredients

• acacia gum

• acesulfame potassium

• artificial flavors

• carrageenan

• erythritol

• guar gum

• inulin

• maltodextrin

• 'natural' flavors

• silica

• soy lecithin

• sucralose

• xanthan gum

• xylitol

This is a fundamentally different approach to making protein powder.

It is simplified, both in terms of the amount of processing and the number of ingredients, and therefore far better for you.

This is why our customers experience digestive issues with our Protein Powder than with any other type of protein supplement.

Order Samples to see for yourself.