What is Pea Protein?

Pea protein is processed from Pisum Sativa, aka Split peas or yellow peas.  It tends to sit well with those who struggle with whey or soy protein powders.

You certainly can't top Whey when it comes to nutrition values however.

Whey has a PDCAA score of 1.0 and pea protein has a score of 0.69.  This score indicates that as well as having the best amino acid profile, it is also easily digestible. 

This takes us to the amino acid score, with whey scoring 1.14 and pea protein scoring 0.84.  This isn't too bad and just shows us that whey has a better essential amino acid profile than pea protein.  But if you look at it, pea protein doesn't score too badly.

Finally we have the biological value.  Whey scores 100 with Pea scoring 65.  This tells us the amount of nitrogen retained vs the amount absorbed.  So your whey protein is going to enable you to retain more nitrogen.

If you want to go vegetarian with your protein there is nothing wrong with Pea protein, and it's vegetarian friends; rice, soy and hemp protein.  I'm not a fan of using soy in any form, but I find rice and pea to work well.

It's about balance.  If you ate all your meals as whey protein then you would be missing out on a whole heap of other enzymes and nutrients, same if you only ate pea protein.  If you're using pea protein, and also eating things like rice, oats, other legumes and beans and lots of veges then you are going to get a full range of amino acids.

Don't forget about your training.  Protein alone won't give you the results you need, you need to be training and recovering well and your body needs to be nourished with vitamins and minerals from good food to help that protein do its job.

Keep a holistic eye open when addressing the whole protein = muscle gain topic.  If your body isn't functioning well, you're not sleeping and your training is wrong, you can cram all the protein in you like and you'll still struggle to gain or maintain muscle.

In a nutshell - protein is great, all of it.  Just eat what your body tells you to eat.  If whey gives you an upset tummy and pea protein doesn't - then go for the pea protein, because that upset tummy is your body's way of telling you it's going to have a hard time getting that whey protein into your cells.