IDM ¦ Column
“Whey. For living. For life”
Author: Alexander Anton, EDA Secretary General
Back in January 2020, the European
Whey Processors Association
(EWPA) – our EDA‘s sister organisation
– launched wheyforliving.
com, its first B2C digital communication
platform promoting the various benefits
of whey protein. Within six months, we have
become the European whey protein voice on
social media.
Proteins are the building blocks of our body
which makes it essential to have the right protein
intake on a daily basis. Around 460 BC,
Hippocrates, the Father of modern medicine,
started to prescribe whey to his patients for its
health benefits, naming it “serum”.
Today, whey protein is recognized as a protein
of superior nutritional quality. It contains all
the essential amino acids needed by the body
on a daily basis, and it contributes to growth
and maintenance of muscles and bones.
18 · September/October 2020 ¦ international-dairy.com
Our platform wheyforliving.com launched
under the umbrella of EWPA at the very beginning
of this year, is part of the association’s
core mission, promoting the understanding on
whey and related topics via a science based
and useful communication towards potential
customers and consumers. While the positive
health benefits of whey protein may be common
knowledge to doctors, nutrition scientists
and athletes trying to improve their health
and performance, they are not as well-known
among the general public.
With this platform, EWPA conveys the
power of whey protein, sharing information
on its various benefits, inspiring European consumers
and ensuring that discussions about
whey protein (and others) are based on facts
and science-based knowledge rather than
myths or hearsay. The platform highlights
what is whey protein, why, when, and how
one should consume it. Its articles, infographics,
videos, recipes and tips inspire to make
whey protein a part of one’s daily diet.
Consumers do not necessarily know
that whey protein is a purely natural product
originating from milk and formed during the
cheese-making process. Whey is low in fat and
carbohydrate, high in nutritional value and easily
digestible and quickly absorbed by the body.
As we observe a certain growth in ‘veganism’,
especially in the western world,
more people are inclined to turn to non-dairy
based protein supplements. In that context,
it is not obvious to the general public that
many plant proteins are incomplete, meaning
they do not contain all essential amino
acids. It is therefore vital for the overall dairy
sector to remind consumers that whey protein
– unlike plant-based proteins – contains
all nine essential amino acids which are im
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