ON Hydro Whey Platinum Review
Optimum HydroWhey Platinum
Platinum HydroWhey by Optimum Nutrition is a premium whey protein supplement - it consists of hydrolyzed whey protein isolates. You might be wondering what a "hydrolyzed" whey protein is... Basically, a hydrolyzed protein is a protein that has been "broken" down into its component amino acids, and through this, it is much faster absorbing, and gets to your muscles much faster.
We'll discuss this in a bit more detail later on. HydroWhey protein is also a pure hydrolyzed whey protein isolate - containing no other types of proteins. This is what makes Hydro Whey a very premium whey protein powder, and at the same time, this is also the reason why it costs so much more than a more standard whey supplement such as ON's 100% Gold Standard Whey. It may sound a bit cliché, but you do get what you pay for, and you are getting pure quality whey with this.
I have been a happy customer with Optimum Nutrition products over the years, and have used a wide variety of their products as well. Their ever popular Gold Standard 100% Whey is top notch in terms of quality and price, but it falls short when you compare it to the premium HydroWhey protein. Gold Standard Whey consists of a protein blend that contains whey isolates and concentrates, whereas their Hydro Whey Platinum is a pure 100% hydrolyzed whey isolate.
Obviously, this quality difference is reflected in the price difference where if you compared Platinum HydroWhey vs Gold Standard whey on a protein gram to gram basis you find that Hydro Whey costs over 80% more! This is easy to calculate... You simply figure out how many grams of protein is in a container and then divide by its cost, and then compare the two, and as we've just found out, the premium powder costs a whole lot more.
>> Click here for Optimum Nutrition Platinum Hydro Whey
Optimum Nutrition HydroWhey Ingredients
Below, we list the ingredients of Hydrowhey and will also list the ingredients for Gold Standard 100% Whey as well for comparison.
HydroWhey 100% Whey
Serving Size 39g 31g
Calories 140 120
Fat 1g 1g
Cholesterol 0 30mg
Sodium 160mg 90mg
Carbohydrates 2g 4g
Protein 30g 24g
As you can see from above, Platinum Hydro Whey protein has a slightly larger serving size, slightly more calories, less carbohydrates, and more proteins per serving due to larger serving size. However, the biggest difference here between the two protein powders is their sources of protein. For ON Hydro Whey, it is 100% pure hydrolyzed whey protein isolate. For Gold Standard 100% whey it's a blend consisting of whey isolate, whey concentrate, and whey peptides.
As already mentioned, hydrolyzed whey is a whey protein isolate that's broken down further making it more easily absorbed. Some of the advantages of whey hydrolysate include:
- The most digestible whey protein for human consumption
- Partially pre-digested for better absorption by humans
- Protein molecules are split into smaller group called
peptides
The one downside of it is that Hydrolyzed whey cost a lot more to produce and the extra cost is passed on to consumers, of course. As we found out earlier, the premium Hydro Whey costs a whooping 80% more than Gold Standard whey when you compared them on a gram-to-gram basis. Studies have also found whey hydrolysate to have greater benefits compared to other forms of protein such as casein.
In one study, 13 male bodybuilders were given either a hydrolyzed whey isolate or a casein supplement for a period of 10 weeks along with a resistance training program. The bodybuilders consumed 1.5g/kg body weight of protein per day. Their strength was also assessed using 1 rep max of 3 exercises including bench press, squat, and cable pull-downs. The study results found that the whey hydrolysate (WH) group achieved significantly greater gain in lean mass compared to the casein (C) group - 5kg compared to 0.8kg gains. The WH group also had a reduction of fat mass by -1.5kg compared to a gain of +0.2kg for the C group. Furthermore, the WH group also experienced significantly greater strength gains as well compared to the C group. From this study, we can see that hydrolyzed whey isolate helps greatly to increase lean mass, minimize fat mass, and enhance strength gains. [1]
Another big plus of ON Platinum Hydrowhey is that it also comes with micronized BCAAs. There are many studies that have show the wonderful benefits of consuming BCAAs. Some of these include:
- BCAA helps minimize muscle damage during intense exercise
- BCAA attenuates the decrease in muscle force from exercising
- BCAA supplementation has anabolic benefits where studies have found it to increase serum testosterone levels
- It helps reduce cortisol levels
- BCAA greatly reduces muscle soreness and also reduces fatigue
On HydroWhey comes in 1lb, 1.75lb, and 3.5lb container sizes, and it also comes in several flavors including Turbo Chocolate, Velocity Vanilla, Cookies & Cream, and Strawberry. Obviously the larger 3.5lb size is more cost effective than the smaller sizes - even so, it is still quite pricey, but that's what you pay for a premium product. Perhaps the one downside of hydrolyzed whey is that it tends to have a bitter taste, and not everyone will enjoy the taste as much. For me, I've tried the chocolate and vanilla flavors, and I didn't have any issues with the taste of the hydro whey. However, I'm sure some users may not enjoy the taste so much. But if you want a super pure and ultra fast absorbing quality protein powder, then Optimum Nutrition's Platinum Hydrowhey is what you're looking for.
>> Click here for Optimum Nutrition Platinum Hydro Whey
1. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2006 Oct;16(5):494-509.
The effect of whey isolate and resistance training on strength, body composition, and plasma glutamine.
Cribb PJ, Williams AD, Carey MF, Hayes A.
Nov 2011
