You've probably heard a lot about Whey, but what whey is may still elude you. When you hear about whey protein, it is usually in context of usage as a health product for building muscle. But let's look first at what it actually is before diving futher into how it is used.

Whey comes as a byproduct of making... Cheese! When cream is processed while making cheese, it separates out into two parts - the curd portion is used further in making the cheese, while the leftovers are called whey. This whey leftover can be used in a number of ways, including making other kinds of cheese, but what you are most likely interested in is the previously mentioned whey protein.

The whey happens to be very high in protein. When exercising, and especially during weight training, an important part of fueling an drebuilding muscle is to be sure youconsume plenty protein. Since it is not always easy to find healthy forms of protein - eating a steak after a workout is probably not the best plan! - whey is a very popular source for relatively healthy protein.

Nowdays, whey protein is available in a large variety of forms and packaging so that the health conscious consumer has a lot of choice in how to consume it and the associated protein.  Whey powder, whey drinks and whey protein shakes, whey protein bars, and various other whey products are available in a large number of flavors  and combined with other ingrediants to offer a huge selection of options. Since whey by itself does not have a very appetizing flavor, many products mix various other food elements to make the taste more appealing. However, some of these go too far and add large quantities of sugar and fat in the effort to make it taste extra good! Some whey protein bars taste almost like a candy bar, but some of these also approach the same level of sugars and fats that candy bar has, thus negating much or all of the benefit of consuming the whey. So, a health conscious consumer has to be careful when purchasing these products and really read the ingredients closely.