Are there any studies on the absorption rate of pea protein? I know Whey isolate is something like 90% absorption, depending on how pure the source, but I never read anything on pea protein. I know of a vegan body builder who swears by it though.
I have no idea about how fast it digests, but I can tell you a little more about the quality of the protein.
Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) is a method of evaluating the protein quality based on both the amino acid requirements of humans and their ability to digest it. PDCAAS was adopted by the US FDA and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization in 1993 as "the preferred 'best'" method to determine protein quality.
The PDCAAS for pea protein in whole peas (and other legumes, discounting soy) is .70. A PDCAAS value of 1 is the highest, and 0 the lowest. As a whole food, it's not a terrible source of protein, but it falls short of beef, whey, soy, casein, and egg - all of which have a value of 1.
The formula for calculating the PDCAAS percentage is: (mg of limiting amino acid in 1 g of test protein / mg of same amino acid in 1 g of reference protein) x fecal true digestibility percentage. So basically, researchers are just looking the amino acid profile of the protein and true digestibility.
That said, I've heard that the various processing techniques of pea protein (and other plant proteins) can improve the PDCAAS. Pure Advantage Pea Protein Isolates PDCAAS is .90-1.0 according to the data supplied by the manufacturer. Unfortunately, there is no USP monograph for pea or whey protein isolate, so it is hard to rely on the data alone. Since it is an isolate, the protein is in its purest form. Which means better absorption and bioavailability since there are no other compounds attached. Obviously this could vary considerably betwen manufactorers.
I'm lactose intolerant so casein is a no go.
I think I'll give egg protein a go but I worry that it will be of poor quality if the chickens used to produce the product were not free-range or fed a nutritional diet.
There should be no lactose in casein protein. There should also be no lactose in whey protein. Lactose is a sugar that is removed during the purification process. If you can tolerate cheese, you will have no problem with casein.
http://www.gnc.com/p...ELAID=579258057For instance, this protein powder is marketed as lactose and gluten free.