When it comes to protein supplements, the choice between hemp vs whey protein often comes down to personal preferences, especially your dietary preferences or requirements.

Both hemp and whey protein are complete proteins, meaning they both contain all 9 essential amino acids, but, the protein content and quality differ greatly between these two… here’s everything you need to know.

Hemp Protein

Hemp is derived from the seeds of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa L. Before you ask, no, it doesn’t have any psychoactive effects!

This is because it doesn’t contain any THC, the psychoactive compound found in cannabis. It does, however, have many reported health benefits.

Hemp seeds contain a number of phytochemical compounds which have caught the attention of numerous scientists and researchers. An interesting finding is that hemp seeds are made up of around 25% protein (1). The most abundant protein in hemp seeds is called edestin, which accounts for between 60-80% of the protein in hemp. It’s been reported to have a number of beneficial effects, even on heart health (2).

This is good to know but you are probably here to read about hemp protein powder….

How is Hemp Protein Powder Made?

Hemp protein powder is made by removing the oil from hemp seeds, which are ground down into a fine powder. The oil is typically removed through cold-pressing techniques – this is exactly what it sounds like – the hemp seed oil is squeezed out using hydraulic power in the absence of heat.

This in itself is a positive of hemp protein, it is a raw and unprocessed method of creating a protein powder. However, the cold-pressing element doesn’t actually have that much scientific evidence – some claim that the lack of heat helps preserve vitamins, minerals and enzymes but, in reality, there isn’t much research to back this up.

What I mean is, looking at it simply, hemp protein has the ability to be super clean and unprocessed as it’s literally just ground hemp seeds!

Who Should Take Hemp Protein?

As hemp protein is a plant-based protein powder, it’s often used as an alternative to whey protein powder for vegetarians, vegans, individuals with lactose intolerance or anyone following a plant-based diet.

However, anyone can take it if they wish (as long as you aren’t allergic to hemp). Though, there are some differences between whey and hemp protein which may sway your choice which we’ll touch on soon.

Whey Protein

We’ve discussed whey protein before in our blog about whey protein vs BCCAs, we spoke about how whey protein is a by-product of cheese (and how that sounds gross).

Whey protein powder is made by drying out the whey that comes from the manufacturing of cheese, casein and similar products. Unlike hemp protein, whey protein powder comes in many different forms – the main difference is the protein content, here are the main types:

• Whey protein concentrate – typically contains around 70-80% protein by weight with the remaining 20% made up of fats, lactose, minerals and moisture (3).
• Whey protein isolate – this type is processed further to decrease the lactose and fat content while increasing the protein content to 90% and above.
• Hydrolyzed whey protein – this type is filtered even more and can contain up to 95% protein by weight, further reducing lactose and fat content.

All three types will adequately stimulate muscle protein synthesis, in reality, all three are separated by a couple of grams of protein per 25g scoop. You’d expect to get around 18-20g from whey protein concentrate and 22-24g from whey protein isolate and hydrolyzed whey.

The main difference is the digestibility of the three – hydrolyzed whey is generally digested better than whey protein concentrate as the protein has been broken down into smaller peptides making it easier for the body to digest (the lower lactose content can also help some people digest it easier!).

Anyway, let’s check out the main differences between whey protein and hemp protein…

Hemp vs Whey Protein: Protein Content & Quality

Both hemp and whey protein contain all nine essential amino acids, making them a complete protein source.

Good start for both, right?  However, the quantity of these amino acids differs between the two of them, especially for one critical amino acid that is vital for muscle growth – leucine.

Hemp protein powders contain about 5.1% leucine content (4) while whey protein powder has around 8.6% (5). We spoke about leucine in our other article on protein, hailing it as the “king of all amino acids” as it stimulates something called the mTOR pathway, which increases muscle protein synthesis, helping us maintain or increase muscle mass.

This study is super interesting, it looks at the protein content and amino acid profiles of commercially available plant protein powders vs animal-based protein powders, some key points are:

• The average protein content of hemp was low at 51% while whey was much higher – almost 80% on average.
• The essential amino acid content of hemp, and plant-based protein powders in general, was much lower – 23% for hemp protein while whey protein was 43%.
• To obtain 2.7g of leucine or 10.9g of essential amino acids, which is the amount shown to stimulate muscle protein synthesis, you’d have to consume a whopping 105g of hemp protein compared to just 25g of whey.

From this, we can say that whey protein has a much higher protein content and better protein quality. In this instance, I am working off the definition that protein quality is the ability of a protein powder to provide essential amino acids.

As we can see, whey does much better than hemp on this one.

Hemp vs Whey Protein: Health Benefits

So, hemp protein is inferior to whey protein when it comes to protein content and quality but, there’s a reason I defined the terms of how I was assessing “protein quality” in the above section.

Yes, whey provides more essential amino acids than hemp protein but one could look at the word “quality” from a different perspective – what about quality in terms of health benefits or nutritional composition?

Well, hemp protein has been found to help manage the blood glucose response after a meal (6) and thus could be helpful for people with diabetes. Hemp is much higher in dietary fibre than whey protein and this may be one reason why it helps some individuals manage their blood sugar better. Hemp powder can contain up to 8g of fibre per 30g serving while whey protein will have negligible amounts of fibre per 30g.

Hemp seeds contain healthy fats, they are especially rich in two essential fatty acids – linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid.

BUT… this fat is found in the hemp oil which is squeezed out of the hemp seeds like we mentioned earlier. Hemp protein actually doesn’t contain much fat at all, only around 3g per serving.

Both hemp protein and whey protein may help with weight loss by making us feel fuller, for longer. Protein is the most satiating macronutrient (in other words, the most filling one) as it takes longer to digest and reduces the levels of a hunger hormone in the body called ghrelin.

Whey protein can help lower blood pressure in people with high blood pressure (7), a meta-analysis (8) of 18 studies showed that whey protein supplementation significantly reduces systolic blood pressure (a decrease of 1.54 mmHg). There are some claims that hemp protein could also be beneficial for individuals with high blood pressure but, from what I have read, there aren’t many scientific studies to back up this claim yet.

Hemp vs Whey Protein: Allergy / Sensitivities Advice

If you have lactose intolerance or simply don’t react well to dairy products, hemp protein could be a good option for you.

A positive of hemp protein powder products is that many of them only have one ingredient- 100% hemp protein powder. Whereas, whey protein often contains added extras, including artificial sweeteners (I’m not saying this is inherently bad, many studies have shown the safety of artificial sweeteners when taken in acceptable quantities but many people like to go down the “all-natural” route).

Some people can be allergic to hemp, although it’s generally quite a rare occurrence, be sure to take the necessary precautions before trying a new product.

Hemp vs Whey Protein: The Final Showdown

From a protein content and quality standpoint, whey takes the gold medal. It stimulates muscle protein synthesis to a greater extent than hemp meaning it’s more likely to aid in building muscle mass.

But that’s not to say hemp is pointless, it can be a great alternative to whey for people with different dietary restrictions or preferences. It can still contribute to your daily protein intake, making it easier to hit your protein goals. Let’s not forget it’s full of fibre too which offers us many other benefits outside of muscle growth and repair.

Due to significant differences in the amino acid composition among various plant-based protein sources, combining a variety of these plant-based proteins may result in a better protein blend. In fact, I have started to see more products mixing different plant proteins together, like a mix of hemp and pea protein, which could potentially stimulate muscle protein synthesis to a greater extent.

The best protein powder is one that you feel works for you. As I always say though, you should be getting most of your protein from whole food sources which often come with the added benefit of containing additional nutrients that can benefit the human body.