Exploring novel nutritional uses for side stream whey products from cheese production

The project will explore novel nutritional uses for side-stream whey products from cheese production, focusing on the two major products: lactose and whey permeate. Lactose is a natural milk disaccharide comprising the monosaccharides glucose and galactose. Whey permeate is a deproteinised product containing predominantly lactose, milk protein derived peptides, oligosaccharides and a high mineral content. Both ingredients are used in bakery, dairy and confectionary products, often as fillers and bulking agents, but neither has added-value use for their nutritional properties.
The composition of these ingredients lends themselves to nutritional application for active individuals. Carbohydrate is the primary fuel source in most exercise modalities, such as endurance running and cycling, but endogenous stores (plasma glucose, muscle and liver glycogen) are limited and are easily exhausted. Lactose may represent a viable fuel source for exercise. The peptides and minerals in whey permeate may have additional metabolic or rehydration benefits peri-exercise. However, a lack of research of their impact on human metabolism around exercise has hindered application. Therefore, the broad objective of the project is to characterise the impact of lactose and whey permeate consumption on physiological and metabolic responses in and around exercise.

There are three broad objectives for the project: i) To characterize the impact of lactose ingestion during exercise on metabolism, including fat and carbohydrate oxidation. ii) Investigate the impact of lactose (and perhaps whey permeate) provision post-exercise on metabolism during recovery. iii) Define the potential effects of whey permeate consumption during or after exercise. Discovering more about the responses to ingesting lactose and whey permeate in an exercise context will further understanding of their nutritional application and health effects in added-value products for physically active consumers, and potentially beyond.