Good news, bad news.
Good news: Mootopia's extra protein
is whey.
Bad news: It's a processed whey which has few of the benefits of fresh liquid whey, and many of the disadvantages. For example, it's high in cysteine-- if you are prone to kidneystones of the cysteine variety, and supposed to be eating a low-purine diet, avoid whey, avoid MOOtopia like the plague.
Whey is a byproduct of the cheese-making process. Cheese is mostly 'casein'. Think of what melty mozzarella cheese is like; that's casein. Gooey.
Whey, on the other hand, is mostly 'albumin'. Ricotta cheese is made from whey, and that's why it has something in common with the texture of a hard-boiled eggwhites. Bouncy- and more easily digested than casein.
There are MANY kinds of whey-- they are not all alike and the ways in which they are different is crucial to how you metabolize it.
Before butter is made, the milk is put through fermentation. There are two general methods for doing that: "thermophilic" and "mesophilic". The first is, of course, "heat-loving" bacteria. Basically, thermophilic fermentation is yogurt-making with the classical lactobacilli. The second method, mesophilic, involves bacteria that thrive in somewhat cooler temperatures. Mesophilic fermentation tends to yield more glutamates-- it makes the dairy taste more rich and "meaty".
Much of the flavor of butter is bacterial in origin. The milk is put through a controlled souring, then separated into 'butter' and 'buttermilk'. Funny name for something that technically shouldn't contain any butter at all.
Buttermilk is very rich in protein, both the native molecules from the milk, and whatever strings of molecules the bacteria decided to knit up and poo into it.
Some popular cheese (such as cheddar) are made using two batches of milk, one with each kind of fermentation. Both kinds put lactic acid into the whey.
Lactic acid is good. You WANT this. You want this very much. Why? Doesn't lactic acid make your muscles sore? No, it doesn't. That's a myth.
Lactic acid is fuel for mitochondria. It shows up in exhausted muscle tissue because it was just about to get USED. Lactic acid is NOT merely a nasty by-product of your body tissues.
Lactic acid helps raise the metabolism. Studies that show whey is beneficial are usually referring to *liquid* *fresh* whey. Not dried whey.
Before it's made into cheese, milk is fermented and it thickens. The naturally-produced acids breaks down the casein. The casein promptly gets stuck to more casein, and that's how curds form in soured milk.
Curdling is usually helped along in the cheesemaking process through heat and through additives.
The most famous one is rennet. Rennet is something taken from a young calf's stomach. It's an enzyme that dismantles casein. Rennet does the most work while changing the flavor the least.
There are "vegetable rennets"; some plants happen to have chemicals that break down casein. Nettle juice is one of them. If killing little baby "veal" cows bothers you, there are alternatives.
Edible acids can also be used. Vinegar and lemon juice are traditional.
Many recipes call for vinegar, which is acetic acid. Acetic acid is a valid nutrient; it is processed into glucose (a sugar) by the liver. But, unless you especially want your liver to grow, avoid this exactly as much as you avoid drinking alcohol. (The process of metabolizing alcohol is, the liver turns it into vinegar, and then it turns vinegar into sugar.)
Even if it's 100% fat-free, that "all-natural" "artisan" cheese by somebody who used vinegar because they were too leftist-wingnut to use rennet is a hidden-glucose bomb.
Dehydrated whey has had its liquid and most of its acid removed. So what's left? Basically, glutamates and albumin.
Dehydrated whey is the main ingredient in powdered buttermilk. It's also the main ingredient in lots of power protein shakes, only they're selling you cheese by-product for twenty dollars instead of two. Feeling like a sucker yet? You should.
Adding protein shake mix to MOOtopia is adding over-priced albumin to albumin added as a combination thickening agent and marketing gimmick.
Congratulations. You've been had at both ends. Here's your kleenex and your kiss.