the.com/casein
the protein that builds muscle while you sleep and glue while you're not looking
means Casein is the main protein in milk, a slow-digesting curd-forming compound prized by bodybuilders and, in dried form, used historically to make glues, paints, and even early plastics.
from Straight from the Latin 'caseus,' meaning cheese — the same root that gives Italian 'cacio,' German 'Käse,' and English 'cheese' itself. The 'in' suffix is the chemist's standard tag for proteins, slapped on in the 19th century as the substance was isolated and named. So casein is, quite literally, the 'cheese stuff' — the part of milk that clots and stays behind when the whey runs off.
- slow release
- Digests for hours, drip-feeding amino acids overnight
- actual glue
- Old wood glues and labels were made from it
- makes plastic
- Casein hardened into buttons and jewelry for decades
- milk's majority
- About 80 percent of cow milk protein
- curd maker
- Forms the solid clumps that become cheese
kraft process — industrial method producing casein from milk curds, developed in 1920s germany
casein paint — milk-protein based paint used by diego rivera and other muralists in 1930s-1950s mexico
casein plastics — thermoplastic material manufactured 1900s-1950s, used for buttons, jewelry, and fountain pens before synthetic polymers