# Nutritional value of whey **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutritional-value-of-whey/577010 "2011-04-03T04:25:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutritional-value-of-whey/577010/1 "2011-04-03T04:25:49Z")
I made yogurt, and it was runny, so I drained it, and now I have a lot of whey. I know that it contains some of the protein from milk, but what about the other things in milk, like calcium or Vitamin A/D? Is whey nutritionally valuable, or just a waste-product? ETA: I have Googled this, but I need some context for the answers I’m reading. How does whey compare to milk, or water, or eggs or whatever? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutritional-value-of-whey/577010/2 "2011-04-03T16:01:47Z")
When I visited a cheese factory in Gruyere in Switzerland in 1997 they were saving the whey and, I believe, selling it to farmers as pig feed. I had visited the same factory in 1971 and things had changed quite a bit. In particular, they put the whey through a cream separator and, I assume, discarding what came out. It is also possible to make whey cheese. You essentially boil it down to a cheesy residue. It’s not bad, but it takes a lot of power to make a small quantity of cheese. Norwegian geitost (goat cheese) is made from whey. When I make cheese, which I do regularly, I usually discard the whey, although in the summer I will pour it over the garden.