Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Protein Powders, a few review posts

Last year, due to a personal issue and some exams to be performed later on, I was asked by my physician to supplement my diet with a daily protein shake for a few months. Since I am a person who eats mostly natural foods, fruits and veggies and lots of grains and beans, I wasn't familiar with protein powders in any form or nature.
However, when it comes to food I am one who loves to experiment and discover new flavors. So, knowing it would be to my benefit to incorporate said shake into my daily eats, I embarked on the medical request and went to figure out the protein world.
Little did I know that there were lots of different types of protein powders out there, many flavors, varieties and all sort of animal and plant sources they were derived from. I then decided I would little by little try some of the options and try to find one that I liked.
I found some that I liked, some I did not, and a few that I loved and ended up becoming part of my post-workout snacks and sometimes breakfast smoothies.
Some of the varieties I tried included whey protein, hemp protein, egg white protein, pea protein, brown rice protein, and even a few that had a mix of vegetarian proteins.
I was happy to find individual bags of some of them to buy so I could try before committing to buy a full tub (because protein powder ain't no cheap thing, ya' know!). Some of them didn't have said trial packets, so for a couple that I wanted to try I contacted the company asking if they offered packets or maybe sold them on their websites so I could try, and I was happy with a couple of responses I got with offers to send me in a packet or two. More than that, the two companies who sent me samples were two of the best protein powders I ended up trying!
So, during the next few posts I will be doing some reviews of some of the products I tried.
I want to make sure though that I make it clear that I am not receiving anything to do these reviews, I am only posting about the products I tried and liked, just to share my findings and as a way to keep a personal archive of foods I enjoyed.

With that said I will begin my review with the one I liked best of all: Jay Robb Unflavored Whey Protein Powder!




















This one my friends is my favorite whey protein. Well, to be quite true I didn't try many, only this and the whole foods brand, which was not that good. The reason why I liked this and stuck with it was simply because it is unsweetened, unflavored, un-everything. It is just pure whey protein isolate and works wonders on any type or flavor of shake you can ever imagine. I tried this with the most varied array of fruits: berries, bananas, papaya, mangoes, you name it. Plus it is great to make chocolate shake! Add a tbsp of cocoa, a few drops of stevia (or honey, or the sweetener of your choice), a few cubes of ice and you have a thick and delicious chocolate smoothie!
I found that the trick with this one though is not adding too much water, when it is too thin it is not all that good - or at least I like my shakes on the thick side! (And who likes watery shakes anyway?)
It also makes great Protein Ice Cream, HEAB style! (Btw, this ice cream is addicting, I had many chocolate protein ice cream this summer! Soooooo good!).
Now, I tried two of Jay Robb's flavored powders - vanilla and chocolate - and I did not like them, too much stevia, way too sweet. Another one of his line I tried was the egg white protein... blech! Horrible. I love eggs, I love egg whites, egg white omeletes, fritattas, you name it, but the smell of the powder and the slimy-eggy flavor and texture of the finished shake... not for me. Sorry Jay.
Anyway, the unflavored whey was the first protein powder I ever tried, and it is the one I use when I want to have whey protein.
So, here is the first one of my protein powder posts. Bear with me, I don't want to change things around the blog, but I want to be able to share some of my new products discoveries here too besides recipes. And I promise I won't stop posting those!! (I even have a delicious and easy quiche I am coming back to share!)
See you soon!
Ana

As an aside, please don't think that I live on protein powders. It was a phase of my life that I had to go through, one that wasn't all pleasant and which took me a year to overcome, so now that I am ok with it all I decided to share some of my findings and pictures I took of the products while I went through it. (what can I say, food blogers love to take picture of foods, right?!)
I definitely like to consume my food in real food form, no powders will ever substitute a good meal for me, and it shouldn't, for anyone.
As a nutritionist to be I have my ideals of good nutritious foods and I would never chose to go on a protein powder bonanza unless I really had to, so try not to judge.
Ana

19 comments:

Joseph said...

It's sound delicious! I like to try that but i am using protein powder that is really infomercial for all who want to stay healthy and fit. Thanks for sharing this nice and helpful post.

-----
protein shakes

will glennon said...

Excellent Post. Thanks for sharing such a informative and interesting post on product of whey powder protein among the readers. Your post definitely help to take some positive decision to readers that whether use this powder or not in diet.Thanks again.

Unknown said...

thanks for all the reviews! I have been on the look out for the best Best Protein Powder out there for awhile now. I have tried a few and I really think I have found something special

Unknown said...

It truly is appear delightful! I love to attempt of which although my business is employing health proteins dust that may be truly infomercial for many who wish to keep balanced along with suit. Cheers regarding giving that nice along with valuable post.
http://warriorwhey.com/lp/protein/

Unknown said...

I appreciate your manner of writing about protein powder warwick qld i would like to thanks to share such a great info with us and want to continue with your blogs.

Unknown said...

nice program for weightloss
Body Fortress Whey Protein Powder Reviews

Michelle S. Prince said...

i think if you want cookie lower protein, you can use brown rice protein to mix

Unknown said...

There is lot of articles on the web about this. But I like yours more, although i found one that’s more descriptive.
Sierrasil Mississauga

priya said...

That’s good sort of information. I really liked your post and enjoy your writing. Good job.

Anonymous said...

I was on the same situation, when doctor told me to take whey protein supplement. But it really helps me get fit and fulfill my protein requirement of daily basis.

Nicolai Doan said...

This is a great post about protein powder. Thank for share it here best protein bars reviews

Karl Marx said...

This is great post about protein powder. Thanks for sharing the information
protein shake powder

Yours Forever Health said...

Thanks for sharing information!
Welcome to our store online and buy,
optimum nutrition serious mass
best weight gain protein powder
dietary supplement store
amino acid supplementation

Yours Forever Health said...

Thank you So much for providing valuable information. Definitely your blog will be very helpful for others. Buy whey protein powder on heavy discount from online store. Whey Protein Isolates is the purest form of whey protein that currently exists. Order whey protein gold standard from yoursforeverhealth.com

douxltech said...

Energized nutrition that helps in increasing our body energy and makes us active throughout the day. The expert nutritionist has suggested some foods, which are beneficial for the human body, and they increase our nutritional level.

bioxnutrition said...

Protein supplement powder is an effective way to increase protein intake. It is useful for gym Vegan whey Protein powder and those individuals who have problems in meeting their protein needs from their daily diet.

bioxnutrition said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
David Williams said...

Thanks for Sharing!

I use the Muscle Feast whey isolate protein that is grass fed & hormone free. I am fully satisfy with its results. I also recommend it to my friends and family members.

National Nutrition said...

I liked it and enjoyed reading it. Keep sharing such important post. Apart from this you should try this Omega Nutrition PUMPKIN PROTEIN POWDER - 600G. Pumpkin Seed Protein Powder is already being considered as one of the best products among organic foods. With over 63% premium vegetarian protein by weight, Omega Nutrition's Pumpkin Powder Protein offers health-minded consumers a protein replacement product that is easy to digest and so naturally concentrated that 1.5 scoops (15 grams) offers 10 grams of complete protein. This Pumpkin Powder Protein from Omega Nutrition is also a rich source of omega-6 EFA and omega-9, a good source of favourable plant sterols and a great vegan protein source. For more information Check out this Omega Nutrition PUMPKIN PROTEIN POWDER - 600G product.