What is the Best Protein Powder???

jasonp_ritzert

Optimum Nutrition - Chocolate, Chocolate Peanut Butter, and Cinnamon Graham Cracker

Cellucor - Red Velvet Cake Batter (phenomenal) and Peanut Butter Marshmallow

allaboutthecake

I luv Trutein.

Rogiefreida

Another vote for Optimum Nutrition and any flavor of Cellucor--have yet to find a yucky flavor from them.

youngdreamer

I just bought MyoFusion in Strawberry Cream. Soooo goooood. Best protein powder I've tasted yet.

ncrugbyprop

Be careful of cheap protein powders like Bodyfortress. They are known to amino spike meaning the label may say 30 grams of protein but you are really only getting 15 or 20 grams. The rest is coming from BCAA which are not complete proteins. If you see Leucine, Valine and Isoleucine, in the ingredients then it's amino spiked.

Good to know. Thanks. What brands do you recommend?

Leucine, Valine and Isoleucine are essential amino acids. A protien source without them would be considered an incomplete protien. Cheap protien powders do spike their product with cheaper amino acids so that a higher protien content content can be recorded during a basic nitrogen test. Usually they were higher amounts of taurine and glycine, and even creatine at one time when it was cheap(er), etc. This isn't to say that they are bad, just not as good as you might need and may have a substantial amount of non-essential amino acids.

I use EAS 100% Whey mostly because I can get it dirt cheap. Occasionally I'll get a bag of Whey Isolate in bulk becasue its too cheap to pass up. Also, as with everthing else nutrition and excersie related, your results will vary.

I always try to chew most of my protien sources whenever possible.

LFDBabs

I agree on the Optimum Nutrition gold standard. I like the Vanilla ice cream flavor as it can blend with a strawberry or banana addition very well. Buy it online from Amazon is the the best cost option I have found. Also can be found at Netrition.com for about same price. Don't buy from a gym as they mark it up like 300 percent !

^^This^^ I've tried several, and I've tried changing to save some money. ON Gold Standard is worth the few extra bucks. The vanilla ice cream flavor is awesome and very versatile. My favorite blend is with an egg white, tbsp of cocoa and a 1/2 tbsp of peanut butter. Tastes like a peanut butter cup!

countrygirl7mels

Lots of great, informative responses. I will have to look into some of these suggestions!

billpriday

We all have our personal favorites.

I used to use EAS until I looked in detail at the ingredients. I would recommend that you purchase an isolate protein (pure protein versus a concentrate that is not pure protein) and do not purchase the cheap stuff from Wal-Mart, Costco, etc. Go to a supplements store, Vitamin Cottage, Vitamin Shoppe, or GNC.

For a whey powder, you can't go wrong with ProAction. It is an isolate protein that you can get at supplement stores. Approx. 23 grams of protein and 120 calories I am now eating a paleo diet (I hate the term diet) and use MuscleMeds Carnivore which is an isolate beef protein - no whey. 124 calories and 23 grams of protein. I use the Fruit Punch flavor. The chocolate takes a lot getting used to for taste.

Egg white protein is good as well but very expensive.

Basically, go with a good solid isolate protein that you can get from a supplements store, Vitamin Cottage, Vitamin Shoppe, or GNC. Your local 24 Hour Fitness or gym where the hardcore lifters workout will carry something similar. I don't know about Planet Fitness, Lifetime Fitness or the others.

bradXdale

You're going to get a LOT of different brands and variations.

The three best brands in my opinion:

ON Gold Standard Whey - You can buy it as small as 1lb containers (about 8-10 shakes) • http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/whey.html

BSN Syntha-6 - My current protein, love it. Good stuff in it. I feel as if it works it's magic on all the recovery claims & it tastes / blends smooth. • http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/bsn/synth.html

Cellucor Whey - Contains digestive enzymes, low carb, high protein blend. • http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/cellucor/cor-performance-whey.html

Just make sure you are supplementing your already good diet. Supplements are pointless if you're not already eating a good diet.

grantdumas7

Be careful of cheap protein powders like Bodyfortress. They are known to amino spike meaning the label may say 30 grams of protein but you are really only getting 15 or 20 grams. The rest is coming from BCAA which are not complete proteins. If you see Leucine, Valine and Isoleucine, in the ingredients then it's amino spiked.

dude.. almost all powders have a BCAA complex

5.5 in ON

Buy whats cheapest per gram of protein.... that requires multiplying grams per serving*servings and diving that into the price.

More reputable companies will not have BCAA listed separately in the ingredients.

grantdumas7

Be careful of cheap protein powders like Bodyfortress. They are known to amino spike meaning the label may say 30 grams of protein but you are really only getting 15 or 20 grams. The rest is coming from BCAA which are not complete proteins. If you see Leucine, Valine and Isoleucine, in the ingredients then it's amino spiked.

Good to know. Thanks. What brands do you recommend?

Leucine, Valine and Isoleucine are essential amino acids. A protien source without them would be considered an incomplete protien. Cheap protien powders do spike their product with cheaper amino acids so that a higher protien content content can be recorded during a basic nitrogen test. Usually they were higher amounts of taurine and glycine, and even creatine at one time when it was cheap(er), etc. This isn't to say that they are bad, just not as good as you might need and may have a substantial amount of non-essential amino acids.

I use EAS 100% Whey mostly because I can get it dirt cheap. Occasionally I'll get a bag of Whey Isolate in bulk becasue its too cheap to pass up. Also, as with everthing else nutrition and excersie related, your results will vary.

I always try to chew most of my protien sources whenever possible.

I know these are essential amino acids but companies will list some sore of whey protein as the first ingredient and then a BCAA complex as on of the next few ingredients. I also know about taurine and creatine spiking nitrogen test results.

As far as brands go, I use true nutrition. You are can mix different proteins , e.g., whey Isolate with egg white or milk with whey concentrate and there are numerous flavors. http://www.truenutrition.com/

OverDoIt

good protein ain't cheap, and cheap protein ain't good. You get what you pay for when you buy the cheap stuff. Optimum is good, MTS is good, Gaspari is good. I could go on and on here if you look online you can find a pretty good deal. Just make sure you read the nutrition facts and ingredients.

mantium999

Another vote for ON here

wilmnoca

Dymatize ISO-100 is great! Around $25, excellent flavors, 106-110 calories, exceptional quality. It's pure whey without all the extra junk you don't need in a protein powder. Currently I'm using Optimum Nutrition 100% whey only because I found a great deal on it. Quality is great, 120 calories buuuuut, it doesn't hold a candle to the awesome flavors of Dymatize. I'm going back to it when I finish this tub. Hope that helps.

mailroomclerk

ON Whey for pretty good protein and cost per scoop.

Check out bodybuilding.com for the deals and prices for that kind of thing. You're likely going to have to go with chocolate or vanilla for the deals but they're nice to liven up some quaker oats and stuff too.

If you're having trouble building muscle make sure you're eating enough (I'd carb with the protein after as well, like a fruit of choice). Hit close to muscle failure without hurting yourself, eat and rest. You got it.

brdnw

i'd be curious what people think is the best w\out a budget. I've tried a ton of different brands, right now i been using gnc's amplified whatever the name is

http://www.gnc.com/GNC-Pro-Performance-AMP-Amplified-Wheybolic-Extreme-60-Platinum-Edition-Chocolate/product.jsp?productId=11043994

and i like it, and 60grams of protein @ 280 calories seems pretty good to me. I feel like it's more effective than other brands i've taken.

CipherZero

Cipher's protein powder round-up:

ON Double chocolate and Extreme chocolate are... okay. You'll be sick of them before the tubs are empty. Mixes well in water, milk, and almond milk.

Dymatize Elite Fudge Brownie is godly. Mixed with everything, but tends to be thicker than any of the others.

Wheytech Protech 24 banana & chocolate are both kind of weak flavors and suitable prety much for blending. The banana is great with orange juice, yogurts, oatmeal, and puddings.

Body Fortress vanilla - the worst of the lot. It has a gritty texture that'll never go away no matter what you do with it. Very obvious artificial flavor.

Aparz1

My PT always recommended Isopure for me... 50g of protein per serving, 0 sugars, 0 carbs, minimal fat..... They have fruity flaors that mix well with water. Not the cheapest option but after comparing a million lables, I'm sticking with it :bigsmile:

WhispersOfAngel

I use Pro5 from Nutri Shoppe. It's 145 cal, 32 gm protein, 2 gm carbs. I tried Body Fortress once 170 cal, 30 gms protein, 7 gm carbs, but compared to the higher quality proteins, it seems thinner and doesn't fare well as a meal replacement. And I've used Cellucor 120 cal, 25 gm protein, 3 gm carbs. I prefer the Pro5 overall.

shanniem1

I use Biosteel whey in chocolate
Isofemme in creamy vanilla sky
And I use Vega protein in my protein bakes and things I'm adding other flavours to