Protein

Hi and wecome!

I use Raw Meal from Garden of Life since I'm allergic to whey/soy proteins. I was using Vega that I really liked, but needed more protein.

Raw Meal hooks me up with soooo many vitamins and nutrients, whilst adding 33 grams of protein~

Best of luck to you!!

I'm on my second tub of LG Sciences Lipotropic Protein. It has a great amino profile, ECGC from green tea, and the price is pretty hard to beat!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/legal/lipotropic.html

Generally different brands of protein offer very little else except for the sticker on the bottle that's different. The crucial thing to notice is if the protein is cold filtered or not - so that the whey protein is in its natural more preserved state towards the end. Most protein companies do not manufacture their own protein they generally provide the recipe they want to a third party manufacturer and bottler. This tends to drive up the cost of protein, if you are considering a whey protein I would recommend higher power whey isolate from www.bodybuilding.com. Since this is owned by the website there is no middle man cost associated with the product.

With that said it's important to remember that supplements should always be viewed as food. Nothing more nothing less - whey protein provides an easy conduit to a highly bio available protein source in a convenient form with considerably lower total calories than its equivalent in chicken, beef or other traditional forms of food.

With those ideas in mind - as long as the protein source has a high BV (grams of protein per serving / grams of total serving) the protein will suffice. Ideally with whey protein a BV of 80% or greater is good. That would mean if a serving scoop is a 30 gram serving, if there is 24 to 27 grams is perfect! Whey protein also has ALL the essential amino acids that your body requires by comparison vegan and soy proteins do not. The difference between essential and non essential aminos is simple - essential aminos cannot be naturally made by the body and must be acquired through external sources. It is also important to note that amino acids are the building blocks of the body - they form proteins that constitute muscle tissue. But please do not go overboard with protein intake inspite of what the magazines say you DO NOT need 1 gram per lb body weight of protein. The body can only absorb so much beyond which is excreted in urine. The most important aspect is providing an external stimulus to the body that will force the body to elicit an adaptive response in the form of hypertrophy, fat loss etc. It's like getting a sun tan, once you expose yourself to intense sun light for a brief period your body does the rest if allowed sufficient rest.

With regards to flavor I tend to prefer strawberry or fruit flavors. I have a healthmaster blender so a fruit flavored protein complements fruit smoothies that I make.