Whey Protein Flavor Ratings

ardbeg
on 8/19/07 9:34 am - AL

Ratings Table: Designer, EAS, Elite, IDS, Isopure, ON Ratings Table: SciFit, SciTech, Syntrax

A while back I ordered 70 1-ounce samples of whey protein powders. I finally finished them all, and compiled a table rating all of them (plus a few others I’ve tried). I gave each a score for first taste, aftertaste (some taste better or worse after a few seconds), staying power (how the first sip compared to the last, also my estimation of how likely one would be to get tired of this flavor before the tub was finished), and mixability (all powders mixed in the same shaker, with water and an ice cube). The resultant scores are like grades; that is, a 5.9 or less is failing, and a 6.9 is about a D – not exactly a passing score. Links to the entire ratings tables on my OH profile are included at the top and bottom of this post.

Here are some winners.

Best overall brand: Syntrax, Optimum Nutrition. Both make great products, Syntrax wins for variety of good flavors, ON is the better value.

Best vanilla: EAS, Syntrax. Both are quite versatile, EAS gets the nod for value. EAS vanilla in my morning coffee has become by protein drink of choice. So far, it still seems to pack the same flavor as a Starbucks with cream, vanilla syrup, and sugar, and it’s far better than most protein drink flavors by themselves.

Best chocolate: Optimum Nutrition Chocolate or Chocolate Mint. Both do well with this flavor standby.

Best fruit: Syntrax Nectars—particularly Fuzzy Navel, Apple Ecstacy, and Roadside Lemonaid—are all fantastic, and provide a great alternative to those tired of the standard milky whey shakes. I just wish the price was better.

Best of the rest: Can’t really recommend most of the other flavors. Some are OK, but you’d almost invariably be better off buying a standard chocolate or vanilla and adding your own ingredients; this would usually give you better flavor, not to mention more flexibility when you get tired of cinnamon, banana, strawberries, whatever. Possible exceptions include Syntrax Matrix Cookies & Cream and Elite Whey Café Mocha, which are both tasty and reasonably priced.

Ratings Table: Designer, EAS, Elite, IDS, Isopure, ON Ratings Table: SciFit, SciTech, Syntrax

NotDave (Howyadoin?)
on 8/19/07 10:59 am - Japan

RNY on 03/16/06

Hi Ard,

Great info, also had a question, not about flavor or value, rather about content. Wondering if you know...

Isopure seems to be loaded with vitamins and minerals. Just wondering if these actually *need* to be mixed in with protein or if just taking vitamins will do it?

The NO Explode company makes a rather expensive protein that contains protein digesting Enzymes and Glutamine components + really high BCAA's - any info on whether these help?

I also quit Isopure for a protein called Cytosport, because unlike Isopure, part of its protein is "hydrolized" or "pre-digested". Any word on whether this makes a difference?

Thanks!

Dave

ardbeg
on 8/19/07 4:14 pm - AL

RNY on 01/23/11

I got to be honest, I don't really worry about the vitamins in my protein. I figure I'm being monitored carefully for that sort of stuff and taking vitamins every day. Plus Murphey's Law says I'm going to spend extra for vitamins in my protein only to find out they are in a form I can't absorb (or that I need that vitamin sublingual, etc.). Vitamin pills must fix labs, or doctors wouldn't keep giving them too us. Having them in food sources might marginally improve absorption (for some vitamins, hinder for others maybe), but I just try to take them "with food" to slow things down a bit. I think the digesting enzymes are bunk. If this were beef gristle or even soy protein maybe. But whey protein is already one of the most bioavailable forms there is. We suck it up like a sponge. I don't need to pay extra for predigestion. As for extra glutamine and BCAAs, as you and I've discussed before, I bought both. Right after surgery, when I couldn't get much protein, I think the free amino acids helped me recover quickly. Research supports this theory. But a scoop of good whey already has about 5 grams each of glutamine and BCAAs naturally. How much are they adding, and how much am I paying for that? If I'm paying double, maybe I should have just had a double of the cheap stuff instead, and then I'd get all the other essential aminos as well? I'm sure the taste is affecting my judgment, but I've sworn off free BCAAs once my current kilo runs out (if that ever happens). A doctor friend of mine, a health nut/runner but not a big weight lifter, made an interesting point that I found compelling. He said if he were eating 50 grams a day of protein, he'd be very concerned about amino acid profile and quality of the protein. But he said at his estimated 175 gram intake, he figures the body will sort it out and get what it needs. After the body gets the gram or so of leucine it needs, there's no guarantee that the next gram will be used in the same way or to enhance any particular process. It might theoretically enhance some processes, but it also might just be burned for energy or converted by the body into another nonessential amino acid that it needs at the time (that could have been derived from any amino acid). (I'd hate to know that the dollar's worth of BCAAs I just ate was using for nothing more than 28 calories.) His overall thesis was that while quality is important, at the levels that an athlete should be taking, quantity overwhelms quality (or, in effect creates it by piecemeal). My current thinking is that the case for paying substantially more for free amino acids is even weaker in the case of someone like you, who probably has room in his calorie bank for the extra scoop of whey. If you are trying to get buying on <100 grams of protein, the argument for free amino acids may be stronger.