Review of plant based Vega products

Due to lactose intolerance and other complications I went to "Nutters" our local health food store and they helped me find Vega products which are plant based.  This morning I tried one of their bars for breakfast.  The flavour I tried was Chocolate Coconut.  I could only eat 2/3 rds of it as it was so sweet.

It tasted okay but considering that I could only get in 2/3 rds, I only got 10g of protein and I can do that with a 90 cal greek yogurt. Plus it has 28g of Carbs!  So I consider that a nutritional supplement fail for bariatric patients. :(

Next I tried the Vega Protein Smoothie. It says to add to cold water and shake.  First of all it is the colour of, I don't know how to discribe it...some shade between oatmeal and dirt.  I tried it with just the water and vigorous shaking as suggested and it was very chalky and not very tasty.  I could have choked it down but it kind of reminded me of Metamucil.  I then added a cup of 100% Juice (Cranberry, Raspberry & Pomegranate flavour) to it and put it in my magic bullet.  It actually became much more palatable after that and a lot of the grit is gone.  I put it in the fridge because by this time it was warm and I'm suspecting it's one of those things you want to be cold.  I'm tolerating cold better lately so I'll give it a go soon.  I do like that it claims to have two serving of veggies (something I'm worried I'm not getting at all some days), it's only 4g of carbs, 80 cals and even though it's only 15g of protein (not as high as some you can get).  If I can get it down it's giving me liquid, protein and veggies all in 2 cups. Which is better than I have been accomplishing since my surgery and it's complications.  

Right now I will call this a bariatric success for those of us with lactose intolerance...especially if you are in the liquid/ pureed phase.  

I hope this helps.  Later I'm trying adding hemp hearts to my greek yogurt to up the protein...wish me luck! I feel like a test rat these days.

My husband started out lactose intolerant, but now any part of milk (casein, etc) gives him troubles.  If you're not a vegan person, you might look into egg white-based protein drinks.  I use one called Muscle Egg that comes in gallon jugs.  8oz has 25g of protein and I use it as breakfast mixed with almond milk.  It's not gritty or slimy and they have several different flavors.  I've also seen JD Robb-branded powder mixes in vitamin stores, but I haven't tried those out so I can't speak to them.

Jen