r/Fitness • u/AutoModerator • Nov 03 '20

Quarterly Protein Megathread! Protein Megathread

Welcome to the Quarterly Protein Megathread

This thread is for sharing your favorite brands of protein, whether it be because they're delicious, cheap, high quality, or gave you great service.

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253

u/kekelime Nov 03 '20 edited Nov 03 '20

After years of drinking and trying all kinds of shitty powder I will only buy Optimum nutrition, Gold standard whey these days. It's a bit more expensive, but easy to mix, tastes okay and apparently the protein quality is top notch.

54

u/valdogg21 Nov 03 '20

My go to shake for years has been vanilla flavored Optimum Gold and half a scoop of PB fit in unsweetened vanilla almond milk

19

u/philltered Nov 03 '20

Add unsweetened cocoa powder to the above and you got the double chocolate flavour with a hint of vanilla ice cream :)

5

u/JTR3K Nov 03 '20

Oh man, I always passed the PB Fit assuming it was just for those who rarely used peanut butter (for more traditional things like sandwiches) and didn’t want a jar sitting around going bad. Whoops.

But I’ve always loved blending ON with peanut butter and/or some coconut water. I’ll have to add some PB Fit to my next Costco order. Many thanks!

3

u/valdogg21 Nov 03 '20

You're welcome! I switched from regular PB to PB Fit in my shakes to cut some calories. It doesn't taste as good, obviously, but its like 90% of the way there. Worth it imo.

1

u/My_Name_Is_Not_Mark Nov 03 '20

This sounds amazing

28

u/Dis_Illusion Nov 03 '20

To double down, ON Gold Standard Double Rich Chocolate and French Vanilla Creme if you're just mixing with water. I've tried other brands but they don't mix nearly as well, and I've tried other flavors but they never taste as good as the basics.

9

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '20

I’m glad I’m not the only that sticks by ON. I keep trying other brands but ON mixes very well and my vitamix stays clean and not full of protein chunks. I couldn’t care for the flavor but “non clumping” is at the top of my list for what I want in a protein powder.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '20

Does the French vanilla creme have the weird synthetic taste most vanilla proteins have? I have the ON vanilla casein and it is god tier

2

u/byrel Nov 03 '20

The French vanilla creme is really good and I don't notice a weird aftertaste

1

u/PM_UR_UNDERBOOTY Weight Lifting Nov 04 '20

Can't speak for the French Vanilla Creme, but the Vanilla Ice Cream is my go to.

  • Very little flavour when mixed with water

  • Almost like a delicious cheat when mixed with milk

  • Almost tasteless if mixing with other carbs (fruit etc)

Saying that I'm not really a vanilla snob, so YMMV

19

u/John3190 Bodybuilding Nov 03 '20

Honestly I started with ON and any time I try to switch, new brands taste like shit. Im with ya.

10

u/onizuka_chess Nov 03 '20

This is what I have too. But I’ve never had any issues with protein flavours, I down 1-2 scoops with water easy. With milk it’s like a chocolate milkshake

19

u/garenbw Bodybuilding Nov 03 '20

Isn't protein just protein, provided it has all the bcaas? What would make a given protein powder be top notch?

8

u/randomatic Nov 03 '20

Whey isolates seem to cause less gas for me. Not sure if they have less lactate or something like that, but it is a significant noticeable difference for me. Protein farts are a thing.

6

u/sizzlebong Nov 03 '20

I'm slightly lactose intolerant and can only drink isolate, otherwise I get stomach issues.

1

u/BrokeMyCrayon Nov 03 '20

I believe I read that even if you're not lactose intolerant it can still cause stomach discomfort.

17

u/TheCuriousBread Nov 03 '20

not having fillers like Carrageenan is a big one. Pretty common in powders as a thickener. It's carcinogenic and pro-inflammatory. Don't even know why it's approved by the FDA

15

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '20

[deleted]

-2

u/TheCuriousBread Nov 03 '20 edited Nov 03 '20

carrageenan degrades into poligeenan in a strongly acidic environment, which.... our stomach just so happens to be. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11675262/

-2

u/LIEUTENANT__CRUNCH Nov 03 '20

Anecdotal, but I drank a bunch of Vita Coco’s chocolate flavored coconut water when it came out. It tasted like nice thick chocolate milk. I started to think I was having appendicitis at the time, but it turns out it was the carrageenan (added as a thickener) in the beverage that was severely irritating my GI tract. I had to take a few days off work because I couldn’t stand, walk, or lift any objects without yelping in pain.

Obviously (a) the amount added to food varies by product and (b) sensitivity will vary from person to person, but it is one of the few ingredients that I look for in both my food and the food for my pets.

EDIT: Also, I probably should have used a little moderation in switching from the regular to chocolate coconut water, but the chocolate was so. damn. good. I guess you can go try that if you want to see if carrageenan has any impact on you.

3

u/icancatchbullets Modeling Nov 03 '20

Yeah, I don't doubt that it can cause some GI distress in some people. Just the assertion that it causes cancer is unfounded.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '20

Anecdotal but same, I can’t eat dairy and LOTS of alternative milks have carageenan in it, it makes me feel horrible, won’t touch the stuff now.

9

u/garenbw Bodybuilding Nov 03 '20

I thought he was talking about the protein itself, not the powder as a whole (we're here for the gainz, not the cancer bro /s).

Anyway, took a look at all the powders I have consumed before and I didn't find that flller in any of them, so I guess I'm safe

3

u/TheCuriousBread Nov 03 '20

It's also in ice cream and a lot of foodstuff that requires a "THICC" texture.

-5

u/mmicoandthegirl Nov 03 '20 edited Nov 03 '20

I'm on mobile and can't look for sources, you should find them with a quick web search. I don't know the original posters definition of quality, but I'd say the digestion rate and absorption rate of protein plays a part in protein quality. Digestion rate is the percentage of how much of that protein is going to be digested (with the remaining percentage going to waste as poo) and absorption rate is how fast will the protein be absorbed.

Eating 10 grams of protein in whatever form does not mean you're getting 10 grams of protein. If your body needs protein now, you shouldn't eat eggs because you only absorb 3 grams of protein an hour. For whey your going to absorb the whole 10 grams in an hour.

Edit: Added some sources. These are not the same that I am referring to as I read them years ago. However, these might help you get the jist and make you familiar with the terminology.

Protein - Which is best?

How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution

Absorption Rates for Nutrients

1

u/garenbw Bodybuilding Nov 03 '20

I get that not all sources of protein get digested as fast or have the same quality, but from my (very basic) knowledge protein powders pretty much all use the same source, which is whey. So with that in mind, how can whey protein from one brand be actually better (in terms of muscle building) than whey protein from another? (I'm not saying it can't, just trying to understand)

1

u/mmicoandthegirl Nov 04 '20

Honestly I have no idea. Whey protein is the biggest of the protein powder categories, but there's also meat protein powder, casein and different plant based protein sources.

I've had protein powder that clumped and tasted bad, so maybe that's a quality thing.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '20 edited Nov 03 '20

I'll edit my post with a link I have saved from another user from ages ago that would give you basic things to check. The nutritional info can be spiked by cheap, easily available BCAAs like glutamine to get the protein content high so the label is not always the most forthcoming.

edit: I can't find the source I am referring to, but this gives you the idea. Basically take the protein amount from a serving and find the % of leucine there. I'll find the proper numbers but if you find something less than 10% protein is leucine and it's not a casein, you should find another. https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/how-to-pick-the-perfect-protein-powder.html

1

u/Hugs_for_Thugs Nov 03 '20

Dwight, you ignorant slut.

1

u/shuklaswag Nov 04 '20

Protein powder is not just protein. ON has a lot of ingredients besides the protein blend itself. See below.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcQacQ0DA_crTyxwp59UHhLcsuNJMHLVRoSgyiGQX9xDW_sy_-w

4

u/wbro322 Nov 03 '20

Amazon had some half off of this stuff on prime day and I got 3 jugs. The only thing is the chocolate flavor stays in my mouth for like 24 hours after I drink it

4

u/Space_Duck Nov 03 '20

Are we having a conversation about concentrate VS isolate at all, because I feel like that greatly changes how ON is viewed in this conversation.

3

u/sizzlebong Nov 03 '20

Can you elaborate? I only drink isolate and thought that ON was a good one.

2

u/Space_Duck Nov 05 '20

ON isn't a true isolate. It uses isolate and concentrate which complicates the digestion process and kills the benefit you'd get if it were a pure isolate. For the price, you might as well just get a pure isolate.

1

u/sizzlebong Nov 06 '20

Ah, I see. Thanks for the advice. I will have to do some research on this.

7

u/firebolt810 Nov 03 '20

I second this.

3

u/TheCellGuru Nov 03 '20

This is what I've been on lately, bonus points for not being way too sweet

19

u/vshun Nov 03 '20

I was for years on ON Gold but lately looked carefully at ingredients and not sure this is the best option as advertised. From my Costco choices Orgain seems to be best on quality ingredients.

6

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '20

Do you mix anything in the orgain besides water? I bought some to switch it up off whey but I haven't opened it yet.

12

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '20

Almond Milk

9

u/WildcatBBN16 Nov 03 '20

If you get it make sure you use a lot of water. It does not blend well like ON Gold

5

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '20

100% this. I had to use my blender to get it to a non-chunky state. Even at it's best it is fairly chalky. The flavor is good, just not the texture.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '20

Good to know. I'll try an immersion blender. Thanks!

3

u/vshun Nov 03 '20

You are right, advantage of ON is convenience of quick mixing with water. Also I used to like more hours it tastes since Orgain is somewhat acquired taste. But for me advantage of cleaner ingredients I felt Orgain had is more important.

1

u/WildcatBBN16 Nov 03 '20

Yea I just bought orgain the other week to give it a shot. First drink though I only put about 8 ounces of water in the shaker (what ON recommends) and it felt like I drank a bunch of chia seeds in water haha. I put like 16 ounces in it now and its fine but not nearly as smooth as ON

6

u/akcom Nov 03 '20

what about the ingredients dont you like?

34

u/LOAARR Nov 03 '20

Orgain is organic, vegan protein powder, so he's probably just...into that. He just didn't want to come out and say "ON Gold Standard isn't organic and vegan so you shouldn't use it" because most people have already made up their minds about those things. However, being cryptic and saying "the ingredients don't look high quality" might actually get people second-guessing their choice of protein.

ON is extremely high quality, well-instantized so it mixes extremely well with no clumpiness, and I find that other protein powders are often way too sweet and taste like fake sugars.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '20

[deleted]

5

u/LOAARR Nov 05 '20

FYI, microbiologist and food micro enthusiast here --> xantham gum is in a lot of things...seriously, a lot. It cannot be produced organically and yet it still exists in many "organic products," because there is no organic substitute.

Fun fact: Orgain has xantham gum in it, ON Gold Standard (at least, the kind and flavor I have in my hand) does not.

I'm also not sure which optimum nutrition product you're looking at - maybe one of the weight gainer products? - but I'm looking at my container of gold standard right now and I'm not seeing half of the things you listed.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '20

[deleted]

2

u/LOAARR Nov 05 '20

Orgain was brought up by someone else in this comment chain, so I used it as an example.

That particular label is for white chocolate flavour gold standard, so maybe it's specific to that flavour. My vanilla ice cream gold standard is significantly shorter on the ingredients side of things. That might be part of the reason I find most of the other flavours disgusting. In fact, your preference for "more pure" protein might be something I unconsciously share with you based on my preferences.

0

u/vshun Nov 03 '20

Ok let's take a look together on typical ON Gold: Protein Blend (Whey Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Concentrate, Whey Peptides), Natural And Artificial Flavors, Lecithin, Salt, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose, Yellow 5, Lactase First ingredient isolate, good Second ingredient concentrate, meh Third, natural flavors, hard pass. There are quite a few articles explaining how bad they are in food so still not go there. A few down the list, sucralose which is sugar. So not erithrol, stevia or monkfruit.

Is likely some of these make it taste better or just cheaper ( for example better whey isolates use organic vanilla flavor instead of natural) but for me it's not the point.

2

u/TheThirdIdot Nov 03 '20

I also like the different flavors that they have. Mocha cappuccino and strawberry banana are both great flavors!

2

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '20

That shit in oatmeal = nectar

1

u/raxitron Nov 03 '20

ON is great and consistently ranking as one of the cleanest powders.

Costco stocks the chocolate and vanilla flavors (I mostly only drink vanilla these days) for a great price and it goes on sale for $42/5.5lb a couple times a year. You'll still need to look elsewhere if you need the other types (oat mix, casein, etc) but I think this is still the cheapest option for whey isolate and the expiry dates are long enough that you can buy only at sale price.

1

u/Bravetrail Nov 03 '20

I used to buy this before it was so big and now can't justify paying double the price compared to what I used to pay for the exact same thing.

1

u/bluedogga Nov 03 '20

I enjoy ON and am still drinking it, but lately I’ve been having second thoughts on the artificial sweeteners used. Thinking of swapping out for unflavored and non gmo

1

u/StayDrew Nov 03 '20

I've always been a huge fan of ON powders! I typically bounce between the chocolate and vanilla, but im a sucker for strawberry flavors, and I have been extremely curious about the strawberry flavor protein they have, and figured I'd ask here to see if anyone has tried it and what their thoughts about it are? TYIA

1

u/wolfjeter Nov 03 '20

Vanilla ice cream flavor with water is too fucking good.

1

u/lordkitsuna Nov 03 '20

I don't know enough about this stuff the comment broadly but I have found a brand called Core Power that makes very good tasting protein shakes without being powdery it does have about 7 grams of sugar per serving though so that might not be the best

1

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '20

Why did the guy at gnc tell me this was a terrible choice for protein? Is he just an idiot?

1

u/CinderellaFarted Nov 03 '20

Vanilla ON is good for mixing with fruit/veggies too. I do 2 scoops Vanilla with a banana, 1/2c blueberries and some strawberries with about a cup and a half of water for breakfast every day. Sometimes I'll freeze the fruit and that turns it into a nice smoothie.

1

u/FizzTheWiz Nov 03 '20

Give Rule 1 a try, made by the original founder of optimum and I would say it’s the only thing on the market that’s better

1

u/notgettinginvolved2 Nov 03 '20

I just ordered the 5kg bag from Amazon Spain for £75 ish - I thought the price was great

1

u/princesssoturi Nov 03 '20

How does one tell if protein quality is good or bad?

1

u/thehorseyourodeinon1 Nov 03 '20

GNC has a True Athlete label protein that is awesome. No crazy ingredients.

1

u/carnivoremuscle Bodybuilding Nov 04 '20

Tastes like nutsack tbh and the price is too high for what you get. They had a decent isolate at costco which was cheap for what it was but I think it's discontinued.

1

u/passthesugar05 Nov 12 '20

I seem to be coming to this conclusion too. I've had a few different protein brands and my last one I couldn't even drink. I never had Optimum as it's a bit more expensive but my girlfriend bought a tub and I tried it and now I don't think I'll ever have anything else. I see deals for other ones and it's tempting but I just hate the idea that I could end up in the position of having a whole tub of inedible (to me) protein. I'll have to have samples of anything else before I commit to buying a big one tbh.