I understand that whey protein supplements come in various formulations with as little as 30% whey protein content to as much as 90% for the isolate formula. I guess much of this dictates the wild price swings for various brands.
I’m looking for the best bang for the buck and the least amount of sugars in the mix. I’d actually prefer no sugars of any kind at all but most manufacturers like to add all kinds of flavouring and sweeteners.
Any recommendations?
Follow up: How does Accelerade stack up against the more dense brands?
Accelerade rocks, but it’s not a protein supplement. It’s first and foremost a sports drink based upon sucrose with a good amount of protein added to help counteract th muscle degredation that occurrs during exercise. Apparently a full 15-20% of your energy in aerobic exercise comes from proteolysis, so it’s useful in endurance sports like cycling to help avoid muscle break down. I’m a huge fan, but it’s 4 parts sugar, 1 part protein.
Does eating one-hundred and one grams of pure, 100% whey protein isolate 5 minutes after your workout actually help? I doubt it. What’s wrong with a little bit of carbohydrate to help restock your glycogen stores right after you work out?
Nothing wrong with a little carbs and sugar but it seems like everything that is in the sport supplement genre is full of sugars.
Also, I’m trying to get cut and lean and it’s not coming. Plus, it feels like I’ve hit the wall because I can’t seem to push myself past about 80% of what I was doing this spring. Either that or I’m just topped out and I’m not making progress. Either way, my muscle recovery rate sucks lately.
I’m just looking for a non-caffein aided energy boost.
I don’t know where you’re located and I’m not exactly the expert, but I found that Trader Joe’s has the best prices on this stuff (to the limited extent that I have explored it). They have a house brand and they carry Designer Whey Protein. From shopping around on the latter I know it is at least 20% cheaper than at Whole Foods or larger grocery stores that carry that product. Their store brand is even cheaper, but I don’t know if its low sugar or what.
It has 2g carbs & 17g protein per scoop, with about 3 scoops making an 8 oz glass of choco protein goo.
The Accelerade formula is based on the principles researched by John Ivy (he’s a professor here at UT) in Nutrient Timing: The Future of Sports Nutrition. If you’re interested in a recovery formula and not just a way to increase your protein intake, you might find it interesting.
I went to GNC last Friday and got some GNC Pro Performance. In a 31g scoop there’s 20g of protein and 2g of sugar. It tastes good with skim milk also. I got a 6 pound tub for $29.99. I am pleased with my purchase.
Go with Optimum Nutrition’s 100% Whey. I’ve been using it for 4 years. 23g protein, 3g carbs, 1.5g fat per serving. Good and cheap (30USD or so for 5lbs).
It’s pretty much a consensus in the bodybuilding world that you’re supposed to take both to take advantage of the extra insulin. (Cite - run a Pubmed search for the stuff in the bibliography). I go with 50g whey, 25g casein, 40g dextrose.
There was also a study a while ago about having half your shake before the workout and the other half after, but I can’t seem to find it.
That’s definately one I earmarked. Seemed good on paper. Low in added sugars too.
My worry is that it’ll bulk me. I put on muscle fast under ordinary circumstances. I’m trying to get lean and cut and doing predominantly cardio and endurance work. Weights are once a week thing just to maintain.
So is bulking up a worry with these kinds of supplements?
I get all my protein from them. Their whey protein blends have 2g carbs per serving and their whey protein isolate has 1g per serving. They are also very affordable at about $23 and $36 respectively for 5 lbs of blend & isolate.
As for flavors the best are chocolate, chocolate mint, strawberry & orange. Banana is somewhat bad. Vanilla and natural taste like crap.
This is what my mom uses, though she just wants the protein, not being into bodybuilding the way she used to. My cousin who is into body building uses it as well, though he also follows a specific diet along with the supplement.
We did a lot of research, trying to get as much protein as possible without the stuff being disgusting and loaded with carbs. There’s some liquid stuff out there without a speck of carbs and it is the most vile tasting substance I’ve ever had the misfortune to test. There’s a website,The Vitamin Lady , that has a lot of different protein formulas. It looks like they don’t carry quite as many as they used to, but there’s still a good range.
My nutitionist friend (doctor, not health ‘guru’) insists your body can’t handle more than about thirty grams of protein at a time. Loading up on more than that is basically a waste.
Actually, I like the vanilla. Plain is awful, I agree.
Chocolate mint and chocolate are both pretty good. Haven’t tried the others.
True Protein is also pretty decent. Make sure you get it with the BSL flavoring if you do order it, though. About the same nutrition profile as Allthewhey–25g protein per scoop, few carbs.
Next time she says that, I’d call bullshit and ask for a cite.
I mean, just on an evolutionary standpoint alone, why it would it make sense to have that sort of digestive limit? I can’t imagine any sort of evolutionary advantage to being forced to eat your kill one mouthful every other hour.
I disagree. You’ve posted a link to a website of a guy trying to sell you expensive protein supplements and convince you to down 100 grams of them at one sitting. It seems to me that a much more reasonable approach would simply be to eat that amount spread out over multiple sittings a couple of hours apart. His cite from 20 years ago on the matter doesn’t show up in PubMed, but his more recent cite, 1991, suggests that this excessive protein intake will just lead to more protein oxidation; i.e. you’re body will use it as fuel rather than Legos. Of course, those are the last cites that he uses and later dismisses this idea without citation or evidence.
Count me as still not understanding why the protein supplementation has to be 100 grams, all at once, five minutes after you work out, with no more than a gram of carbohydrate. It just seems more reasonable to me to eat something like 30 grams of protein combined with whatever makes it the most palatable and part of your regular diet.
Immediately post-workout, protein and carbohydrate absorption work differently from the way they do at other times–basically, muscles are a lot more insulin-sensitive than they are at other times. So you want protein and sugar that will digest and be absorbed quickly.
For immediately post-workout, you want one of the various recovery drinks. My guess is that they’re pretty much all the same. I like Biotest Surge, cause it tastes really good and costs $21 for ten servings.
For other times of day, you don’t want a pure whey supplement because whey digests too quickly for most of it to be absorbed. If you must have a protein powder, look for a whey/casein blend. If you’re open to actual food, cottage cheese is a fantastic source of the same proteins. I like Biotest’s protein powder, which will run you $23 for 3 lbs. (and compared to other whey/casein blends, that’s a steal) and tastes good enough that you can mix it with water and serve it for dessert.
Unfortunately, both of those products are only available through their website. I’m not associated with the company in any way; I just really like their stuff.
I use Grow. You get 3lbs. for $23. The low carb version is okay, but the Classic formula is delicious.
I started using it to bulk up my freakishly thin arms. But now I use it, because I’m not a big eater, and I need the protein.
