Back when I was in college, I used to consume protein drinks frequently. I eventually got sick of them and stopped.
Recently, I have been back into having them again. For this post, I will be discussing three different protein drink options I have been consuming and give my reviews on them.
Why do people have protein drinks?
There are a variety of reasons as to why people may turn to protein drinks. Here are the ones that are usually cited:
- Muscle/tissue recovery- Some people drink protein shakes after their tough workouts because they think that it will help them recover better.
- Trying for more protein- Some people just want to get more protein into their diet. This is another way to do so.
- Just a snack- Protein drinks can serve as a snack for some. They may find it more filling than other snacks (i.e. crackers).
- Weight gain- Protein drinks can be used to provide extra nourishment and calories to one’s daily diet. This in turn could result in weight gain if that is what a person is going for.
- Weight loss- Protein drinks can be used to lose weight. One can replace higher calorie meals with a filling protein drink that is lower in calories.
- Ease and convenience- If one has a busy life, a protein drink can be an easy choice for a meal or snack. You can just sip while you work or are driving somewhere.
There are different types of protein
These days you can find several ready-made protein drinks and protein powders that are of different types of protein. The good thing about this is that there are some options for people depending on their diet needs/type and how their bodies process them.
Here are the types of protein you may see in drinks and can buy as powders:
- Whey protein concentrate, isolate and hydrolysate- These are the most common ones you see on the market. The differences between them include protein percentage, fat content, lactose content, nutrient content, taste, price and absorption rate.
- Pea protein- This protein is taken from yellow peas. Because of this, it is vegan.
- Casein protein- This comes from dairy like whey does. The difference is that it digests much slower.
- Egg white protein- The protein comes from egg whites. It is a good option for people who have dairy intolerances or allergies.
- Collagen protein- Collagen is produced naturally by our bodies. It has a high amount of amino acids in it, among other things.
- Rice protein- This is taken from rice and is good for vegetarians and vegans.
- Hemp protein- This type of protein powder comes from the grinding of hemp seeds. It is good for vegetarians and vegans.
If you are interested in drinking protein drinks or using powders- do your research on which type of protein may be good for you.
Also, be aware of the fact that consuming protein powders can sometimes cause negative side effects. These include GI issues, acne and headaches. This mostly happens when one consumes too much but it can also occur if one’s body just doesn’t react well to it.
The three protein drink options
Time to discuss!
Premiere Protein shakes are one of several ready-made drink options on the market. The brand has drinks that are “Clear” (not creamy and have lower calories) and ones that have oats in them along with their regular shakes. This will just focus on their regular shakes in the 11.5 ounce bottles.
The 11.5 ounce bottles of Premier Protein’s regular shakes come in nine different flavors and have whey concentrate as the type of protein. The nutrient profile for the whole bottle (chocolate flavor) is as follows:
- 30 grams of protein
- 24 vitamins and minerals
- 1 gram of sugar
- 5 grams of carbs
- 160 calories
- 3 grams of fat
- 20 mg of cholesterol
- 180 mg of sodium
- Amino acids
There are some ingredients that are considered “bad” by some people. These include acesulfame potassium, artificial flavoring, sucralose and other processed ingredients.
These shakes are said to be keto and low carb friendly. They can also be put in iced coffee, baking recipes, cereal, oatmeal and smoothies.
The price for these 11.5 ounce shakes ranges from $18-$25 for packs of 12.
Muscle Milk is a very well known brand that has four different types of protein shakes. This will focus on their Pro Series shakes.
The Pro Series shakes come in four different flavors and either 11 ounce cartons or 14 ounce bottles. They have whey isolate as the protein type in them. The nutrient profile for an 11 ounce carton (Knockout Chocolate flavor) is as follows:
- 32 grams of carbs
- 20 vitamins and minerals
- 1 gram of sugar
- 7 grams of carbs
- 160 calories
- 2 grams of fat
- 20 mg of cholesterol
- 230 mg of sodium
- Amino acids
There are some ingredients that are considered “bad” by some people. These include acesulfame potassium, artificial flavoring, sucralose and other processed ingredients.
The Pro Series shakes can be low carb friendly. They can be used in iced coffee, cereal, oatmeal, smoothies and baked recipes.
The price for a 12 pack of the 11 ounce Pro Series cartons is around $20.
Whey isolate powder from Bulk Supplements–
Bulk Supplements is a well known and popular supplement brand. They have an immense number of powders that they sell.
Whey protein isolate is one of the products. It is sold without any flavor added to it. The only other ingredient aside from the protein is sunflower lecithin. On their website, they offer this product in varying sizes from 100 grams to 20 kilograms.
The nutrient profile for one serving(4 tbsp) of the powder is as follows:
- 26 grams of protein
- Small amounts of calcium and potassium
- 0 grams of sugar
- 0 grams of carbs
- 110 calories
- Less than 1 gram of fat
- 16 mg of cholesterol
- 55 mg of sodum
- Lots of amino acids
There are no ingredients that are considered “bad” by some people. It is also keto and low carb friendly. This powder can be put in milk, water, smoothies, oatmeal, cereal, baking recipes and iced coffee.
The prices on the Bulk Supplement website for this powder range from $14-$544.
My reviews of the three
Premier Protein shakes-
I have had their regular shakes in the chocolate flavor. It is really good! Not too sweet with no aftertaste. I found it really satisfying as an easy snack.
They are not the cheapest on Amazon but my Sam’s Club has them for a little less.
Muscle Milk Pro Series-
I have had these shakes in the Knockout Chocolate and vanilla flavor. The Knockout Chocolate was delicious and smooth. Vanilla on the other hand started out delicious but then left a sort of metallic aftertaste that I didn’t appreciate.
The chocolate one did make a good snack-just like the Premier Protein ones did. I also really enjoyed the it in an iced caramel coffee I had one morning.
Bulk Supplements whey isolate protein powder-
My husband bought a huge bag of this powder because he really likes using it. I loved the fact that it was flavorless and only had two ingredients in it. This made me interested in trying it because it can be used in a lot of different things.
For a drink, my husband and I made the following recipe:
Ingredients-
- 4 tbsp of the powder
- 1.5 tsps of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup of milk (we used 1%)
- Put the protein powder and cocoa powder together in a bowl. Mix until it is well combined.
- Pour the powder mix into the milk and whisk together until clumps are gone.
- Add sweetener to taste. We used sucralose but we know how some people feel about that so use whatever you want.
This homemade drink was absolutely delicious. It tasted like really smooth chocolate milk and was filling too. We loved it so much that we bought some long term storage bags with oxygen absorbers and made large batches of the protein drink mix.
This protein powder from Bulk Supplements is my favorite of the three for protein drink options. While I like the other two, I will not be buying them again since I now have a perfectly tasty and filling drink available all the time at home.
Protein drinks can be a great choice
You don’t have to be some sort of hardcore bodybuilder to consume protein drinks. There are more reasons than that as to why they may be a good choice once in a while (or regularly).
The three drink options I discussed are all excellent and I recommend them. Remember though that there are so many other ones on the market. Do some looking around if you are interested in trying some protein drinks.
Do any of you like protein drinks? If so, which kinds?
Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: Some of the links on my blog may be affiliate links. This means that if you click and purchase anything, I may get some money from it.
#wheyprotein #protein #MuscleMilk #PremierProtein #BulkSupplements #diet #health #fitness #lowcarb #keto
conqueringthislife.com 