I’ve transformed my body from a fat, pack a day cigarette smoker to a 6 days a week, work my ass off, wannabe bodybuilder. To get where I am today, I had to pack on lean muscle. What do you do to pack on lean muscle? Lift heavy shit and get your protein in. What’s the easiest way to get protein in? Whey protein shakes.
Unless a friend recommends a flavour or you sample it beforehand, trying a new protein powder is taking a risk for your tastebuds. I can’t count how man times I’ve tried a new whey protein powder flavour and it tastes like literal garbage. Orange creamsicle? You’re better off licking the sidewalk. You think plain old vanilla is any better?
Unless it’s naturally flavoured, the stevia taste is going to sit at the back of your tongue for the rest of the week.
I’ve spent over $2500 on protein powders over my fitness career trying to find the ones that taste the best that I can actually stomach. Trust me, this is harder than you think. If you’re going to drink something twice a day you might as well enjoy it, right?
Alright enough jibber jabber, here are the BEST tasting protein powders available right now.
Muscle Pharm Combat Protein Powder Cookies and Cream
Vanilla is usually a pretty safe protein powder choice, as is chocolate. But if you’re thinking cookies and cream, it can be gamble. Cookies and Cream flavour by Muscle Pharm is so tasty, I’ll drink it over eating chocolate bars. Yes, it’s that good. I’ve made popsicles with this protein powder to curb my sweet tooth. No bad artificial sweetener aftertaste, just creamy cookie taste.
In fact if you actually look at this protein powder, it actually looks like cookies and cream. Yeah that’s right, actually look at it!
If anyone asks me for a recommendation for protein powder, this is my go to choice. Not too sweet and the flavour isn’t overpowering either.
XPI Myotein Protein Powder Creamy Chocolate
Who doesn’t love chocolate? Really, have you ever heard of someone not liking chocolate? For the people that don’t like chocolate, Myotein Creamy Chocolate flavour will make those unbelievers fall in love all over again. Creamy is a good descriptor because goddamn: it’s like silk falling down the back of your throat. This isn’t a protein shake: it’s a milk shake. Yes it tastes that’s good, especially for it being a chocolate flavour. Highly recommended.
What I like to do if I need some extra calories for the day is mix half and half with 2% milk. This results in a much creamier and thicker whey protein shake. If you’d prefer to eat it, mix it with some greek yogurt, mix until blended consistently and pour into popsicle molds.
OPTIMUM NUTRITION Platinum Hydrowhey Protein Powder Turbo Chocolate
Okay you better like chocolate because ON’s Hydrowhey protein powder is on my list of best tasting protein powders (did I mention I like chocolate? Because it’s delicious)
Now this isn’t your normal whey protein, it’s hydrolyzed. What is hydrolized protein powder? To make it short and sweet, the proteins themselves are broken down by using enzymes (think stomach acid) making it easier and simpler to digest. This means less digestive issues, and less upset stomach. Ever chug a big glass of milk and have cramps? Hydrolyzed whey is already broken down so your body will work less breaking down the proteins.
One of the things I haven’t covered extensively is how these proteins powder mix. I’m not sure if it’s due to it being hydrolyzed, but ON’s Hydrolyzed whey protein mixes very easily. No one likes clumps when they’re drinking their protein shake. And the taste? It’s like melting quality chocolate and pour it straight into our mouth. Okay that’s a bit of an exaggeration but it’s still delicious to drink. Not gritty or chalky tasting either.
Pea Protein VS Whey
You’ve probably seen it at your supplement store, tubs and tubs of “green protein”. What is it? Well it’s protein powder made from peas. It’s vegan and lactose friendly, so if you have issues digesting whey then pea protein powders are your answer.
If you’re in the market for a pleasant tasting vegan protein powder, this is the one that I recommend from Vega:
Now I will say that pea proteins do mix differently than whey protein powders so you’ll have to really shake it.
Now the best part (I have to tell you this) about vegan protein is that the shaker cups don’t smell. Have you ever left a shaker cup in your gym bag and found it the next morning? Oh my, it’s like someone died in your shaker cup.
Since it’s dairy free, vegan proteins won’t succumb to the dreaded abandoned shaker cup smell fiasco.
Vegan protein powders can be used in cooking, just like whey protein. Protein powder pancakes are just as delicious too!
Best Tasting Beef Protein
You might have been confused about beef protein.
It comes from cows right, like whey?
Nope! Well sort of. Beef protein powder is made from beef. Since it’s so pure, it’s lactose, sugar and gluten free. It’s also a more concentrated protein than whey protein isolate.
…showed that hard training athletes supplementing with CARNIVOR Beef Protein Isolate (BPI) gained an average of 7.7 pounds of muscle mass, while also increasing strength. Researchers gave test subjects CARNIVOR Beef Protein Isolate daily for 8 weeks while exercising 5 days weekly. Athletes taking CARNIVOR BPI experienced an impressive 6.4% average increase in lean body mass. In contrast, the placebo group did not significantly improve their body mass from baseline.
* Sharp,et al., 2015 ISSN International Conference
Beef protein is also fat free, compared to the Vega Sport powder which has 3g/serving. Not the end of the world but all those calories can add up.
Conclusion
I’m not sure what companies are thinking, or if they have literal monkeys taste testing their protein powder, but it doesn’t take Martha Stewart to tell you your protein powder tastes like potting soil. I’ve spent so much money, and most importantly time, taste testing whey protein powders to not tell others about the best tasting ones.
