Protein: Which is best?

[MuscleJock]

Hey guys! Been looking for a good protein powder for a while now. I've tried a lot of different brands and have an idea of which ones work and which ones are just garbage. I was just wondering if anyone has any good recomendations for the best that they have tried?

[helliot]

This is a great topic and I hope we get a lot of comments, including what you've learned, MuscleJock. My experience is pretty short and very un-authoritative, but I'll share it anyway to get the ball rolling.

My current favorite for taste and preparation is Syntha-6, chocolate milkshake. Shake it with 8oz of water per scoop and you've got a very tasty, fairly well mixed and easy to drink liquid. It's a combo though so I'm currently only using it at night or an hour before a workout if I can't scrape a meal together. I've heard complaints that it's high in fat or sugar or whatever, but compared to the nasty stuff that I have to add stuff to to make it palatable, I'm good with it.

For a post-workout I'm using a 100% whey from Body Fortress, vanilla. It's not nearly as tasty as the Syntha-6, but technically slammable on water alone.

I started with Met-Rx vanilla which I made drinkable with skim milk, some raspberries, and lots of ice. That produced a large volume to get down with some unnecessary fat and calories, so I'll stick with the others.

I'd love to hear suggestions, especially for post-workout. I've tried a lot more of the bars than I have of shakes, because it's easier/cheaper to get samples, but I really only bother with those when I'm traveling. I tried one of the shots as well, which was tasty and went down quick and easy, but I learned after it was very low quality protein.

I'd love to hear from everybody else out there on this topic, especially since I don't know as much about what's effective as I do about what tastes good, and that's a small part of the battle. Share your experiences.

[inflated]

I have three favorites that I choose because of taste, digestive ability, and results. First of all good healthy food must still be the mainstay of any diet and a decent meal trumps any protein shake. I like ON nutrition mint chocolate flavor it tastes good and is easily digestable and it has a high protein content and no aspartame. Secondly MM sportsnutrition Maxpro chocolate 30 grams of protein and tastes great. For offseason I like MRT Quickgainer. There are other great brands as well, just stay away from high sugar, or high aspartame content they are usually sickenly sweet, hard to digest, and are not really good nutrition. Look for a protein content at 30 grams per serving or more. Be leary of some of the cheap brands, they will give you gas and will usually taste awful, protein is a lot easier to consume if it tastes good.

[power up]

Beverly Internationals Muscle Provider is about the highest quality protein that I can think of. It has a good taste and more importantly it mixes very well. They also have many other shakes and supplements that will help you reach your goals.

[Malack101]

Have to second the Optimum Nutrition's Whey Protein (Double Chocolate here). I use it mainly as a suplement to meals. Mixes well with ice and a shaker bottle. Don't try using a spoon, you'll never get it stirred enough and a blender is overkill.

[Ragetiger]

I'm currently enjoying the taste of Gaspari Nutrition's Real Mass chocolate ice cream flavor. Mixes real well and taste great. I go with 2% milk, but it can be mixed with water. with water you get 50 grams of protien, nonfat milk 66 grams. (not sure about the 2% i use, but i prefer the taste).

[Seraph]

Having tried a few different protein powders, Im currently using MyProtein vanilla and it is bloody lovely! :-) It tastes great, blends easily in milk or water and is quite reasonably priced.

[philat99]

For those of us who are lactose intolerant (I found out the hard "way" that "whey" is a no-no!), does anyone have experience with a non-whey protein at a reasonable price?
Mike

[BIGJOEY]

its best to get as much of your protein from food. most protein prodcts are full of fillers etc. syntha 6 for example has soy in it which has been shown to increase estrogen levels in men. if you structure your meals right you should be able to get all your protein intake with out using powders.

[bigbob111]

If you look on the side of the container you should be able to see where the ingredients were derived from. In this case it is usually from either powdered milk and powdered egg. Sort of puts it all in perspective when no one can beat mother nature yet.

[cccatl]

There is no single best protein. You need at least 2 proteins for bodybuilding.

You need a quick protein (like whey) for pre- and post-workout shakes, as well as for the 1st shake in the morning, when you get up.

For the rest of the day, you need slow absorbing proteins, like casein, egg, or soy.

I think Cytosport's protein shakes taste the best. For the quick, I like muscle milk or monster milk. For the slow, I like Cytosport's EvoPro.

[Syphon]

I have very little experience with protein powders.

Everytime I take whey, I end up with bad acne. o.0 I figure it's all the sugar and dyes and shit they put into it because I don't have any problems with milk or dairy in general. Giving ON's natural whey a chance, if it fails... I guess I'm stuck having to do it the hard way. I've heard good things about ON so give it a try?

[brent]

I like ON's Platinum Hydro Whey, or Dymatize's ISO 100 Hydrolized Whey for after a workout, and some Dymatize Recoup. For nightime, etc. I like Dymatize's Elite 12, ON's casein, or BSN's Syntha 6. Also, some enzymes with lactase might help any whey allergy.

[inm]

Originally Posted by Syphon

I have very little experience with protein powders.

Everytime I take whey, I end up with bad acne. o.0 I figure it's all the sugar and dyes and shit they put into it because I don't have any problems with milk or dairy in general. Giving ON's natural whey a chance, if it fails... I guess I'm stuck having to do it the hard way. I've heard good things about ON so give it a try?

Yes, give them a try. good overall product. For the ultimate in protein, though, try ordering from trueprotein.com or proteinfactory.com. Why? because you can customize your mix! You pick the protein type you want (try the Whey Isolate, as it has the least lactose which may cause your pgoblem), then you pick taste (go for plain vanilla, certainly nothing fruity), then pick sweetener type. Go with Stavia.
It does not taste as great as the commercial stuff, but I believe is very pure.

google their name and "discount", there are 5% and 10% coupons everywhere.

[inflated]

Actually what is most important is digestibility soy protein is not as digestible as whey, but for those who are seriously lactose intolerant soy may be a better option. Most companies will mail out free or very cheap samples try a few and see which ones work best for you. Everybody is different in how they digest certain foods.

[Scottn]

I have used many protein diets and steroids due to my experience i recommend you Whey protein because Whey protein is derived from the process of making cheese from milk. There are two types of whey protein: whey concentrate and whey isolate. Whey concentrate is 29%?89% protein by weight where whey isolate is 90%+ protein by weight.

[jahncrish]

I take different variety of food like whole grains,vegetables,fruits ,nuts and eggs which are rich in proteins.

[bushvilim]

Optimum Nutrition 100%
Met-Rx 100%
Cytosport Muscle Milk Light
Gaspari Myofusion Protein

Best source of the Protein
1. Chicken

2. Fish and Seafood

3. Beef

4. Dairy and Egg Products

[Kreyn]

I used to only take Optimum Nutrition 100%. And I still love it. But recently I've been taking Syntrax Matrix 2.0. It tastes really good, aspartame free, the amino profiles on it is good too and a little cheaper than Optimum.

[shaira]

The worst of cosmetic nightmares is scarring, and stretch marks are scars much too easy to come by. They are tears in the dermis, the flexible middle stratum that maintains the shape of the skin. The tearing is caused by the pulling that occurs with accelerated growth. The rapid transformations of puberty or pregnancy are common aggravators. So are weight gain, muscle-building, and the uses of certain steroids.

[d880640]

I use "Whey To Go" from The Vitamin Shoppe because it has no chemicals added.

Look out for "Acesulfame Potassium" or "Acesulfame" in Proteins:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/acesu...m-dangers.html

[talln22]

Optimum Nutrition also here, double choc or strawberry is good. I've been finding it on sale constantly so I stock up.

[Allister]

Guys.......I have used the following protein powders that work very well thar are as the follows

Myotein
Nitro-Tech Hardcore Protein

[dodoria21]

does anyone have an opinion on GNC's amplified wheybolic extreme 60? It has a whey-leucine base. I'm guessing the 60 means 60% whey. I'm noticing a trend where 100% whey seems to be preferred. Should I explore other powders, such as ON? Around where I live, there's not many places to find supplements or protein, so I may have to take to internet ordering.

In any case, I wanted to get your guys' opinion on what I am taking and see if anyone recommends trying something else

[WhoDunIt]

I've tried teh stuff and it was effective, but expensive at the same time. I've gone with ON and will likely stick with that for now due to pricing because of what I can currently afford and have decent luck with it.

[inm]

syntha tastes great, but did you ever check its gr protein/serving size? it turns out to be an expensive protein..

[monstermusclebe]

I drink a lot of raw milk, and have found that when I couple that with denatured whey proteins (and nearly all whey products out there are denatured, FYI... anything 'pasteurized' is denatured), I end up with phlem and feeling not so good, over time. And presently the non-denatured whey protein powders out there seem, well, a bit pricey.

So I've been investigating alternatives... and alternatives there now are, and rather good ones at that.

Most are fairly new on the scene, and given all the bodybuilding supplement companies out there that are already tied to whey ~ and that whey seems to work for many people ~ it is understandable that these products haven't gotten the attention that they deserve.

The two types of vegetable-based proteins I've tried that I recommend, in general, are:

Hemp Protein and Rice Protein.

For reasons I won't go into here, I do NOT recommend soy protein.

Both Hemp and Rice protein powders are now available in raw forms that provide for the greatest bio-availability of the protein.

And the amino acid profiles (at least for SunWarrior Rice Protein, my current fav) compares well to most whey products.

But if you are looking for more, do a Google search for "raw protein powder [hemp or rice]" and you'll get some good results.

May we all get as big as we desire,
MMB

[FRNKPBDY]

I've been through many protein powders in my years of training and AST VP2 Whey Isolate http://reviews.bodybuilding.com/AST/VP2_Whey_Isolate is really one of my favorites.

I like it because it digests without bloating or causing stomach cramps and it doesnt fill my stomach up like other whey products can, so I can still eat all the whole food calories I need to gain quality mass. By the way, I find that while I'm on AST whey, I build muscle quickly and it gives me decent energy to power through workouts! I also like the taste. The citrus splash almost tastes like citrus flavored candy--just not as sweet!

Since I've been using it while on a bulking phase for the past few months, I've lost about an inch and a half from my waist, but my overall muscular growth continues!! Needless to say, I'm very satisfied with the product.

Now, there's one thing I can complain about--the mixability. No clumps or anything, but this citrus splash flavor foams quite a bit in a shaker cup while the vanilla doesn't. It's also a bit expensive, but it is pretty much worht it. All in all, this is the best whey protein I've tried in quite a while, so based on my own experience, I'd give it a strong recommendation!

Frank

[THE BODYBUILDING GIANT]

steak steak steak
chicken chicken chicken

ive found protein shakes are just a way of quick protein and help with not losing muscle
food source are best and more filling steak gets broken down slowly so releases protein slowly

[inflated]

meat, eggs, dairy are your best sources of protein, powders are supplemental to a good diet-check out a bodybuilding store look at the products stay away from high sugar content, get some samples--they usually hand them out liberally and then decide based on taste and protein content. Soy protein powders are very difficult to digest for most people.