Here, we review one of the whey protein powders, from 8 time Mr Olympia, Ronnie Coleman‘s signature series line of supplements. It goes by the name of ISO-TROPIC MAX. You can see more of the line here: ronniecoleman.net

So firstly, what is the purpose of a whey protein shake and what do we need it for?

A whey protein shake, primarily, is there for our convenience. It is a high protein, low carb and fat “meal”, which we do not have to cook or prepare, we just mix with water or milk and chug it down. Since whey protein digests relatively quickly, the optimum time to take it would be right after a workout or first thing in the morning so that you can supply your muscles with some fast acting protein to start stimulating their recovery. Food in liquid form should digest quicker since it is already pretty much broken down into a very fine form.

But don’t limit yourself to only taking it at those two times above. You can have a whey protein shake at anytime of the day when you feel peckish, and when you need a high protein snack. So if you find yourself without any decent food, the next best thing would be to grab a shake, at least you can still get your protein in. You can even mix the whey powder with other types of protein such as yoghurt, cottage cheese and milk, which will also help keep you fuller.

Remember though, that you should always try to utilize whole foods as much as possible, so do not just keep replacing shakes for a lot of your meals. You should NOT get dependent on them, as the supplements are there to just fill in when you cannot manage a meal. Also beware of all the marketing hype, they are merely aids, they are not magic substances!

Flavors and Sizes

It comes in a variety of flavors, these being:

• German Chocolate
• Strawberry Decadence
• Vanilla Cream

It comes in two sizes, 907 grams (2.0lbs) and 1.57 Kg (3.5lbs)

Taste

This is based on the German Chocolate flavor. The taste is decent, not the greatest tasting chocolate protein powder out there but it is not bad and thankfully does not leave much of an after taste.

Mixes

This protein powder mixes quite well, and doesn’t become too lumpy but is rather a somewhat smooth mixture. As soon as the water touches the powder it dissolves making the process easier.

Protein content

Now this is really what we want to know, which powder offers the most protein (in grams).

You can see that per 100 grams of the protein powder there is +-77 grams of protein, which is relatively high when compared to a few other brands.

It carries 25 grams protein per 1 scoop (weighing 32.5 grams) of the powder.
If you want some sort of comparison, +-100 grams of chicken breast has roughly +- 25 grams of protein.

Extra Nutritional values

Now let’s look at the rest of the contents in this whey protein.

There are 120 calories per serving of 1 rounded scoop. The carbohydrate and fat content is quite low per serving.

• Per 1 rounded scoop (32.5 grams) there are 3 grams of carbohydrates and just 1 gram of fat.
• Per 100 grams of the powder there is +-9 grams of carbohydrates and +-3 grams of fat.

Unfortunately they do not list the amino acid profile of this Whey Protein but they do list their ingredients. The first ingredient is Whey Protein Isolate which is a good sign as the first ingredient is usually the most predominant ingredient in the product.

On the list is something called Astragin^TM (Astragalus Membranceus Root and Panax Notoginseng) which is supposed to be a natural compound composed of highly fractionated Astragalus and Panax Notoginseng and is meant to act as an absorption enhancing ingredient clinically proven to increase amino acid uptake by 66.7%.

Basically, its meant to help your body absorb all/more of the protein so that you can utilise all of it and not waste most the protein.

Affordability

The 1.5 Kg tub sells for +- US$ 70 while the smaller tub goes for +- US$ 40 which is slightly more expensive than most other brands.

Buy it:

Conclusion

All in all this is a very decent whey protein isolate. It is a bit expensive but after all it is from an 8 time Mr Olympia, a title which is not very common. If you can afford it, it is well worth a try to make a comparison for yourself, but not really necessary for a beginner who can easily get by with a more affordable protein powder product.

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This is a review of the 100% Premium Whey Protein Plus from Muscletech. There are a few variants that you can get for yourself, of Muscletech Whey,like the NitroTech. Let’s just have a brief look at exactly what we want a whey protein shake for and when we should be using it.  A whey protein shake, primarily, is there for our convenience.

It is a high protein, low carb and fat meal, which we do not have to cook or prepare, we just mix with water or milk and chug it down.

Since whey protein digests quite quickly, the optimum time to take it would be right after a workout or first thing in the morning so that you can supply your muscles with some fast acting protein to start stimulating their recovery.  Also food in liquid form should digest quicker since it is already pretty much broken down into a very fine form.  Now let’s not limit ourselves to only being allowed to take it at those two times.  I believe you can have a whey protein shake at anytime of the day when you need a high protein snack.  So if you find yourself without any decent food grab a shake, at least you can still get your protein in. 

Just a note, remember that you should always try to utilize whole foods as much as possible, so do not just keep replacing protein powders as shakes for a lot of your meals.  The supplements are there to just fill in when you cannot manage a meal.

Flavors and Sizes

It comes in a variety of flavors, these being:

• Deluxe Chocolate
• Strawberry
• Deluxe Vanilla

It comes in one size, 2.27Kg (5.0lbs)

Taste

This will be based on the vanilla flavored powder. The taste of the vanilla flavor is relatively bland, not so much in a bad way though. Some protein powders, especially the vanilla flavors, can be too sweet and too artificial. But this flavor has a somewhat mild taste so it is not very sweet and doesn’t have that strong artificial taste but it does leave a very slight aftertaste.

Mixes

This protein powder mixes well and is soft as well as relatively fine, so there were hardly any lumps when mixed with either water or milk.

Protein content

Now this is really what we want to know, which powder offers the most protein (in grams). This whey is a mixture of Whey Concentrate and Isolate, so if you want a higher protein count you should rather go for a Whey Isolate which is higher in protein, but a bit more expensive.

We see that per 100 grams of the protein powder there is +-62 grams of protein, which is decent but can be seen as relatively low when compared to a few other whey proteins.

It carries 20 grams of protein per 1 rounded scoop (weighing 32.5 grams) of the powder. If you want some sort of comparison, 100 grams of chicken breast has roughly +- 25 grams of protein.

Extra Nutritional values

Now let’s look at the rest of the contents in this whey protein. There are 120 calories per serving of 1 rounded scoop.  The carbohydrate and fat content is quite low per serving, but higher than a few other whey proteins.

Per 1 rounded scoop (32.5 grams) there are 9 grams of carbohydrates and just 1 gram of fat.

Per 100 grams of the powder there is +-30 grams of carbohydrates and +-4 grams of fat. Unfortunately they do not list the amino acid profile of this Whey protein but they do list their ingredients.  And on the ingredient list they state there is a ‘RECOVERY BLEND’ which consists of the following:

• Creatine monohydrate
• Taurine
• L-leucine
• L-Isoleucine
• L-Valine
• L-Glutamine

By stating a ‘RECOVERY BLEND’ means that they do not have to state how much of each of the above listed ingredients are placed in the product.  This is what we as consumers need to be aware of, because there is really no way of us knowing exactly how many grams of each of those ingredients are in fact in the product. But on the plus side, not many whey protein powders have creatine added in them, so even if its just a small amount it can still help with recovery and muscle gain. (Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine are the 3 branch chain amino acids which are among the nine essential amino acids for humans.)

Affordability

The 5 pound bag sells for about R750 in South Africa. The price is quite high, since it is imported all the way from America. Granted Muscletech is a reputable brand and they include a lot of scientific studies on their website; so I wont take anything away from the good quality of their products. But I would say the price is a bit excessive (in South Africa) for what you get.

Conclusion

This whey protein does not rank as high as I would have hoped. The protein content could have been a bit more and I am a bit weary after seeing that ‘Recovery Blend’ in the ingredients list. Also, a big factor that influenced this was the price.

When compared to other local brands, which are almost half the price, it really does not seem worth it. If you can afford it, maybe give it a try for yourself, but otherwise stick to the local brands as most of them are just as good. In the end whey protein is basically whey protein. If you feel whey protein and dairy is not for you, you can always give other types of powders a try, such as vegan or plant based protein powders a try. You may find that the plant based alternatives work better for you and your body. 

You can check out more of the supplement range here, www.muscletech.co.za OR international.muscletech.com

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Today I will be focusing on and reviewing the brand Biogen, ISO whey protein.  You can check out more of their supplement range here, www.biogen.co.za

Let’s just have a look at exactly what we want a whey protein shake for and when should we be using it?  A whey protein shake, primarily, is there for our convenience.

It is a high protein, low carb and fat meal, which we do not have to cook or prepare, we just mix with water or milk and chug it down.  Since whey protein digests quite quickly, the optimum time to take it would be right after a workout or first thing in the morning so that you can supply your muscles with some fast acting protein to start stimulating their recovery.  Also food in liquid form should digest quicker since it is already pretty much broken down into a very fine form.

Now let’s not limit ourselves to only being allowed to take it at those two times.  I believe you can have a whey protein shake at anytime of the day when you need a high protein snack.  So if you find yourself without any decent food grab a shake, at least you can still get your protein in.  You can even mix the whey powder with other types of protein such as yoghurt, cottage cheese and milk, which will also help keep you fuller for a bit longer.

Just a note, remember that you should always try to utilize whole foods as much as possible, so do not just keep replacing shakes for a lot of your meals.

The supplements are there to just fill in when you cannot manage a meal.

Flavors and Sizes

It comes in a variety of flavors, these being:

• Chocolate
• Strawberry
• Vanilla

It comes in two sizes, 908g (2.0lbs) and 3Kg (6.6lbs)

Taste

I will be judging this on the vanilla and strawberry flavored powders.  Both flavors tasted good, leaving only a slight aftertaste, more pronounced in the strawberry flavor.  The only problem I had was that both flavors had too much of an artificial taste to them.

Mixes

This protein powder mixes well, but is not as fine as the evox whey, so it did take a bit more effort to mix.

Protein content

Now this is really what we want to know, which powder offers the most protein (in grams).

We see that per 100 grams of the protein powder there is 67.1 grams of protein, which is relatively low.

It carries 26.2 grams protein per 1 rounded scoop (weighing 39 grams) of the powder.
If you want some sort of comparison, 100 grams of chicken breast has about +- 25 grams of protein.

Extra Nutritional values

Now let’s look at the rest of the contents in this whey protein.
There are 155 calories per serving of 1 rounded scoop.  The carbohydrate and fat content is quite low per serving, but higher than many other brands.

Per 1 rounded scoop (39 grams) there is 8.3 grams of carbohydrates and just 2 grams of fat.

Per 100 grams of the powder there is 21.2 grams of carbohydrates and 5.1 grams of fat.

The amino acid profile of it is decent, containing all essential and branch chain amino acids in good amounts.  It contains just under 12grams of Glutamine per 100grams which is still good but there are others with much more.

Affordability

The 908g tub sells for about R260 and the 3kg tub sells for +-R480.  So we can see it’s always cheaper to buy the bigger tub.  The price is quite competitive with the other brands, since it’s more or less the same price as some of the others, but it offers an additional 1kg since it comes in a 3kg tub.  Most other brands use 2kg tubs.  So if you are on a tight budget, then I would say go for this specific whey protein.

Conclusion

I was really not convinced with this whey protein.  Nothing stood out for me on it, and on paper it ranks quite low compared to the other brands.  The two main points which put me off it were the protein and carbohydrate contents.  The protein content is much lower per 100grams than other brands that I have seen, and the carbohydrate content is too high for a protein shake. If you are dieting strictly for a competition, this shake would not be ideal because the higher carbohydrate content could interfere with your diet.

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Today I will be focusing on and reviewing the brand Evox, 100% Whey protein.

Here’s a bit of general information on whey protein.  Whey protein is extracted from milk.  Milk is made up of whey protein and casein protein and generally whey protein digests much quicker than casein.  So to recap from my first post, for a whey protein shake, we want it to, be high in whey protein, low in carbs and fat, taste great and mix well.   The Evox brand is quite a reputable brand and has been around for many years.  You can have a look at their full range of supplements at www.evox.co.za.  This whey is made up of primarily whey concentrate and so is digested quite rapidly.

Flavors and Sizes

It comes in a variety of flavors, these being:

• Cookies and Cream
• Chocolate
• Strawberry
• Vanilla

It comes in two sizes, 1Kg (2.2lbs) and 2Kg (4.4lbs).

Taste

I will be judging this on the vanilla, cookies and cream, and chocolate flavored powders.  All three tasted very good with hardly any after taste.  I would say this is one of the best tasting protein powders out there.  I would recommend the chocolate and the cookies and cream flavor above the rest.  You can always add some cocoa to give it a bit more flavor, but the chocolate taste is quite good itself.

Mixes

It mixes perfectly as the powder is very fine and there are no lumps when you mix with water or milk.  I managed to mix it quite well into a ‘Dessert.’

Protein content

Now this is really what we want to know, which powder offers the most protein (in grams).

We see that per 100 grams of the protein powder there is 72 grams of protein, which is relatively high.

It carries 26 grams of protein per 2 scoops (weighing 36 grams) of the powder.
If you want some sort of comparison, 100 grams of chicken breast has about +- 25 grams of protein.

Extra Nutritional values

Now let’s look at the rest of the contents in this whey protein.
There are just 125 calories per serving of 2 scoops.  The carbohydrate and fat content is quite low per serving.

Per 2 scoops (36 grams) there is 2.7 grams of carbohydrates and just 1.2 grams of fat.

Per 100 grams of the powder there is 7.5 grams of carbohydrates and 3.3 grams of fat.

The amino acid profile of it does look quite good containing all essential and branch chain amino acids in good amounts.It contains just under 16grams of Glutamine per 100grams which is rather high.

Affordability

The 2kg tub sells for about R460 at the time of writing, but usually you can find in most pharmacies like dischem, a banded special where you will get an additional 500 grams free.  This is the average price you can expect to pay for a decent whey protein powder.

Conclusion

I would say this whey protein is one of the best, all rounded protein powders out there.  It’s relatively high in protein, tastes great, mixes well, and is relatively affordable. Its protein count may be slightly less than some of the other brands, but it makes up for this in every other aspect.

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Today I will be focusing on and reviewing the brand SSN, 100% Whey protein.

Flavors and Sizes:

It comes in a variety of flavors, these being:

• Cookies and Cream
• Chocolate
• Strawberry
• Banana Toffee
• Choc Nut Toffee

It comes in two sizes, 909g (2lbs) and 2Kg (4.4lbs).

Taste:

I will be judging this on the strawberry, cookies and cream, and chocolate flavored powders. All three tasted quite good. They were not too sweet, but they did leave a slight after taste, especially the strawberry flavor. I would recommend the chocolate flavor above the rest. You can always add some cocoa to give it a bit more flavor.

Mixes:

It mixed just fine in a shaker after a few shakes, but in a glass using a spoon it was a bit difficult taking a bit more effort. One of the things I like to do, instead of making a shake, is making a ‘dessert’ with the protein powder by adding a touch of milk to it and continuously mixing keeping it thick. I found with this whey, the powder was not fine enough to be able to do it quite well and I always ended up adding more milk resulting in it not being nice and thick.

Protein content:

This is really what we want to know, which powder offers the most protein (in grams).

We see that per 100grams of the protein powder there is 80grams of protein, which is quite high.

It carries 24grams protein per 2 scoops (weighing 30grams) of the powder.
If you want some sort of comparison, 100grams of chicken breast has about +- 25 grams of protein.

Extra Nutritional values

Now let’s look at the rest of the contents in this whey protein.
There are just 117 calories per serving of 2 scoops. The carbohydrate and fat content is quite low per serving.

Per 2 scoops (30 grams) there is 2 grams of carbohydrates and just 1.5 grams of fat.

Per 100 grams of the powder there is 6.5 grams of carbohydrates and 5 grams of fat.
The amino acid profile of it does look quite good containing all essential and branch chain amino acids in good amounts.
It contains just over 13 grams of Glutamine per 100 grams.

Affordability:

The 2kg tub sells for anywhere from R450 up to R529.  The 909g packet sells for about R270, so it is much more economical to go for the 2Kg.  It is slightly expensive, costing a little bit more than other brands but there are occasionally specials on it where the price comes down just below R450, so if you can, try pick it up during the specials.

Conclusion:

All in all it is a good whey protein powder, which I would definitely recommend; I don’t have anything negative to say about it, since it has pretty much everything you need in a protein shake, I especially like the fact that its protein content is one of the highest on the market, and there are a number of different flavors to choose from.  It is a bit expensive, but if you are willing to spend a bit more, it is well worth it in this case.

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In today’s world we are constantly bombarded with so many adverts and gimmicks, from companies all trying desperately to sell us something in order to help us achieve something great. And it is of no help when you walk into a shop looking for something specific, only to find that there are a hundred different brands selling the exact same thing! Now which brand do you choose? So I have decided to do a basic review on a few of the supplements out there that I have used so as to help make your decision a little bit easier on what to buy.

We will start off with whey protein. Pretty much every supplement company out there has some sort of WHEY protein powder. It is the bread and butter of supplements. A low carb, low fat, high protein shake is any health fanatics dream, and this is what whey protein is. According to a lot of research whey protein is digested quite quickly, making it ideal to take straight after an intense training session in order to feed your hard worked muscle.

There are two basic types of Whey protein:

• Whey protein concentrate
• Whey protein isolate

Whey protein concentrate is usually cheaper than the isolate. The biggest difference between the two, is that the isolate has been filtered more to remove most of the carbohydrate and fat content, leaving pretty much pure protein.  Also, the isolate is said to digest at a quicker rate than the concentrate. This is not to say one is better than the other. The concentrate can do just fine, or even a mix of both of them, it will just depend on what you want to achieve and how much you are willing to spend. I will be mainly dealing with whey protein concentrate unless otherwise stated.

What do we want in an ideal whey protein powder?

It must:

1. Be high in protein. Always look at the nutritional values to check how many grams of protein the product has per 100 grams of the powder. For a whey protein shake, it should have anywhere between 60 grams and 85 grams of protein. The higher the better.

2. Have the right kind of protein. If you look at the ingredients list on any protein supplement, you will see they start off with a few different types of protein. For example it may read like this:

‘Whey protein concentrate and isolate blend, soy protein, flavoring’ etc..

So the first ingredient listed is the one that the product contains the most of. So in the above example it contains a blend of both whey protein concentrate and isolate, with a higher percentage of the protein coming from whey concentrate. If for instance the ingredient list starts with soy protein, then we should be a bit cautious as we want whey protein and not soy protein in this case.

3. Taste great. There is no point buying something that you can’t stand drinking.

4. Mix easily without forming any lumps.

5. Be low in carbohydrates and fat.

Check out the next post where I review SSN’s, 100% Whey protein, from how it tastes all the way to how affordable it is!

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