Protein Shake Experiment - 5 Day Challenge

My friend has a side-line as a rep for a company that among other things, sells protein powder. For the past while she's been bugging me to give the powders a try to really lose weight and to have lots of energy in the morning.

Rise and shine? Ha ha!  I am not, and never was, a morning person. Even as a toddler, my mother says I'd be the last one to get up and last to bed. It takes at least an hour, a cup of coffee and a cold shower to get me into a state where I can hold a logical conversation :)

Maybe twice a week, I do a protein shake for breakfast, but that is only if I'm still in dreamland and am on the verge of being late for work.  I usually add in extras like a small amount of berries and some greens like spinach or kale.

So my friend has been getting more than a little pushy with the products so I said, "We'll do a blind challenge like they do with colas". She thought it was an interesting idea too.  Another friend and an acquaintance of ours also sell similar type product but from different companies so she contacted the friends, got samples of two other protein powders, then she went to the healthfood store to buy sample sizes of a couple of other brands. She then transferred the powders in to small plastic tubs labelled 1 through 5 and provided instructions on the preparation for each. I used unsweetened almond milk as my liquid of choice and prepared them using my blender (as opposed to one of those plastic shakey cups).

From Monday to Friday morning this week at 7:30am, I've been drinking down a protein shake for breakfast. I'd have half a 2-cup glass at home, then do my brisk walk, then I'd sip the other half on the bus on the way to work.

Taste: 

• All the shakes were palatable. 
• The textures varied somewhat, some were smooth one was rough (even after re-blending in the blender) but I'm not that picky. 
• Some tasted like they were trying to be something else, like chocolate, it almost was but couldn't get there.
• A couple were too sweet for me

Digestive or allergenic issues: None.

Energy levels:

• Each worked well at getting my energy up to the point were I could complete my walk in the time that I need to catch my bus. 
• By the time mid-morning rolled around, that's where I could tell that the shakes can't compete with real food for breakfast. I'd start to get physically hungry as in stomach growling, I'd get tired and twice had to resort to eating part of my lunch early.

Results: None of the shakes really wowed me. They'll all just okay. 

I did pick number 3, the one with more texture, as the one I liked best, which turned out to be Garden of Life Raw Protein, vanilla flavour. My man had a taste and spat it out! Ha ha! Just goes to show you this is really all subjective. My friend was sad as this is not the result she anticipated.

Afterward I got to view the ingredients lists of all products. The one I chose passed my ingredients test, although it does have stevia. 

Some of the others had:

Sugar like fructose or sugar subsitutes;

Hidden ingredients: proprietary or exclusive blends;

Ingredients lists that were way too long.

If you think a protein powder or meal replacement shake is for you, do some taste testing and be sure to read the ingredients labels and watch out for hidden sugars: http://www.hungryforchange.tv/article/how-to-spot-sugar-on-food-labels 

To put it into perspective, my breakfast this morning of a chanterelle mushroom omelette with a bit of fresh chervil, tarragon, chive and parlsey is a much better choice than any processed protein powder shake.  

I'm definitely going to make more of an effort to eat a real breakfast everyday!