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[entremet]

This was done by South African pharmacy chain. However, some US brands were measured.

What did they fail at? They over reported protein content.

Protein powders have been sketchy in the past. Consumer Reports, a very well regarded American publication, found some powders with unacceptable amounts of heavy metals.

I think Protein Powders are cheap and convenient way of hitting your protein goals, especially if you're on a budget. I've stopped consuming them in the last two years or so, opting to get my protein from whole food sources, both plant and animal.

Studies have even shown that the recommendation that most in the fitness community endorse--1 gram per kg of lean body mass, may be excessive as well.

https://medium.com/@anthonyroberts/...-weider-and-more-fail-e6775135f143#.r4mm5e6r4

So now that you who they are, here are the results from Dischem’s testing that I found most interesting :

BPI Whey HD contained 44.38% less protein than label claims

MHP Up Your Mass contained 19.34% less protein than the label claimed, but their Paleo
Protein had 5.26% more protein than the label claim

MuscleMeds “failed” the test by virtue of not having accurate labels, but that’s because their Carnivore Mass product contained 13.7% more protein than stated and Carnivore contained 9.31% more

Weider 100% Whey Isolate Protein contained 12.98% less protein than label claims

BSN’s Syntha 6 contained 7.28% less protein than the label claim, but True Mass contained 2.39% more

Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard Whey contained 6.21% less protein than the label claimed (two other ON products contained about 5% less protein than the label claim — so remember, here in a 20g serving we are talking about a gram of difference, give or take)

https://medium.com/@anthonyroberts/...-weider-and-more-fail-e6775135f143#.r4mm5e6r4

I was an Optimum fanboy. Great tasting stuff. Their discrepancies are not a huge as the others, but still a bit shady.

 

[Fat4all]

i wonder if the companies will whey in.

 

[TheChewyWaffles]

i wonder if the companies will whey in.

Shaking things up, are you?

 

[Kayhan]

Protein farts.

 

[Fried Food]

I use ON. Good to see that discrepancy between advertised protein amount and actual protein amount is pretty much the same between performed lab tests. I can live with that.

 

[Already Torn]

Mine is good!

 

[entremet]

I use ON. Good to see that discrepancy between advertised protein amount and actual protein amount is pretty much the same between performed lab tests. I can live with that.

ON is also a premium brand, so I would hope so!

 

[Forerunner]

I like my Syntha 6. Chocolate peanut butter is good.

 

[Summer Haze]

Glad to see that the discrepancies are low with ON compared to others, as that's the only brand I buy.

 

[InfiniteBento]

I prefer Orgain but this is still sketchy as hell.

 

[poppabk]

I think within 10% is fairly good. I would imagine estimations of real food are off by as much as that. The ones with 80% less than stated though you have to wonder what crap they have in there to make up the difference.

 

[geardo]

The supplement industry seems to be oddly under regulated. I've never taken any of that pre-workout shit, but I do take protein supplements after workouts because it's hard to eat so much. I have no idea if I'm actually getting all of the amino acids I really need though.

 

[MrToughPants]

So one of the cheapest and generic brands, GNC, is only 1-2% difference.

 

[Hayvic]

Most seem completely reasonable. Let's say you have a brand that claims 25 grams of protein per scoop. If they're 20% off that means you're still consuming 20 grams. Those 5 grams won't keep me awake at night.

 

[Funky Papa]

The supplement industry seems to be oddly under regulated. I've never taken any of that pre-workout shit, but I do take protein supplements after workouts because it's hard to eat so much. I have no idea if I'm actually getting all of the amino acids I really need though.

Watch Bigger, Stronger, Faster and be amazed.

I think within 10% is fairly good. I would imagine estimations of real food are off by as much as that. The ones with 80% less than stated though you have to wonder what crap they have in there to make up the difference.

I'm not OK, though. ON is owned by one of Europe's biggest dairy producers and get their whey in bulk, pure and straight from the source, so there's no good reason for such discrepancy. Specially when cheaper brands are much more true to the labeling.

 

[brawly]

44% is bad. Damn. I have Optimum Nutrition so looks like I'm fine.

 

[Alligatorjandro]

I use Cellucor. Good to see there is only a 4% difference.

 

[entremet]

So one of the cheapest and generic brands, GNC, is only 1-2% difference.

How does it taste?

That was my big beef with the generic brands. They tasted awful if you got used to the ON stuff.

 

[HariKari]

Interesting that Gaspari Myofusion tested well. Wasn't the case years ago and they suffered a serious sales blow due to a similar test coming back bad.

Here's the famous Reddit test with more American brands.

 

[Ovid]

So one of the cheapest and generic brands, GNC, is only 1-2% difference.

I stopped using the GNC brand years ago when I became lactose intolerant. I went with Cellucor because it had the lactase enzyme (like Lactaid).

Two months ago I bought their brand again because of a buy one get two half off promo.

I don't know if they changed the formula but I haven't noticed any digestion issues with it at all. After seeing the study in the OP, I'm definitely sticking with them.

EDIT: The only change I see is that it's "Ultra-Microfiltered".

How does it taste?

That was my big beef with the generic brands. They tasted awful if you got used to the ON stuff.

I purchased Chocolate, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Vanilla. So far Chocolate is my favorite.

I haven't tried Chocolate Peanut Butter yet.

 

[Paganmoon]

My main question is, do they actually work? I've been getting my protein from mostly cottage cheese, eggs and tuna, 1 gram per kilogram isn't too hard to hit´, 250grams of Cottage cheese, protein enriched, is like 40grams of protein, and there's loads in tuna, though it can get quite boring eating the same thing every day.

 

[entremet]

My main question is, do they actually work? I've been getting my protein from mostly cottage cheese, eggs and tuna, 1 gram per kilogram isn't too hard to hit´, 250grams of Cottage cheese, protein enriched, is like 40grams of protein, and there's loads in tuna, though it can get quite boring eating the same thing every day.

Powders are mostly about value and convenience. If you get protein from whole foods sources, it's the same shit.

Think of powders as food not supplements.

It's a cheaper and more convenient protein dominant food source.

 

[oti]

i wonder if the companies will whey in.

Here is some love for your great post.

<3

 

[Lkr]

I'll continue to buy ON regardless. Never tasted anything better than their cake batter flavor

 

[nilbog21]

I use isopure, wonder how off base they are. Ain't cheap. But it's hard finding something your pallet can tolerate

 

[poppabk]

My main question is, do they actually work? I've been getting my protein from mostly cottage cheese, eggs and tuna, 1 gram per kilogram isn't too hard to hit´, 250grams of Cottage cheese, protein enriched, is like 40grams of protein, and there's loads in tuna, though it can get quite boring eating the same thing every day.

Why wouldn't they work? I mean they are pretty much powdered cottage cheese.

 

[shadowsdarknes]

My main question is, do they actually work? I've been getting my protein from mostly cottage cheese, eggs and tuna, 1 gram per kilogram isn't too hard to hit´, 250grams of Cottage cheese, protein enriched, is like 40grams of protein, and there's loads in tuna, though it can get quite boring eating the same thing every day.

Protein shakes are ideal for meal timing.

Sometimes you don't have food prepped, or you are walking out of the house, or you are at work and you don't really have time to eat but you can sip on some protein.

 

[A Fish Aficionado]

Supplement industry is unregulated.
So it's always buyer beware.

 

[NHarmonic.]

I knew BPI was bullshit.

 

[nilbog21]

if you can eat cottage cheese bless you, you deserve it

 

[entremet]

Protein shakes are ideal for meal timing.

Sometimes you don't have food prepped, or you are walking out of the house, or you are at work and you don't really have time to eat but you can sip on some protein.

Anabolic window is around 2 hours, so no need to sip shakes right right after like you see the bros doing.

And this is for optimal results only, which may even be only a few half a percentage points.

 

[BadTaste]

Holy crap @ BPI, I was about to buy their protein but was swayed more towards Gaspari.

 

[partyphone]

not the least bit surprising. but the two brands i use aren't on there and this is always something i worry about.

 

[Depths of Orion]

I use ON gold standard and being only a 6% difference still bugs me. Like many have said the health foods and supplements are not regulated. That's why companies come out with bogus products all the time that don't do anything for you.

 

[Makai]

I don't take this stuff even though it's wildly popular and normalized. People say "it's just food" but clearly not if they are not regulated by the FDA. And there's no way you need anywhere near the 1g per pound of body weight rule of thumb.

 

[HStallion]

I just eat a lot of chicken breasts, fish and greek yogurt at this stage and it works just as well.

Edit: Used to use protein powders a lot and I still do now and again but its usually added into a shake with several other things. I don't really rely on them.

 

[Paganmoon]

Powders are mostly about value and convenience. If you get protein from whole foods sources, it's the same shit.

Think of powders as food not supplements.

It's a cheaper and more convenient protein dominant food source.

Ahh ok, always thought of them as supplements, not replacements.

Why wouldn't they work? I mean they are pretty much powdered cottage cheese.

Well, in that case I'd rather eat cottage cheese, but entremet answered above why you might choose powder instead. Thing is, and this might be just me having trust issues, but I'd want to know exactly what it is I'm getting into my body, and considering this test, not all of the suppliers seem to be truthful about the contents.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

I will say this. I've been getting for more consistent results from dropping the shakes, and just eating more real food.

 

[partyphone]

i'm at 6-7 meals per day and my job has long hours and involves a lot of driving so i depend on meal replacements to fill in gaps. if i worked from home i would absolutely eat real food for every meal. hopefully someone does this for more american brands.

 

[A Fish Aficionado]

I will say this. I've been getting for more consistent results from dropping the shakes, and just eating more real food.

Science has gone too far.


Shakes can be good, but the cult behind them is odd.

 

[poppabk]

Well, in that case I'd rather eat cottage cheese, but entremet answered above why you might choose powder instead. Thing is, and this might be just me having trust issues, but I'd want to know exactly what it is I'm getting into my body, and considering this test, not all of the suppliers seem to be truthful about the contents.

What makes you think you can trust the cottage cheese maker about contents though? I'm sure if they tested cottage cheese you would see 5-10% variation. Some of that will just be testing methodology and some will be natural variation in the product. People get overly hung up on the numbers, between measuring and variability there is probably a +/- of 10% on any figure you recorded for the day in my fitness pal or whatever tracker you use.

 

[bidguy]

uhhh theres always variation with measured data and the numbers dont seem too high to make a fuzz about it

 

[The Rizza]

Wow, some of those numbers are a little surprising. I expected between 5-10%, but anything over that is so misleading to the consumer. Glad to see a lot of people are using ON. I use it too, the Extreme Milk Chocolate flavor is my favorite

 

[formasymphonic]

I use ON. Good to see that discrepancy between advertised protein amount and actual protein amount is pretty much the same between performed lab tests. I can live with that.

Wow, some of those numbers are a little surprising. I expected between 5-10%, but anything over that is so misleading to the consumer. Glad to see a lot of people are using ON. I use it too, the Extreme Milk Chocolate flavor is my favorite

Never used anything before but picked up some gold standard on a whim on amazon prime day (the price and the reviews were good). I know absolutely nada about this &#8212; any recommendations? I'm willing to learn recipes or what times of day is most effective to drink.

I have seen some people talk about using crushed ice while others use milk - is there a reason to prefer one or the other aside from personal preferences?

Any recommendations?

 

[kirblar]

Never used anything before but picked up some gold standard on a whim son amazon prime day. I know absolutely nada about this &#8212; any recommendations? I'm willing to learn recipes or what times of day is most effective to drink.

I have seen some people talk about using crushed ice while others use milk - is there a reason to prefer one or the other aside from personal preferences?

Any recommendations?

You're either using it as a meal replacement or right after a workout (mainly since it's easy and you'll remember to do it as part of a routine, when it might be a while till you clean up and grab something to eat.) Not really complicated.

Will try Cake Batter the next time I pick up some - thnx for the tip. (Using vanilla atm)

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

I will say this. I've been getting for more consistent results from dropping the shakes, and just eating more real food.

Yep.

If you have protein powder in your house but no real food, what are you even doing? I've found this to be weirdly common.

 

[thesoapster]

I buy Dymatize ISO 100. If I remember correctly, its real protein content is on the higher end.

 

[The Rizza]

Never used anything before but picked up some gold standard on a whim on amazon prime day (the price and the reviews were good). I know absolutely nada about this — any recommendations? I'm willing to learn recipes or what times of day is most effective to drink.

I have seen some people talk about using crushed ice while others use milk - is there a reason to prefer one or the other aside from personal preferences?

Any recommendations?

I take mine with milk immediately after a workout. The Extreme Milk Chocolate mixes really well with milk (lol almost kind of obvious) My roommate used it with different kinds of recipes with muffins and cookies and they ookaaayy at best.

 

[SaganIsGOAT]

I switched from whey protein to Orgain plant based organic protein with BCAAs added and my shits have never been better. seRiously, the chocolate Orgain protein tastes AMAZING

 

[Ether_Snake]

Using ON too and already saw a study like this before that reported they were among the top ones regarding accurate amounts of protein listed. Good stuff.