I have been an on-again, off-again vegetarian for the last five or so years and was pleasantly surprised to find so many plant-based protein powders. Hemp protein, pea protein, brown rice protein. My first job in high school was making smoothies at a local juice bar and in the summer I can easily drink a smoothie a day. The usual concoction contains almond milk, 1/2 frozen banana, a few spoonfuls of greek yogurt, and frozen berries. It hits the spot right after a workout and it provides quality protein and carbs for recovery. Anyway, I thought that my tummy might feel a little better if I could replace the yogurt with protein powder.
For me, this was an epic fail. I have to admit that the powders (especially the plant-based ones) tasted and mixed way better than the whey I tried a decade ago, but I still did not find one that I will use regularly. I tried three types of brown rice protein, one type of hemp protein, and one more whey protein. I think I just might not be the type of person who likes the taste of protein powder, and that’s okay with me, something about it just kind of weirds me out.
I would have to say, though, of the five I tried, these two were my favorite:
1. Jay Robb-Brown Rice Protein (Vanilla): I’m not going to lie. I was kind of creeped out by the picture of this dude on the front. However, the nutritional stats lured me in. 110 calories, 0.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of fiber, and 24 grams of protein per scoop. This means one serving has fewer calories, more fiber, and about the same amount of protein as a 4oz. chicken breast! Pretty impressive. I also liked that the ingredients were: sprouted brown rice protein concentrate, natural flavor, stevia.
2. Sun Warrior-Vanilla: This powder to me had more of a protein smell to it, but also had impressive nutritional stats and ingredients. According to my bag, each scoop provided 70 calories, 1 gram of fat, 1 gram of fiber, and 15 grams of protein. Compared to the Jay Robb protein, I could taste this protein powder in my smoothie as it seemed to have a distinct taste.
So, I got to thinking. Do we really need so much protein? The emphasis, especially in the industry, is that the more protein you eat, the more lean muscle you gain. Although this is somewhat true, I have watch people go through a dozen egg whites, two protein shakes, a cup of cottage cheese, tuna, chicken breasts, and ground turkey all in a day! I would gather that most health experts would say that not only is this too much protein for one’s body to process, but also that it is downright unhealthy!
I picked up the book “The China Study” by Colin Campbell when I was at Borders the other day drinking iced tea and perusing books I want to read working on my dissertation presentation, and instantly became intrigued by his research on the link between protein intake and disease. His studies maintain that individuals who consumed approximately 5-10% of total calories from protein were leaner and had fewer incidences of disease than others consuming 25-30% of total calories from protein. I’m only about 1/3 of the way through the book, but I found the statistics quite interesting.
My quest to find a protein powder that suits my nutritional desires and satiety is over because I decided not to worry about it! I’m not going to force feed myself to drink smoothies with protein powder. I trust that my body will tell me when it needs some protein and I can either add a few scoops of greek yogurt, I can add some beans to my salad, or something like that. I think sometimes we get caught up in the recommendations given by others and we forget to figure out what works best for us.
Happy weekend 
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