Protein Powder/Supplement Review: My Personal Fave, Runner Ups, and Why

If you are anything like me, you've learned the incredible health benefits of enjoying a superfood/protein/or green smoothie daily or at least quite often.  Swapping out a meal or snack for a nutrient dense shake/supplement packed with superfoods, greens, antioxidants, fiber, protein, and the like is hands-down your most nourishing meal of the day.  Ever since i've started living this way i've been able to keep my weight down, create more harmony in my digestion, and increase my immunity and nutrient intake daily.   Since I'm a nazi about quality products and ingredients and have tried nearly every superfood and every clean protein powder under the sun I thought it time to do a little side by side comparison/review of the 4 i've used the most (with my favorite recipes for them) so you can see the stats stack up and make an educated choice on which one is the best investment in your health.


I'll start with Shakeology since it's my personal favorite and the most delicious hands down.  I've only recently started drinking shakeology (since i started my fitness challenge) and I am floored at how incredible the sourcing of this product is, and moreover how it makes me feel.  While i've enjoyed many superfoods and proteins that come with a wide range of claims and promises, I've actually never felt or seen results from any of them.  I stayed on them only because i knew it was a good protein or supplement to add to my diet.  With this superfood protein i am leaning up, have a substantial lift in my energy, i feel more balanced overall, and it's helped with my digestion/elimination cycle.  It is the ONLY supplement i've ever felt strong enough about to become an ambassador for.  If you choose to purchase shakeology use my links here which will give you the added bonus of being a member of my exclusive private health and fitness community:

www.myshakeology.com/meredithgnau

My health and fitness community is completely free for my clients/customers and i'm on there daily to support you nutritionally and help you find your best fitness, health, and well-being regime.  The community is filled with like-minded members, interested in finding their best health, and striving to meet their goals.  It's a great place to have accountability, have free access to my ebooks and private member videos, get access to my limited access recipes, form great relationships, inspire one another, and so much more.   **If you'd like to join the community but are not planning to include a supplement into your regime, please contact me here so we can discuss how the community can support you best.

SHAKEOLOGY

HIGHLIGHTS/COMMENTS:  With shake-O you have the option to get it in vegan with a pea protein base as well as sacha inchi: an easily digestible superfruit protein high in omega 3's, or alternately you can opt for a non vegan whey isolate based protein that is very low lactose.  It contains over 70 healing ingredients including digestive enzymes, prebiotics, probiotics, antioxidants, greens, and a broader scope of superfoods than any protein supplement i've seen including ashwagandha to balance stress, schisandra and maca for energy, and moringa, a leaf known in ayurveda to heal over 300 ailments.  Easy to digest, tastes amazing, and offers you a balanced lift in energy you can feel.

try the recipe above, or click this link for 4 more

The following three protein powder/supplements are the three i'd used most often prior to discovering shakeology.  I believe each of these products to meet good standards and taste decent to good, however using them as my daily supplement didn't provide me with any additional benefit/lift that i could actually feel.  Shakeology is the only supplement i will personally stand behind.


I'll start with Sun Warrior which has always been my go-to Vegan protein.  I'm only partial of the vanilla synergy flavor.  Like Shakeology, it's quite sweet which is nice so you don't have to add much in the way of fruit if you wanted to keep your smoothie lower sugar:

Sun Warrior Synergy Vanilla

HIGHLIGHTS/COMMENTS- Tastes good, low calorie, uses stevia to sweeten.  There aren't any superfoods, probiotics, or otherwise quality supplemental properties in here.  This is just bare bones protein.

click this link for recipe

BEAMING

You know I love Beaming.  I do a lot of writing for this company and believe they have very high quality and reputable products.  I know the company that formulates the protein powder for them, and it's a company that is a very reputable superfood company.  I like the taste of beaming and it's not too sweet, however i've found it important to use coconut water as a base when making smoothies with it to give it the sweet lift it needs.  My experience with coconut water is that the high sodium content leaves me dehydrated.  I've noticed when i drink coconut water or smoothies made with it (though it's yummy) i am completely parched the rest of the afternoon.

HIGHLIGHTS/COMMENTS:

Tastes good and utilizes high quality superfoods.  Relies mainly on maca for energy but does have a few other superfoods for sweetness like lucuma and mesquite powder.  Also uses jerusalem artichoke, stevia, and coconut sugar to sweeten (this is good).  They do not list out the nutrient or antioxidant profile leaving you questioning how much of each are you getting in your powder.

click this link for recipe

VEGA

Vega has a few different lines such as the endurance line for athletes, smoothie line, and the all-in-one shake.  I would recommend to avoid the endurance line unless you are a serious triathelte.  I accidentally bought a huge tub without looking at the label and once i got home and cracked into it realized that it has 520mg of sodium in one scoop!  That's outrageous!  Like shakeology the all in one line does have superfoods along with probiotics however they've left out a ton of important super foods and the superfood formulation is focused primarily on maca and greens rather than a comprehensive blend of superfoods for energy.  Though it offers probiotics & digestive enzymes, i've not seen or felt  any beneficial changes to my digestion/elimination cycle, and honestly the taste is only okay.

Ingredients in the All in One Powder:

HIGHLIGHTS/COMMENTS:

Includes probiotics and a little digestive enzyme.  It tastes so-so.  My favorite recipe requires you to buy an additional superfood.  I don't actually FEEL the benefits of the product.  The only superfood for energy used is maca.

click the link for recipe

I hope this little review helps you determine where to best invest your do-re-me in the right supplement to support your health.  If you'd like to be a member of my private community reach out to me here or make your shakeology purchase be from this link.

xoxo