My Naturopath recently suggested that I increase my protein intake at breakfast after looking at my daily food log and finding that I was coming up short on occasion. Breakfast is usually my meal that’s lowest in protein (lunch and dinner are fine) and he thought that an increase in breakfast protein could help with my energy levels and workout recovery. Knowing that I’m a vegan, he suggested using protein powder as an easy way to sneak in more protein.
I’ve tried all kinds of protein powders and tend to go through phases with them. Sometimes I use them every day for a week and other times I fall off the wagon or just forget to buy it when I run out. I think part of the problem is that I’ve never been able to find one that meets all of my needs. I’m really picky with protein powders! Sometimes they have sneaky artificial sweeteners, too much sugar, taste like dirt, or they just don’t have as much protein per serving as I’m looking for. If I’m going to fork money over for powder, it better be high in protein!
I said I would give his protein-boosting breakfast challenge a try and set out to find the perfect protein powder once again. I remembered Ashley saying that she was really happy with the Garden of Life Raw Protein Powder, so I thought I would give it a try since she gave it rave reviews.
The specs of this protein powder:
- 17 grams of protein per serving (per 1/4 cup scoop)
- Only 80 calories per serving
- Less than 1 gram of sugar per serving
- No fillers, artificial flavours, or synthetics
- USDA Organic
- Probiotic and enzyme blend
- Recyclable container
That is a lot of protein per serving for very few calories!
Ingredient list:
The nutritional profile:
One thing I really like about this protein powder is that there’s no added sugar. I like to be able to control my own sweetener in my smoothies (hello, frozen bananas), so this is a nice change.
What about the taste?
Well, let me just say that it’s pretty earthy, but certainly not the worst protein powder I have tasted (hemp, I’m looking at you).
Don’t expect to add this protein powder into a smoothie without any fruit/sweetener and enjoy the taste. That’s to be expected because there’s no sugar to cover up the taste like in other powders. I would say it’s quite easy to mask the taste with a frozen banana or other fun ingredients. Once I added my normal smoothie ingredients, it was fine!
What I don’t like about this protein powder:
- I’m sure there is iron in this powder, but they don’t report it. As a vegan, this is crucial info for me to know.
- It’s expensive to buy from a natural food store ($40-45), but I found it online from Iherb for $27.97 and you can probably find it cheaper.
- Very slightly chalky and earthy tasting, but again, I don’t think this is a deal breaker for me. It’s much less chalky than some powders I have tried.
I also picked up this Heartland Gold Brown Rice Protein Powder to compare it to the Garden of Life Brand. Compared to Garden of Life, this gives me much more bang for my buck. It has 40 servings per container vs. Garden Of Life’s 28 servings. It’s also about $8 cheaper too.
At less than $1 per 16 grams of protein, I’d say this is a cheap source of protein!
This protein powder has just one ingredient: Organic Compliant, Sprouted, Non-GMO, Brown Rice Protein Concentrate! It’s vegan, gluten-free, and soy-free. I think this would be comparable to the popular Sun Warrior Protein Powder as it’s 100% sprouted brown rice.
It’s 80 calories per scoop and 16 grams of protein. It also has 40% of the RDA for iron which is good for me to know as a vegan.
I also love that it’s a Canadian company based out of Toronto. I was not able to find a website for them though! Suspicious…
The cons?
It’s a bit more chalky than the Garden of Life protein powder, but only slightly more chalky. This was me comparing them side by side, mind you. The flavour is still earthy (remember- it’s unsweetened), but it’s less earthy tasting than the Garden Of Life powder. Unlike GOL, it’s not a complete protein source, but as long as I get a balance of protein sources over the day, it shouldn’t be an issue.
I still have yet to find my perfect protein powder, but I think these are two decent options weighing the pros and cons. I will definitely buy them again.
With one scoop of powder you now have a high protein smoothie base of 17 grams of protein. Add some chia seeds and other smoothie ingredients and you have yourself a smoothie that’s 24-25 grams of protein per serving.
As for my energy levels? I’ve noticed that I don’t get as hungry before lunch as I used to and I seem to be more focused and alert in the morning. I think it’s probably a better balance of carbs/protein/fat for my body’s needs.
Are you a protein powder fan? Which ones have you tried and loved or tried and hated?
Thanks for this post – it’s really informative. I just wrote about the importance of protein at breakfast and ways to incorporate protein at that particular meal (www.EllaRDinLA.com), but certainly NOT from a vegan perspective. I also kind of bash protein powders in the blog entry, but I can see that it could be an important option for vegans. It gets my hackles up when I see red-meat-eating gym junkies downing protein powder. But clearly there is a place for it in some diets.
Tempt Living Harvest Protein Powder is my favorite by far. in general i basically swear by Living Harvest Temp stuff. their ice cream is fantastic! they are not as big of a company i think out of the pacific northwest, but their hemp products are excellent.
I’ve been struggling to finish my Garden of Life protein, I liked chocolate or vanilla Plant Fusion MUCH better but nothing compares to any Whey protein in my opinion.
Sun Warrior is what came recommended to me by both my Holistic Nutrionist and Naturopath. It is vegan, pure and has a sikly smooth texture. By far the best brand I have found and I have tried quite a few!
I am currently using my 3rd container of Progressive Harmonized Vegan Protein, mostly due to price (vega is wayyyy too $$) – I’ve tried three flavours. The Unflavoured was very grainy, the vanilla was delish (overpowering in oatmeal, but great in green monsters), and the berry is a little fake tasting for me. I’d prefer the unflavoured over the berry.
I had been trying to increase protein intake for a while (marathon runner!), but was scared of powders. Since introducing them it’s been wonderful and I’ve been hitting the minimum 1g protein/kg bodyweight goal consistently now! Look forward to more posts on powders.
I hardle use protien powders actually! But my sister is looking for a good one! Great post :)
Thanks for reviewing these– it’s tough to find a good-tasting plant-based protein powder, and they’re so expensive, so I hate to drop $$$ on one that I don’t know is good or not!
oooh life is funny sometimes. JUST came out of a meeting with my dietician (I’m a veggie) and she said I need more protein too. She asked me about a powder and I told her I was always hesitant about them, sugar and added calories and such. Then here you go and post all about some good options! Thanks darling! Keep us posted on any other good finds!!
Nice to hear your thoughts and pros and cons of these two. I’ve tried a few whey proteins out but always ended up not liking how sweet they were with all the added sugars. I’m on the hunt for an unsweetened whey that doesn’t taste anythingggg like hemp protein- belch!
Thanks for the reviews, Ange! I’m a big protein powder fan because I work out in the AM and find that I really do need a high protein breakfast in order to recover properly. Since I’m not vegan, I’ve been experimenting with whey blends and isolates. The blends usually contain casein too, which is a slower digesting, timed-release protein. I’ve found that these ones definitely help to keep me full until my next meal. Some of my favourite brands are Promasil and Isoflex, but sadly they are not free of artificial sweeteners. I have to say though, Vega Whole Health Optimizer has a good dose of very clean plant-based protein and I think the vanilla chai one is delicious!
I’ve gone back and forth with my protein powders. Whole Foods has a nice tasting vanilla and chocolate whey protein powder, but they aren’t vegan. I then tried a brown rice chocolate flavored protein powder in a green monster and it was disgustingly chalky. I’m still on the hunt for one I like.
Great post! I like to use peanut flour in my smoothies and oatmeal to add protein. 1/4 cup has 110 calories and 16g protein. I love peanut butter so the taste comes out great for me when mixed with a frozen banana and almond milk.
I have two huge tubs of Vega WFHO sitting in my fridge and I can’t bring myself to use them up because the taste is so nasty. :-/
I tried the Raw Protein and I just couldn’t handle it. It tasted like straight up CHALK! I gagged every time! Right now, I have a chocolate flavored brown rice protein powder that I add a banana, almond butter, and almond milk to and it works pretty well for me.
I so WISH that there was an amazing, inexpensive protein powder out there for us!!!
Good reviews! I have never used protein powder (except for peanut flour) though I’d like to give some brands a shot. I’m just scared to fork out the money in the unfortunate case I don’t like them!
Thanks for the reviews! I actually had to do my own search when I got pregnant last year because of the increase in the amount of protein I needed and the morning sickness keeping me from getting enough throughout the day. I tried vegan Lifetime, Life Basics with 22-23 g of hemp, pea, rice and chia protein and around 130 calories. It’s sweetened with stevia not sugar. It tastes pretty good, and I would actually add it into my overnight oats instead of a banana with the chia it thickened them right up. I am currently trying Sun Warrior, but have only used it in things and haven’t tried it plain.
I still have yet to find a protein powder that I like the taste of, that doesn’t have ingredients that upset my stomach, and that is worth the money. I keep trying, but it’s expensive trying out protein powders!
A very good choice might be Pumpkin Seed Protein Powder by Omega. 10g per small serving, 40 – 50 servings per container (depending where you live) and it has all amino acids in it. :)
I’ve been following your blog for about a year and I love it! This post couldn’t have come at a better time because i’ve been searching for a protein powder to add to my diet (literally went out to different stores yesterday to compare). A very nice worker at whole foods gave me a whey protein, rice protein, and the GOL raw protein samples to try for free so i could figure out which one I like before committing and spending the money. I’ve heard only great things about the GOL raw protein and will probably end up going with that one.
Thanks for all the great recipes!
Angela, I’ve also been searching for a good protein powder that doesn’t taste chalky. I recently tried Rainbow Light, Protein Energizer Vanilla. They use stevia as a sweetener. I might have to give the GOL RAW a try since the ingredients look better and I like the no sweetener since I already add bananas to my smoothies for thickness.
I’m a SunWarrior person, but it’s soooo expensive! Always on the lookout for good protein sources… most vegan (and non-vegan) ones taste icky to me.
I drink it with water in a shaker cup after workouts.
SUN WARRIOR all the way! 100% Raw Vegan, 83% Pure Protein (Complete Amino Acid Profile), Hypoallergenic, Non-GMO, Gluten & Soy Free –> the chocolate is my favorite! 80 calories per scoop + 15g of protein & the flavor is AWESOME! Just made a protein smoothie for breakfast (1 scoop Sun Warrior Chocolate protein powder, 1 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk, 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree, 1/2 frozen banana, pinch of cinnamon) –> perfect fall protein in the morning!
only “sugar” in sun warrior is some stevia!
love your hair I must eat more protein I want hair like yours Can you share your hair tips . and health tips. thanks june