NOW Egg White Protein Unflavored Powder

la seule chose ces que ce fût très long a l’avoir presque 3 semaines!

all good

I couldn’t pass up the value of this item…it’s a LOT of protein, but people are correct: the taste on its own is pretty terrible. BUT, it can be flavored easily and then tastes fine! The powder itself is not gritty or grainy, but smooth. I bought powdered PB2 peanut butter and sugar free chocolate syrup to 12 oz iced water, blended it and got a nice chocolate peanut butter drink! I bet it would taste good with Strawberry syrup too!

Alright, first things first: NO pea protein powder tastes good. ALL brands taste and smell awful, like drywall, and they’re ALL chalky in water. There’s no escaping it. Whey is just far better as a water-soluble protein – it blends well, offers a creamy texture, and has a fairly inoffensive flavor of its own.

HOWEVER, pea protein has specific advantages. First, it’s far easier to find an unflavored pea protein (like this one). There is only one ingredient. Nearly ALL whey protein powders are flavored, which means additives like lecithin, xantham gum, and sugar alcohols. If a whey protein powder with a flavor like ‘super duper chocolate’ sounds too good to be true, it is. As much as possible, always go for an unflavored version of whatever protein you buy. In my experience, there are very few whey protein brands that offer an unflavored version of their product (for example, ON does not), but most respectable pea protein powders will have an unflavored version.

Pea protein is simply a protein isolate. It can be manufactured directly from yellow peas, with only a little bit of processing. The only matter to keep in mind is that the pea protein isolation process generates relatively high sodium content, so you might be surprised by the amount of sodium in pea protein (e.g. in a NOW sports scoop, it’s over 300mg). Still, unless you are explicitly trying to control your sodium intake, these amounts are perfectly fine. Because there are ZERO other ingredients, pea protein is certainly more secure than most flavored whey proteins. Moreover, there’s no additional process needed to make pea protein water-soluble, which is not the case for whey. Hence the additives, even in unflavored whey. This doesn’t mean that whey is harmful, only that it is not usually sold as a single ingredient.

When it comes to mixing the UNFLAVORED versions of each in water, whey wins hands down. It tastes way better, mixes better, and just goes down easy. Pea protein is almost unpalatable, and it doesn’t really matter what brand you pick. You’ll get hints of cardboard, wood shaving, and drywall powder.

The trick with any pea protein is to mix it into a beverage that masks its flavor. Typically, the best way to do this is a smoothie. Milk/oat milk, oats, berries, yogurt and bananas with some water are typically perfectly adequate. These ingredients easily mask the odor and flavor of pea protein when blended. Either that, or you simply need to drink pea protein like medicine. Glug it down, shut your eyes, and gulp hard.

The NOW sports pea protein powder is, in that sense, a standard pea protein. It smells and tastes awful on its own. But it is unflavored, contains one ingredient, and has great protein returns per scoop. I recommend mixing a scoop with thicker liquids (milk/oat milk/yogurt), at least one sweetener (fruits/frozen berries are okay), and some grains or fiber in a smoothie. Consumed this way, pea protein is safe, unobjectionable, and far more reliable (it’s much easier to manufacture, so there’s less chance of anything murky happening behind the scenes).

When I first started having pea protein, I found my stomach reacting a little uncertainly to it – a little bit of gripe, and once or twice a trip to the bathroom. However, after just a few tries, my body is used to it (in smoothie form), and the results in terms of muscle gain are really noticeable. I have no lactose/dairy issues, so I could be having whey – but I find the simplicity of unflavored pea protein much more desirable. Go ahead and buy this protein powder – it won’t disappoint you. But don’t consume it in ways that you know will make you gag. Mask it heavily (nonfat milk and/or unsweetened oat milk barely add any calories, neither do fruits for the most part) and you’ll be fine. Happy training!

It is as expected, sugar-free and plain. It’s pea protein, don’t expect it to be anything like whey protein. Texture is as what pea protein should be, no surprises. If you’re unsure what’s it like, try mashed boiled peas and that’s almost what this product is like minus any sweetness.