How to Choose a Protein Powder

Plus my recs, of course.

There are two things that make a good protein powder: the quality of ingredients and your personal preference. I am constantly being asked about the best protein powder and the truth is, there are quite a few good ones, but you have to find the one you like.

Back to this idea of nutritionism I wrote about last week, I often feel we are way too focused on individual ingredients/nutrients and not paying enough attention to the big picture of our overall health. With that in mind, I don’t think you need to cycle through protein powders or change them once you find one you like. Protein powder should definitely not be your primary source of protein; it’s great to have in a meal that would otherwise be low in protein (like a smoothie or oats), but most of your protein should come from whole foods protein sources (I wrote all about this earlier in the week if you haven’t read it yet: here’s the link).

One quick note about flavors. I only get unflavored or vanilla protein powder. I do not like the taste of chocolate protein powder, I’d rather just add cacao powder. But you do you! I also do not like overly sweet protein powders and even if it’s a “better” sweetener like stevia or monk fruit—too much can throw off your palette and when you start eating less sugar it just feels too sweet. Maybe we’ll do a deep dive on sweeteners, stay tuned…

So basically, my advice is: find one you like and don’t overthink it. Below are some options to choose from. If there are others you don’t see listed, feel free to post in the comments and I’ll do my best to take a look at them.

We’re also hosting a webinar on protein next Wednesday, Feb 28 for paid subscribers. Check the details in my latest protein post.

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PLANT-BASED
Plant-based protein powders generally come from pea, hemp, brown rice, soy, or seeds. There are some other niche plant-protein powders out there, but that’s the gist of it. Here are some that I like.

• Sakara Protein + Greens Super Powder (discount code: MIASAKARA)

• Truvani

• Ora

• Tejari

COLLAGEN
I use collagen powder. This is my preference because I like the way it tastes (less chalky and sweet IMO). From a health perspective, collagen is the most abundant protein in the body; It makes up hair, skin, nails, connective tissue, bone, and more. As I mentioned in my protein post, collagen is not a complete protein (it’s missing the amino acid tryptophan), so it often says 0% of daily protein intake on the label. That’s just because it’s not a complete protein, but as long as you’re eating a diverse diet, it’s fine. In fact, oats (even though they’re not a great protein source) contain tryptophan, so if you add collagen to your oats, you’re getting a complete protein. Here are the ones I use.

• Needed Women’s Collagen (Everyone by now probably knows that I love this—my discount code is MIA20 if you haven’t tried it. This is unflavored.)

• Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel (I like how this has a little hint of vanilla)

WHEY
I’m not a whey girl. I just don’t like milk. I never have, and my reasons for it have nothing to do with health. That said, whey has little to no lactose, so it’s likely okay for someone with a moderate lactose intolerance, but might not work for others. Whey protein is a complete animal protein, so if you’re exercising heavily you could benefit from this as a post-workout shake. If I were to do whey, I’d get this one:

• Natural Force Organic Grass-Fed Whey Protein

NON-PROTEIN POWDER OPTIONS
If you absolutely hate protein powder but want to amplify your smoothies or oats, here are some options. You can use one of these items or combine them to get up to 20 grams.

• Greek yogurt

• High protein milk: Good old-fashioned cow’s milk or Eden Foods soy milk (12 grams of protein per serving!)

• Nuts, seeds, and nut butter

• Edamame beans (throw a handful in your blender - you can’t taste it!)

• Egg whites (mixed into oats, not a smoothie)