Table Comparing Value of Vegan Protein Powder (And why I've Chosen Pea Isolate)

[tanjavdw]

tl;dr: I like pea protein isolate, also look at this table I made

https://imgur.com/a/8QBNLiv

The Table:
Ok, so I'm not vegan but I get some sort of allergic reaction with whey-based protein powders, so I've been trying various vegan protein powders which generally tend to be some blend of pea, rice, and hemp.

Taste aside, I wanted to know which powder is the best bang-for-my-buck. I care about getting some amount of BCAAs since my fitness goal is to build muscle, so I've also tried to calculate BCAAs per serving for each of these options.

I made up a quick way of eye-balling "value" by comparing the protein ratio per serving to cost per 20g protein. (Probably not the most statistically correct/rigorous method but I think it works?)

Here's the table.
(As a heads up, Myprotein seems to frequently have coupons online so the value is a little better than what you see on the spreadsheet.)

Why Pea:
Recently, I'm trying pure pea isolates given that pea seems to have the highest PDCAAS among vegan options, and a decent amount of BCAAs (~20% based on Naked Pea, and Men's Health). According to that link, whey clocks in at about 30% BCAAS so the difference isn't anything to lose sleep over. Pea is apparently richer in arginine...which I'm not sure is significant, but there is definitely literature out there touting its value for muscle growth. There's also this study on pea isolate and bicep size increases, but the authors of the study work for a pea protein powder manufacturing company so I'd interpret it with a huge grain of salt.

Opinions on what I've tried:

• SunWarrior Warrior Blend: Great taste, but that can vary; taste is inconsistent from batch to batch; I ended up gaining 10 lbs working out and supplementing with this daily. This was my old favorite but I thought it got a little pricey
• Garden of Life Sport: Really good with oat milk. Creamier taste/texture compared to SunWarrior.
• Orgain: I hated the taste---too bitter---and sold it to a friend.
• Naked Pea: My new favorite given the great high protein content per serving, and affordability. Taste: My friend said it smells like horse feet and spit it out. My other friend didn't say anything and spit it out. I happen to not have a great sense of smell and can down these shakes all day with no problem. They're so "light" in comparison to other protein powders, which are thicker/creamier. Even with milk. I think it tastes great with oat milk, and with water it's still great with several drops of vanilla stevia. My friends would still disagree.
• Myprotein pea isolate - Vanilla: Made my throat itch (which is what whey does), so I'm allergic to something in it. Probably would be ok with Zyrtec (which doesn't cut it for me with whey protein). It also tasted too sweet and heavy.

Links: Links for each of the products are listed below. Some might be affiliate Amazon links from Wirecutter since I used their original article to point me toward products I hadn't seen before.

• Vega Sport
• Myprotein Pea Isolate Vanilla/Unflav.
• Orgain Organic Protein
• GoL Raw Organic
• GoL Sport
• Sunwarrior Warrior Blend
• NowSports Pea
• Naked Pea
• MRM Veggie Elite

Edit: "Horse feed" not "horse feet"

 

[ktmbdm2019]

@tanjavdw Seriously great write up!

I was surprised to see you go for the MyProtein when I saw the Naked Pea was better value all around. Then I saw the horse feet comment haha.

I’ve just got a few of the pea proteins from MyProtein so looking forward to trying them out - they look pretty good.

 

[tanjavdw]

@ktmbdm2019 Thanks!

I actually bought the Myprotein first cause I'm familiar with their brand (good reviews on Slickdeals threads and Labdoor) and they had a deal on Honey for 40% off, so the value was better. Then I discovered Naked protein on Wirecutter and splurged on that. Glad I did cause I might have given up on pure pea given the itchy throat I got from the Myprotein.

 

[peter20178]

@tanjavdw What about hemp protein, is it any good?

 

[tanjavdw]

@peter20178 My initial impression just briefly looking into it is that it's probably not going to beat pea: 1) The protein/serving ratio is 0.5 for two brands I looked at so I'm sure if you calculated the value it wouldn't be so great. Also it means you need to consume more powder to get the same amount of protein, and that usually means thicker, less consumable shakes. My guess is that hemp isolates that are sold also have a decent about of fat and fiber. 2) The PDCAAS for hemp is around 0.6 so 20g of hemp is going to be lower with respect to 'quality'/digestibility compared to 20g pea which has a PDCAAS around 0.9. But if hemp protein has significantly more BCAAs (leucine, isoleucine, valine) vs pea then I think it's worth looking into---I don't think it does, I just don't have that info.

 

[dawn16]

@peter20178 I need to show the receipts but there is a n episode of Ben Greenfield podcast where a vegan researcher is talking about vegan proteins. He basically said that Pea protein is the best out there as the body really digests it and it transform into gains. Hemp protein is good but just as general protein. It lacks the components to be absorbed by the muscles properly, so it will be a waste of money.

 

[peter20178]

@dawn16 Damnit, pea protein isn't available in my country so I thought the next best thing could be hemp since it's a complete protein.

 

[dawn16]

@peter20178 Where do you live? I'll try to share some good brands tomorrow (expensive tho) available in amazon. Also, remember, 3ssential aminoacids are also necessary. Not just protein

 

[peter20178]

@dawn16 I live in Serbia, so shopping via Amazon isn't an option for me. Also from all the proteins on this list I've seen only Orgain being sold here, and I don't know if it's worth buying since it's quite expensive.