The Best Protein Powder

How We Found the Best Protein Powder

We started with 39 protein powders that received a rating of 70 or higher by Labdoor.

The best protein powder isn’t just palatable; it’s also safe for your body. To find high quality protein powders that are honest about their ingredients, we leaned heavily on research from Labdoor, an independent company that tests the accuracy of labeling in supplements and scores those ingredients on how harmful they are to consumers.

Nutritional supplements aren’t regulated by the FDA, so protein powder manufacturers themselves are responsible for ensuring that their products are safe, legal, and compliant with standard FDA regulations. Because of this, some companies cut corners; and if manufacturers don’t have any legal obligation to accurately report what’s in the product, consumers run the risk of serious health issues.

In one especially disconcerting case, Labdoor tested the sodium content in 81 protein powders and found that they contained 70.4% higher sodium content on average than their Supplement Facts labels claimed. Protein powder manufacturers have plenty of incentive to fabricate information like this. More sodium intake can cause water retention and fake the look of quick muscle gains. Labdoor also found that 52% of the powders contained measurable amounts of free-form amino acids, which make protein content look misleadingly high in lab tests without adding much nutritional benefit. BSN True Mass, a protein powder labeled “excellent” by BodyBuilding.com, was an especially flagrant offender, deviating from its claimed protein content by over 40%.

Given that lack of federal oversight, we only considered protein powders that received a rating of 70 or higher from Labdoor, a mark that ensures that all ingredients are accurately listed and safe for consumption.

Every protein powder had to be third-party verified for illegal substances.

No one expects to buy a protein powder that contains illegal stimulants, but since supplements aren’t regulated by the FDA, it’s a very real possibility. Take the case of Oklahoma football player Amani Bledsoe, who was suspended for a year after using protein powder that contained the banned substance clomiphene but didn’t list it on the label. Accidentally consuming a powder with banned substances could be a career-ending mistake, and we didn’t want to take any chances.

We required our contenders to be verified by either the NSF Certified for Sport program or Informed-Choice.org, two of the most respected independent testing organizations around. To earn their seals of approval, companies must submit to ongoing and unannounced inspections of their facilities to ensure that no banned substances end up in their products. The 26 non-verified products we cut aren't necessarily bad products; it just means the company that produces them hasn’t chosen to get them tested. But by using these strict certifications, we could be sure that every product we’re recommending is irrefutably legal.

We cut out any products with controversial food colorings or artificial sweeteners.

There’s no authoritative research on the effects of substances like food colorings and artificial sweeteners, but the consensus among online fitness and nutrition communities is that you’re best off staying away from them. As an article from the Harvard Medical School puts it, “Whether non-nutritive sweeteners are safe depends on your definition of safe. Studies leading to FDA approval have ruled out cancer risk, for the most part. However, those studies were done using far smaller amounts of diet soda than the 24 ounces a day consumed by many people who drink diet soda. We really don’t know what effect large amounts of these chemicals will have over many years.”

To get a better idea of how experts feel about these additives, we polled over 4,000 registered dietitians. Their response was unanimous (and often much stronger): If possible, artificial sugars and colorings should be completely avoided. Most of the time, they’re simply unnecessary, but some do have potentially harmful side effects like migraines and nausea. Since they’re not adding anything positive, we decided to err on the side of caution.

Through our research and expert interviews, we settled on 12 ingredients to avoid in our protein powders:

• Red 40 - Color
  Banned in the UK, Red 40 has been linked to promoting hyperactivity in children and immune system tumors in mice.
• Blue 1 and 2 - Color
  Blue 1 and 2 have been linked to hyperactivity in a wide variety of artificial food coloring tests.
• Yellow 5 - Color
  Yellow 5 has been known to cause urticaria (hives), eczema, angioedema, asthma, and hyperactive behavior, as well as some allergic reactions, especially in individuals with aspirin hypersensitivity.
• Caramel Color - Color
  The International Agency for Research on Cancer has reported that 4-mel, a compound found in some types of Caramel Coloring, is “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”
• Aspartame - Artificial Sweetener
  Aspartame has been said to induce numerous side effects, those most common being headaches, dizziness, confusion, and vision problems.
• Acesulfame Potassium (Sunett) - Artificial Sweetener
  Methylene Chloride (a known carcinogen) is a by-product of the Acesulfame Potassium creation process. The FDA states it does not expect Methylene Chloride to remain in the finished product due to “the multi-step purification process used in the manufacture of ACK and the volatility of methylene chloride,” but avoided it altogether.
• Splenda (Sucralose) - Artificial Sweetener
  Although approved by the FDA, there have been reports of adverse reactions to the sweetener, including as a possible migraine trigger. There is also research suggesting that it could harm the immune system.
• Erythritol - Sugar Alcohol
  According to a study from the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Erythritol can cause cramps, nausea, flatulence, and diarrhea.
• Glycerin (Glycerol) - Sugar Alcohol
  Glycerin side effects include: diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and headache.
• Inositol - Sugar Alcohol
  Many side effects are possible. Diarrhea, dizziness, flushing, itching, loss of appetite, nausea, upset stomach, and vomiting could occur if it is ingested in high quantities.
• Polydextrose - Sugar Alcohol
  Polydextrose can cause abdominal cramping, bloating and excessive gas.
• Xylitol - Sugar Alcohol
  Gas, bloating, and diarrhea can occur with high dosages.

Most studies regarding artificial sweeteners and dyes provide “inconclusive” results, but the controversy surrounding the topic was enough to give us pause. Many common food colorings are classified as a “concern” by the FDA, and the debate regarding the benefits of artificial sweeteners like sucralose and aspartame is ongoing. To err on the safe side, we eliminated any products with these polarizing ingredients.

Finally, we tasted the chocolate and vanilla flavors from our final six protein powders.

That left us with six remaining brands to try for ourselves. We wanted to limit how much our personal flavor preferences biased our testing, so we bought two flavors from each brand: chocolate and vanilla. Since a product’s ingredients change depending on the flavor, we double-checked that each one still passed all of our ingredient cuts — if another flavor sounds better to you, we’d recommend scanning the ingredients first. From there, the only thing that was left to do was round up everyone in the office and start drinking some shakes.

We started by shaking the recommended serving of powder with water (as opposed to milk or other beverages) to make sure the taste wasn’t impacted by outside flavors. Then we had our 11 testers evaluate six different protein powders each: three chocolate and three vanilla. Testers provided a score from one to seven for both taste and texture, along with some brief (but colorful) comments. We were looking for a protein powder that was easy to mix, smooth to drink, and tastier than a typical supplement.

One of our biggest takeaways was that chocolate is a much more pleasant experience than vanilla. On average, our chocolate protein powders scored a 3.95 in taste, compared to only 2.88 for vanilla. If you want something neutral to mix in with smoothie or milkshake, vanilla or unflavored is your best bet. But for no-fuss mixing on the go, chocolate is much easier to get down.

Vega’s vanilla flavor was one of the least popular of the group, with two of our testers going off the scale and awarding it zero and negative three points. One tester disliked it so much, he concluded, “At that point, fitness isn’t worth it.” Optimum Nutrition’s vanilla didn’t fare much better. Testers described it as “watery whipped cream” with “an aftertaste like bad frosting.”

Texture was much less of an issue for most people. Vanilla and chocolate flavors earned nearly identical scores in that category, and most powders dissolved fairly easily. There were a few notable exceptions, though. Vega’s vanilla powder was fine in our testing cups, but when we emptied out the shaker, we found lumps of hardened powder stuck to the bottom that made cleanup harder. Vega’s chocolate has its issues, too, producing the densest liquid of any powder we tested. One tester described it as “syrupy” and another likened it to “choking down medicine”

After half an hour of sipping shakes, we found three protein powders that stood out above the rest. Two of them received our highest scores for taste, while the third was the better of two unpleasant vegan powders we tested. Whatever you want out of your protein powder, one of these will have you covered.

The 12 Protein Powders We Tested

• Allmax - ISONatural Chocolate
• Allmax - ISONatural Vanilla
• Dymatize - ISO100 Natural Chocolate
• Dymatize - ISO100 Natural Vanilla
• Garden of Life - Vanilla
• Garden of Life - Chocolate Cacao
• Jay Robb's Whey Protein - Vanilla
• Jay Robb's Whey Protein - Chocolate
• Optimum Nutrition - Vanilla
• Optimum Nutrition - Chocolate
• Vega Sports Performance Protein - Vanilla
• Vega Sports Performance Protein - Chocolate