Having finished up the protein powder comparison it’s another week until I tell you all about Premier Protein vanilla shakes, right?
Wrong.
Here’s how this ended up happening: PP was the only premixed I purchased and it sat in the fridge, faithfully, for the first week or so. But then I got hungry, because one or two of the shakes didn’t quite cut it when I was doing a long run, or because I didn’t have time to pack a lunch as nicely for myself as I wanted to, and so I just threw a shake in there.
The smallest batch of PP’s you can get I think is 4 (unless someone breaks up a pack and gives you a one-off) and within a week they were gone. I didn’t think they’d go that fast and I also didn’t think it would be fair to compare a premixed to have-to-drag-the-blender-out powder, so here’s a comparison of 3 premixed proteins (all Vanilla!).
The contenders: Obviously there’s Premier Protein, which is available pretty much everywhere (Safeway, Costco, Amazon) and was the recommendation by my best friend’s hubs. I then tried out Muscle Milk in Vanilla, and there’s the old standby of Labrada Lean Body protein shake in Vanilla Ice Cream.
The flavors:
- Premier Protein: basic vanilla, not fancy and not too rich.
- Labrada: my favorite vanilla of the three, slightly lighter flavor (despite advertisement as “ice cream”
- Muscle Milk: was fine for the first split-second but there’s a medicine-y aftertaste.
The textures: All three were much more watery than anything I did in a blender, although Premier Protein was the least watery. Then again I’m not sure how I’d feel about a thick shake for a shelf-sitting product.
The vitals:
- Premier Protein offers 30 grams of protein at 160 calories. Somewhere in there there is 3 grams of fat and 25mg of cholesterol (it is a bit on the high side, while the packaging says 8% of my intake it would technically be 13%).
- Muscle Milk offers 20 grams of protein at 130 calories, with 4 grams of fat and 10mg of cholesterol (so about 5% of my daily intake).
- Labrada offers 25 grams of protein at 180 calories, with 7 grams of fat and 10mg of cholesterol.
The performance: These all performed equally well – not quite meal “replacement” (I don’t care what the package says) but with leftover veggies from the night before or to cure mid-afternoon drag they worked great!
The cost: I’m going to use Amazon as the great leveler of prices here; your mileage may vary.
- Premier Protein: $7.46 as an add-on item of one 4-pack, or a 12-pack for $30. First price would be $1.87/serving, second would be $2.50/serving
- Muscle Milk: 2-4packs (so 8) for $24. $3/serving
- Labrada: $31 for a 12 pack (that’s not a type-o!). $2.58/serving.
Grade: Premier Protein gets an A- (subtracting points for cholesterol, although it’s still less than my original shake mix by far), Muscle Milk gets a B- (minus points for being the most expensive and medicine-y aftertaste), and Labrada gets a B (minus points for all of that fat).
Bobbie Conti 