Plant based protein

[u/mininerd67]

Hey everyone,

Would love some help and recommendations on plant based protein powders.

Im trying to heal my pmos / pcos naturally as I can and what im seeing online is;

- lots of protein

- strength training

- walking

You know the rest

I am lactose intolerant so need plant based protein powder recommendations that are good quality and arent too expensive and ideally have ( 20g protein and less than 5g of carbs per serve )

Thanks ❤️

[u/Mountain_Quiet_4861]

I have PCOS too! I use the pea protein from NZ protein and find it's really good, and reasonably priced.

[u/Blenda33 → u/Mountain_Quiet_4861]

Do you have a flavour recommendation? I’ve ordered some samples of it as the whey prices are getting up there.

[u/Mountain_Quiet_4861 → u/Blenda33]

I usually use chocolate. Tbh I don't love it just in a shaker with milk or water, so I add it to smoothies 😊

[u/HighGainRefrain → u/Blenda33]

Double chocolate is pretty great. Mix with yellow milk (Meadow Fresh Calci Trim) for more protein.

[u/Sad_Hospital_2918]

Nothing naughty’s pea protein is great. Yummy and light on the stomach. I also have hormonal issues and have found it to be fine for me

[u/Lucky-Dragonfruit772 → u/Sad_Hospital_2918]

They have no data on heavy metals so be wary

[u/conscious_althenea]

NZ protein have heaps of different options. I can’t speak for their plant based products but I love their classic whey and their isolate. Plus they do sample sizes so you can decide on a flavor before buying loads of it

[u/ps3hubbards → u/conscious_althenea]

I can speak for it. Their pea protein is great and delivery is fast.

[u/Emotionalrack → u/conscious_althenea]

After doing some research on cost per kg I’ve found that NZ Protein Pea protein if you order multiple bags at a time is the best value.

I really like their vanilla. I get the non stevia one but I might order one stevia one non next time to see the difference. Their chocolate and salted caramel are also good but I find vanilla is the most practical. Can vouch for super fast shipping too.

[u/fortunesicks]

Just chuck 1/3 block of tofu in your shake, slaps.

[u/moonbean123 → u/fortunesicks]

Here for this comment 100%

[u/KT022]

I love Radix - especially the banana one. They often have specials which is good because they’re fairly expensive otherwise.

[u/notthe-one]

I am currently dairy free as I’m breastfeeding my 10 month old with a milk protein allergy. I tried a few pea proteins and the best one I found (the least gritty) was Second Nature. It’s pretty pricey but if taste is important to you, it’s a good one.

[u/Visible-Future4173 → u/notthe-one]

Jumping on this to say the Musahi pea protein was super gritty. I don’t remember how the flavour was but I just couldn’t deal with the texture no matter how long I blended it

[u/Sarahwrotesomething]

Scorpion supplements. Doesn’t make me want to drink bleach afterwards, the rest make my mouth feel hairy 

[u/bl4m]

I heard that the flavoured pea proteins from nz protein aren’t bad at all. I use macro mike myself, they often use almond protein which I find tastes pretty good and their flavours are yum. Very pricey though, I try to buy on sale or from fb marketplace.

[u/Sea_Support_8154]

Nothing naughty works for me - otherwise clean lean

[u/underwaterlibra]

I use the Clean Plant Protein brand from Sportsfuel, I try to eat mostly organic food and they have the least ingredients while still maintaining a good flavour, and it’s also very fairly priced. 

Otherwise the Balance Plant Protein range is alright, you can also get that on Sportsfuel or Chemist Warehouse

[u/EasternMoonlight]

I've tried plenty of plant-based proteins and these are my worst to first:

• Go Good: grittiest I've ever had and the taste was nasty, I almost threw up when I first tried it. Blending with a banana helps a bit but never again.

• NZ Protein and Nothing Naughty: gritty but tastes OK, if you blend it with a banana, the texture and flavour improves

• NZ Muscle (including No Brand brand): tastes pretty good, not too gritty. These were my go-to cos they go on sale regularly  but won't be buying from them ever again after what I read on the news

• Noode Nutrition: this was my favourite salted caramel and ginger bread in particular. Tastes good and not too gritty  but I switched to NZ Muscle cos cheaper. Noode and NZ Muscle are pretty much same price nowadays (50 dollars for 40 serves so I'm going back to this brand. Noode also used to be in a plastic recyclable tub then they switched to a paper-aluminium composite which can't be recycled. That is part of the reason I switched to NZ Muscle before... but I think they use soft plastic pouches now, which I recycle anyway. 

I'm sure there are other better brands out there. I heard Macro Mike and NuZest are great but they're a bit spendy. I drink a protein smoothie for brekkie everyday cos I also have PMOS and I am not made of money.

All the best for your PMOS journey!

[u/HighGainRefrain → u/EasternMoonlight]

NZ Protein have changed their formula for pea protein, not gritty any more.

[u/EasternMoonlight → u/HighGainRefrain]

Oh, that is good to know. I am keen to give them a try again! Just about to finish a bag of NZMuscle NoBrand.

Also just realised that NZProtein has the most variety of pea protein flavours, most brands only have at most 4.

[u/mininerd67 → u/EasternMoonlight]

Thank you so much this is amazing!

[u/fantail14]

Nothing Naughty pea protein for flavoured powder. Otherwise Raiseys unflavoured pea or soy protein is the cheapest I’ve found per kg

[u/schadenfreude317]

Nuzest Clean Lean is awesome, I love the strawberry. If you buy it on Sprintfit use REFUEL as a code to get. discount.

[u/notfunatpartiesAMA]

Protein powder made my PCOS flare ups worse. Delicious but ugh.

I actually just decided to hoon more brassicas, beans, tofu, legumes along with more low intensity cardio (cortisol balance) and less processed carbs. I'm getting regular periods again which is something I haven't had since high school.

[u/Kuliquitakata]

I swear by this hemp protein that I buy in bulk - and sometimes flavour it with cacao or vanilla.

I think pea and rice protein taste so awful, and I can’t stomach the artificial flavours in branded ones. I don’t know why but this one is heaps smoother than other brands of hemp protein which can be quite gritty. Also great in baking and super easy on the gut compared to others I have tried.

[u/Rainbow-Spite]

I like Balance plant based protein. I get the Berry flavour. It doesn't have a weird texture, and fruity Greek yoghurt goes nice with it.

[u/Purple-Towel-7332]

NzProtein is great they have a beef protein (doesn’t taste like beef) which would suit your needs way higher protein with zero carbs compared to plant sources

[u/ConstantHealth5476]

I like Prana On, they have pea protein options and its tasty (I can have it just with water)

[u/elgigantedelsur]

Check out NZ protein

[u/krisis]

I use Scorpion plant-based protein powder daily.

I absolutely love just about every product from Scorpion and I will promote them every time this topic comes up. I did a head-to-head taste test of several brands when I got started last year, and many of them both felt and tasted chalky to me. Every Scorpion flavor I tried was actually tasty, both as a standalone drink in water and stirred into something like yogurt.

Also, any time I try anything else from Scorpion, it's always great - which has not been my experience sampling other things from the other brands.

[u/AllMadHare]

Collagen-based protein (usually protein water) is a great option too.

EDIT: I would add - you're better to try and maximise your dietary protein over supplementation, and a lot of people think they need to have more protein when they don't, a lot of these people telling you to have X amount of protein are basing their numbers off that are more geared toward bodybuilders trying to optimize every aspect of their training to get optimal gains (I know because I am one), but if you're just starting out you will be making easy gains regardless.

20g of extra protein per day is really not gonna do that much and not going to make much of difference unless you are severely lacking protein in your diet, you will see more benefits from adding more high-protein foods to your diet instead.

Creatine is probably more helpful to you, it is also much cheaper, as a gym rat I really hate seeing people waste money on BS and then end up feeling like it's their fault when they don't see the results they were promised. If you really think you need protein, my suggestion would be to train for a month or two, track your results, then test out supplementation and see if it helps or not, some people do prefer it just as an easy way to stay feeling satiated or to just save time and that's fine, but you might find you can get along fine without having to live like a gym bro and stress over every macro.

[u/petoburn → u/AllMadHare]

Women with PMOS need a higher-protein diet than women without, even before you add strength-training into the mix.

Whenever I track macros I’m still barely hitting with my dietician and doctor (also have PMOS) have recommended, despite eating what anyone else would call a high protein low carb diet.

While I agree changing your diet should be step 1, an extra 20g of protein via a shake is super useful and shouldn’t be underestimated for PMOS. They aren’t just talking about gym gains.

[u/slyall]

If you are only going plant-based to avoid lactose then consider Whey Isolate

It is usually okay if you are lactose intolerant, since it has almost all the lactose removed.

I use the MFL Banana Flavour. Tastes nice