Controlled Labs PROnom 23 Protein Review

Ever since Gaspari discontinued Myofusion and Myofusion Hydro, I've been on the search for a new favorite protein. I do love BSN's Syntha-6 but the carbs and fats are a little high for times when I'm cutting calories. 

PROnom 23 is Controlled Labs' newest product and their entry into the protein powder market. It's been getting a lot of great feedback on the forums. Controlled Labs is a trusted company by many so I was very interested in trying out their protein.

Vanilla Cupcake Batter opened up!

MuscleHQ had this on sale so I decided to buy a jug of each flavor to try it out. The two flavors currently available are Chocolate Cupcake Batter and Vanilla Cupcake Batter. One 4 lb jug provides 53 servings and was on sale for $39 a jug. This is a little pricier than what I would normally spend on protein but I decided to splurge a bit based on Controlled Labs' reputation and feedback.

PROnom 23 isn't a straight whey protein powder but is a protein blend made up of six different proteins which are: Whey Protein Concentrate, Whey Protein Isolate  Whey Protein Hydrolysate, Micellar Casein, Milk Protein Isolate, Calcium Caseinate. Protein blends typically taste better since the company is able to manipulate the texture using different proteins, and additional fats and sugars normally added as well.

Taste
The protein is one of the better proteins I have tasted. The Vanilla to me doesn't really taste like vanilla but it is still good, perhaps more like a light French vanilla. Some have said it reminds them of Twinkies  The chocolate tastes very good and would be the flavor I would choose if I had to choose one. Others say it taste like Swiss Miss hot chocolate. 

Texture
The texture is very smooth and has no clumps as advertised. However, it is a tiny bit chalky. I prefer my shakes to be thicker so I like this protein with very little water, around 6-8 ounces for two scoops. 

Shaken in the Blender Bottle. No clumps!

Smell
This protein smells awesome. The chocolate cupcake batter smells like a mix of Hershey's chocolate and Qwik powder. The vanilla cupcake batter has a weaker smell but it still smells good. I can smell the vanilla, but it is a very light vanilla smell just like it's light vanilla taste.

Mixability
The mixability of PROnom 23 is one of the best. It mixes very fast with no clumps and  only takes a couple shakes with the blender bottle.

Overall
This is a protein that I would rank pretty high up there. It tastes great, smells great, mixes great! I would definitely buy this again if I could find a good deal on it. 39 plus shipping for 4 lbs is a little high but 30-32 dollars for 4 lbs would be awesome.

PROnom 23 hasn't taken over as my favorite. I still prefer Myofusion and Syntha-6 but it's a good protein that I would definitely look forward to drinking. This is only my opinion but other users seem to love the protein. I would rate PROnom 23 a 4 out of 5 stars :)

My two jars :)

Bad experience with VPX Syngex protein

Last month I had a really bad experience with VPX Sports Syngex protein. I had decided to buy it because the protein was on sale for a cheap price and I had no problems with it previously when I tried their Cookies & Cream flavor.

I ordered two 5 lb jugs, one of each flavor: Chocolate and Vanilla.

When I first started using it, I had the worst stomach irritation/discomfort and diarrhea. I had never experienced anything like this before! It felt like I was urinating out of my ass!

I continued to use it for the next few days thinking that it may have been something else. But every night after I took the protein, I experienced the same symptoms. Immediately after discontinuing the use of the Syngex protein, the symptoms went away so I was confident the Syngex protein was the cause of my troubles.

This is how I felt

I searched some forums to see if this had been reported before and did find others that experienced the same thing, but also others who did not. I wondered what could be causing this horrible reaction in me and certain others but then not everybody?

I wrote to Nutraplanet.com where I ordered the protein and described my problem and they told me they don't accept returns on opened items...Damn. This was all they wrote back to me:

"You are free to return any UNOPENED product for a full refund."

Pretty good customer service huh? So now, I have two 5 lb opened jars that I can't return and can't use :(

I decided to contact VPX on their facebook page and described my experience with the Syngex protein. They responded with a comment telling me to email them. I emailed them and got a quick response back from Jon Owoc.

I ideally just wanted a refund, but they offered to send me a jug of their SRO protein, which is lactose free, zero carb, whey protein isolate (they suspected it might have been the lactose in the Syngex that caused me troubles but I can drink milk, eat ice cream, and drink other whey concentrates just fine, so I disagreed with the cause). 

I doubted they would have refunded me for the money I spent elsewhere for the product so I took them up on their offer for the tub of SRO protein and also let them know my problems were not due to the lactose and maybe I had gotten a bad batch. They did ask for the lot numbers on the jars I had and said they would let their production know in case they run into similar issues in the future.

A few days later I received a package in the mail from VPX and I was happy to see they sent me a 5 lb jug of their SRO protein, a 2 lb jug of their Protein Rush product, and a box of their Zero Impact protein bars!

Thanks VPX!

I'm happy to report the SRO Protein causes no issues for me so I am actually able to use it!

I haven't tried the Protein Rush yet, but the VPX Impact bars are pretty good and cause no issues either.

This one bad experience won't prevent me from using VPX products in the future, but my bad experience with Nutraplanet customer service definitely gives me second thoughts about ordering from them again.

This is the first time in my plus 10 years of taking supplements that I've actually tried to return a product. It's too bad Nutraplanet couldn't do more for me considering I've been a long time customer and have spent thousands over the years, but I'm sure glad VPX was able to do something for me. Thanks for the great service VPX!

LG Sciences Lipotropic Protein: 5 lbs for 18 dollars!

If you guys want some cheap protein, I just ordered some LG Sciences Lipotropic Protein from Sportsnutritiononline.com. It's currently  5 lbs for 18 dollars!

Flat rate shipping is 5.99. Use code  CEL-emdub  for an extra 5% off. 

It is a blend of whey protein isolate, whey protein concentrate, genus protein isolate(pea protein), milk protein isolate, egg protein isolate and micellar casein. 

I initially only ordered one bottle because I read reviews saying it was terrible but other reviews said it was pretty good. 

I received my bottle and tasted it. It doesn't taste bad and is definitely drinkable. But it does have a unique taste to it due to the pea protein. But for 18 bucks it is a steal! It is cheap because it is expiring in April 2012. So I ordered another 2 bottles :)

Syntha-6 Decadence Bar Review

If you've ever had BSN's Syntha-6 Protein powders before, then you know BSN makes one of the most delicious protein shakes in the world :)


The company recently came out with their own meal replacement bar named Syntha-6 Decadence bars. I don't normally eat or use protein bars but I really wanted to try this one out to see if it was as delicious as the protein shakes they produce.


The flavor I tried was the Chocolate Caramel Pretzel so my review will be based on that flavor only.

Very decadent looking

Nutrition
One bar contains 350 calories consisting of 30 grams of protein, 9 grams of fat, and 44 grams of carbohydrates with 18 of those grams coming from sugar alcohols. The rest of the carbohydrates come from 1 gram of fiber and 13 grams of sugar. 


The nutrition profile isn't exactly healthy but neither are many of the protein bars out there. These protein bars definitely wouldn't be good to use on a cut but would be something more likely used during a bulk.


Texture
The bar was extremely sticky and chewy but I guess that's to be expected when it involves caramel. It was moist from beginning to end and I never felt any dryness while chewing it so that's a plus. The pretzel pieces also added a nice crunch to contrast with the chewiness...I only wish there were more pretzel pieces. I would rate the texture as excellent.


Taste
The bar was a little on the sweeter side but not too sweet for me. The dominant flavor I tasted from the bar was caramel, with a slight bitterness from the chocolate. My mouth felt the crunch from the pretzel pieces but I would have liked more pretzel flavor, and probably just more and bigger pieces of pretzel to lessen sweetness of the caramel. The typical aftertaste that you get with most protein bars was in this one as well. I would rate the taste as just good.

Inside the wrapper...it had melted a bit from shipping :(

Overall
I have to say the Syntha-6 Decadence bar was good...but I was hoping for better. My expectations of the bar were high due to my experience with their awesome protein shakes but unfortunately, the bar did not live up to the expectations. 


Not to say that the bar wasn't good, because it was...I was just expecting to be blown away which didn't happen. In comparison, when I first tried the Quest protein bars, I was wowed by these bars. So Quest protein bars are still my favorite protein bar and the best tasting bars in the world :)


Anybody have any suggestions of any other bars for me to try? Anything better than Quest protein bars?

Gaspari Myofusion Protein on Sale!

My favorite protein, Gaspari Myofusion, is on sale at Nutraplanet.com for $36 for a 5 lb jug! I would stock up if I hadn't bought 4 jugs a month ago. Try my favorite flavors Banana Perfection and Strawberry Cream :)


http://www.nutraplanet.com/product/gaspari/myofusion-5lb.html

Gaspari Nutrition Myofusion Protein Review

When it comes to my use of protein powders, I don't really have any strong opinions or bias for a particular brand. I've found that the two most important factors when it comes to choosing a protein powder is quality and taste. 


Most of the other features advertised for protein powders such as how fast or slowly it absorbs, how it was filtered or exchanged won't make any noticeable difference for most people. I'm not sure it means any difference for the 1% of the population who actually need to focus on the little details either. 

If I happen to try or sample a new protein powder that I like better than my current favorite, then the new protein powder would become my new favorite.

With this being said, Gaspari Nutrition Myofusion Protein is currently my protein powder of choice. Gaspari Nutrition is a trusted brand by a lot people so I trust that the protein powder is a quality protein and has what it says it has on the label. 


The best thing about the powder is of course the taste. I've tried many different protein powders and the combination of Myofusion's taste, texture, and quality are above all others.

Here's what's listed on Gaspari's website about what Myofusion does:

• A Cost Effective Yet Great Tasting Protein Powder Designed to be Used Multiple Times per Day Without Breaking your Budget
  
  -I've found that Myofusion can be found anywhere from $35 - $40 dollars for a 5 lb jug which is a great deal considering today's protein prices. A 5 lb jug contains approximately 63 servings.
• Optimal Ratios of Cross-Flow Cold Process/Microfiltered Whey Protein Concentrate & Isolate, Egg Albumen, and Milk Protein Isolate*
  
  -This doesn't mean too much to me and wouldn't mean too much to most people. However, I do believe that protein blends are better for you than straight whey protein alone. Myofusion has a good blend of whey, egg, and milk proteins as listed above.
• Contains A Powerful Proteolytic GaspariZyme™ Complex For Extreme Bioavailability and Maximum Amino Acid Levels In The Bloodstream*
  
  -I don't know exactly what GaspariZyme is and I can't easily find it on the website but this probably makes little to no difference on the absorption of the protein.
• No Sugar Added, Aspartame Free*
  
  -No sugar added is always a good thing. No aspartame means they use other artificial sweeteners which I've found do taste better that aspartame.
• Incredible Long-Term Taste Satisfaction*
  
  -This is very true. I've been using Myofusion for about a year now and am very satisfied with the taste and look forward to drinking my favorite flavors every time.

Myofusion comes in 6 different flavors, of which I've tried all of them except the Cookies and Cream. The other flavors are Milk Chocolate, Delicious Vanilla, Strawberries & Cream, Chocolate Mint, and Banana Perfection. My favorite ones are Banana Perfection and Strawberries & Cream. 

Last night, I just made another protein powder purchase as I'm running low on Myofusion. If Myofusion was on sale for $30 for a 5 lb jug I would have bought Myofusion, but since it wasn't I decided I would try some new ones that were priced lower. I bought Muscle Pharm Combat Powder Banana Cream, VPX Sports Syngex Cookies & Cream, and 4 Ever Fit Fruit Blast the Whey Mango Magic from AllStarHealth.com

We'll see if one of the above take over Myofusion as my favorite protein.