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 :)

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?