5 Best Protein Powders for Natural Athletes

 
 
 

 
 
 

What is the best protein powder, and should it be an ingredient in your green smoothies?

Unless you’re new to this site, you might already know that I am a big believer in the power of fresh green smoothies to transform your health — making you lean and giving you abundant energy. A green smoothie is a thick, blended drink that has the consistency of a milkshake, but is made from fresh and healthy ingredients, including (and this is key) vegetables. These delicious shakes are not always the color green (though often they are); sometimes they are red or purple (but they always have at least one green ingredient, hence the name).

Powders are often not required in green smoothies. Raw seeds and nuts are an effective, rich and tasty way to get high-quality protein into smoothies (for extra high quality, those seeds and nuts can also be sprouted).

But some people, particularly athletes, like a bit more protein in their smoothies. You might want some extra protein too, especially on workout days. That’s when quality protein powders can be invaluable to help you recover from a workout, feed your muscles, and improve your results.

 

What is the Best Protein Powder?

So what is the best protein powder on the market (in this case, by “best” I mean what I personally believe to be the most effective, natural and healthiest — based on the many, many powders that I have tried). I tend to stick with (soy-free) plant protein and whey protein. Let’s take a look at some of my favorites!

Here are 5 that I like very much (including their approximate prices according to Amazon):

• ▸ Navitas Hemp Protein – $15 (16 ounce pouch)
• ▸ Vega (Chai flavor) – $49 (that’s for a huge 34.9 ounce tub)
• ▸ Lifetime Nutritional Specialties: Life’s Basics Plant Protein Vanilla – $17 (18.6 ounce tub)
• ▸ Sun Warrior Vanilla Protein – $41 (that’s for an enormous 2.2 pound bag)
• ▸ Biotics Whey Protein – $30 (16 ounce tub)

Weighing-in on Protein

Our protein needs depend upon several variables (lifestyle, age, size). Nutritionists generally break down the daily minimum protein in grams via a simple equation:

• ⊙ weight in pounds times .37 = minimum grams of protein/day
• ⊙ weight in kilograms times .8 = minimum grams of protein/day

According to the above formula, a person who weighs 150 pounds requires a minimum of 55 grams of protein per day. A 200-pound person would want 74 grams.

Active people perhaps need more — athletes especially; how much more is dependent on variables like duration and intensity of workout. For the extremely health conscious, choosing a protein that is made from raw, living, sprouted plant foods (such as Navitas Naturals Hemp, listed above) can be very helpful.

Sports and workouts involve taxing muscle beyond what is easily comfortable, and that muscle tissue requires restoration after the exercise session. This is when quality protein is invaluable.

Marathon Runners might require 50% more protein than a sedentary person. Body Builders might require 200% more; however, all of this is hotly contested — so many experts with so many differing opinons.

Some Nutritionists use total calorie intake to determine the necessary protein intake, but calorie intake does not exist in a vacuum. There may be plenty of reasons we are cutting calories, but that doesn’t always therefore mean that we need to be cutting protein, too.

“your body might require extra protein on workout days”

Protein Controversy

So, what does this all add up to? Well, it depends who you ask. There are those who say that the average American gets enough protein without even thinking about it — even if he or she is an athlete. There are those who say that we tend to treat protein as the main course of our meals, when it should be viewed as more of a side dish. These generalizations make for a coarse filter.

calculate the grams based on your weight,
adjust for activity level…and voila!”

You know what you weigh (hopefully), and you know how active you are (hopefully). We all know that protein is fundamental. We all know that the more active we are, the more our muscle fibers enjoy having access to protein.

Perhaps this is easier than we make it out to be. I try not to worry myself with what the average American does. If those who say that the average American gets enough protein unconsciously are right — in an abstract sense — so be it. It may not be that relevant to me as an individual because averages aren’t always great at accounting for unique differences. You can take a sample, run tests, and divide your results by the number of participants — but what you come up with will not perfectly represent a single one of their unique situations. I prefer instead to calculate the grams based on my weight, adjust for activity level…and voila! There’s no reason to ignore your protein intake based on generalizations founded on assumptions (or vice versa). Listen carefully and closely to your own body. Really listen, and it will usually tell you what it needs.

Aspartame, a sweetener found in most protein powders, is another subject of great controversy. Apparently, there have been studies linking it to a plethora of health problems. This is a highly debated issue, and I’ll just say that it makes sense to me — under the circumstances — to avoid the protein powders that contain it.

 
“…if you saw my driver’s license photo, you wouldn’t recognize me in it — I barely recognize myself! The photo was taken before I discovered freshly made green smoothies, back when I was, well, fatter. After making and drinking smoothies for a year, all of that weight came off, plus my face looks less puffy and more youthful. I eventually had to get new clothes, even my ‘skinny clothes’ were too chubby.

Of course, it wasn’t all smooth-sailing: in the beginning, I made some mistakes (pretty much the same mistakes everyone makes). For instance, when I first started, I put milk and banana into a blender and then added some powder I got from a can at the grocery store. Wrong! That is not a freshly made green smoothie! Also, at first, smoothies made me light-headed and wouldn’t sustain my energy, but Dane showed me on to use the right ingredients and the right ratios. It turns out, I needed to add more ‘clean fat,’ such as raw, sprouted seeds. Thanks to Dane, I feel better now than I ever have before. Freshly made green smoothies ROCK!”

                                              ~ David, Age 58, International Relocation Specialist
 

For me, I use protein powders almost daily. I’m active, workout daily, and eat very little meat — so quality protein powders are definitely a part of my nutritional arsenal! I add the powder most often to freshly made green smoothies. If you feel like you really want to try using green smoothies to lose fat, increase your energy, detoxify your body and improve your health, then I encourage you to get the new Longevity Lifestyle Kit.

The 5 Best Smoothie Recipes eBooklet is one of many life-enhancing items within the new Longevity Lifestyle Kit. This eBooklet will help you to eat better. You can purchase this eBook separately for $4.95, or save money purchasing the entire Longevity Lifestyle Kit and get all 5 digital products instantly for only $14.95.
 

“…I’ve always been a no-breakfast person.
But what I didn’t realize was that
skipping breakfast only made me lethargic and lazy all day long.
And I’d eat a whole lot more at lunch than I would have otherwise!
So, when I came across Dane’s smoothie recipes,
I decided to give them a shot.
Only one week in and I already feel much more energetic
than I have in the last ten years.
And I also tend to eat less lunch
which is great to control weight.
I plan to start smoothies for lunch too.
Slim waistline, here I come!”

                            ~ Rabab Kahn, Editor / Bertelsmann Foundation

Best Protein Powder: The Bottom Line

Including protein powder in your freshly made green smoothie is a matter of preference (and is more of a consideration for athletes who might not get enough from sprouted seeds or nuts). Some form of protein in your green smoothies is definitely a good idea, but whether or not protein powder is an important ingredient should be determined on an individual basis. If you do decide to go with a powder, keep in mind that not all are created equal. Choose wisely!

I encourage you to pick up the Longevity Lifestyle Kit and experience the positive results it will have on your daily life. All five items in the kit are designed to work synchronistically.

Each items serve a specific purpose, and combined they become super powerful. Enjoy the value and savings of getting all 5 items together!

The kit includes a e-Book, an e-Guide, an e-Booklet, an e-List, and an e-Workbook. The anchor of the kit is The Numinous Journey, an eBook that utilizes principles of Success Psychology and is strategically crafted to facilitate an inner process, that will help make your exciting new lifestyle habits “stick!”

• ➊ How to Create a Strategy for Living a Fascinating Post-40 Life: The Numinous Journey
• ➋ A Unique Social Experiment: 28 Best Friends
• ➌ How to Get Seriously Organized Using Checklists: The Dane Technique
• ➍ Using Your Blender to Get Lean and Strong: 5 Best Smoothie Recipes
• ➎ Ingredients Guide for Freshly Made Green Smoothies: The Shopping List

 

 
By the way, what I do is mix all five of those powders together in equal parts in a big container — for me, that’s the best protein powder! That’s more work than most people want to do on behalf of protein, but I like to do it that way because it keeps the final product from being too sweet or too bitter, and, it makes it less expensive than just using Vega alone (it’s an upfront investment to purchase all five, but then it lasts a long, long time). Like I said, that’s what I do, but it’s definitely not for everyone.