Jack, Tasting Britain’s resident meathead, discovers a new whey protein product: just launched and fresh off the production line! And so, he tries it for a few weeks and compares it with a large and popular competitor…
Verdict? do you even lift
What is it?
A pre-prepared, ‘health drink’ containing whey protein concentrate in powdered, unmixed form.
It seems to be aimed more at the ladies, and people looking more for fat loss than muscle gain
There’s 39.9 grams of protein and 196 Kcal per bottle.
How much does it cost?
£2.50 for 1
£29.99 for a pack of 12 (also works out at £2.50 per portion)
Where is it available?
http://www.blueberrysports.co.uk/
Appeals to:
Time starved, cash rich and health conscious people on a temporary/permanent health kick
People who like stuff that’s precisely weighed and measured but don’t much fancy doing this for themselves
People new to protein supplementation who want a simple way to get started (this is probably as straightforward as it gets)
In a nutshell:
Convenience (mostly), at severe a price premium
“Everywhere you go, always take the protein!”
Recently launched (October 13th), and backed by the likes of Amy Childs (of TOWIE fame) and Kelly Sephton (of the WBFF (YOU MIRIN BRAH!?!)) the ‘shake and go’ Slender Shake is, essentially, a whey concentrate powder drink in a bottle. So, when it’s time to consume, you add water, shake and knock it back….
Nothing new about that, as you probably know. Why not buy a pre mixed one, you may ask? The thing about whey protein powder is that it is at its best when you’ve just mixed it with liquid. After this happens, it doesn’t take very long to turn…unpleasant when exposed to air (10/10 have experienced, can verify).
The Flavours
Slender Shake is currently available in three flavours: Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry
Chocolate
My personal favourite, reminds me quite strongly of the flavour of one of the most popular whey proteins on the market right now. It’s more ‘cocoa’ than ‘milk chocolate’, the natural sweetness of the whey taking the edge off of the cocoa flavours…
Strawberry
My least favourite. Doesn’t really taste like anything asides from ‘vaguely sweet’. It doesn’t taste bad by all means (I quite happily drink it) but if you’re promising me strawberry flavours, why aren’t you delivering them, brah
have you any idea how big my arms are brah
Vanilla
Pretty good. Tends to lose the vanilla flavour quite abruptly if you add a lot of water to this one, make it with a small amount of water (less than they recommend) and it has an almost custard like quality to it. I made some kind of ridiculous rice pudding concoction out of this and it was delicious…
The Good
Convenience: The shakes are exactly measured out and convenient
Taste: I thought that the chocolate one tasted pretty delicious! And the vanilla one ain’t so bad…
The Bad
Aesthetics: Design is…lacking. They’ve basically put some whey protein powder into a regular plastic bottle. The branding is…not so slick. TBH this doesn’t bother me (I care more about my own aesthetics than the aesthetics of the bottle…) but hey, some people might be put off!
Costs: It costs quite a lot considering how much bang for your back you get if you just buy the powder in a bag (see a price comparison below)
Ergonomics: Sometimes, due to the shape of the bottles, the powder won’t mix properly and can get stuck in the corners of the bottle (this is why many protein shakers are circular, and also come with a built in, wire blending ball – which helps to prevent lumps)
Ingredients
These check out. They’re pretty similar to most other flavoured powders on the market: Instantised Whey Protein Concentrate 80% (Milk), Beet Red, Flavourings, Xanthan Gum, Sucralose (an artificial sweetener, though this is, as I say, standard in the industry)
Other stuff
It’s a whey concentrate:
This is a whey protein concentrate, not an isolate, blend, hydrolysate (etc). Without getting too deeply into the different kinds of whey protein available, whey protein concentrate is the least processed form of whey you can get.
This means that it’s also the cheapest, and the one that contains the most ‘non-protein’ elements: (namely fat and lactose). Because of this, it’s also the one that’s most likely to cause you digestive issues, and, pound for pound, is the one that contains the least amount of protein.
Another thing to remember is that the hormones given to dairy cows are lipophilic (literally “fat loving”), which means that they are present in the highest quality in whey concentrate (as oppose to isolate, hydrolysate, etc). I don’t know where these guys source their way, but since they say nothing about free-range/non GMO (etc) I’m not hopeful!
If you’re new to whey it’s good to remember that, if you have lactose intolerance, this may cause you trouble. And even if you don’t, too much whey can still…whey on you (lol). I personally wouldn’t be able to replace all of my meals with this without having a ‘bad digestive time’.
You can disregard the mixing instructions (lol):
You are supposed to add water to the marked line (I suppose you can use any variety of milk too, though this will fudge up your macros as you’re adding extra calories, proteins etc. from the milk). I use less water in mine because I like thick shakes (protein milkshake anyone?)
At one point I didn’t even add any water at all – I just started pouring the powder onto yoghurt and stuff. This works just fine too.
Price Comparison
So, here’s my biggest gripe…a price comparison with a popular flavoured whey protein concentrate from a competitor
‘Brand X’
(Said competitor’s recommended dose is 25g but I’m going to double it to 50g for a fairer comparison): 42g protein and 206 Kcal a portion
Circa £45 for 5kg, which costs about £0.46 a portion
Slender Shake
39.9 grams of protein and 196 Kcal per bottle (chocolate flavour)
This costs you £2.50 a portion
(Yes, that’s about 5.4 times more expensive)
The Verdict
Of course, I hear your logical question: “why not just put some protein powder into a shaker at the beginning of the day and do it yourself, wouldn’t that be cheaper?”
Well, yeah – it is. Having done this myself this shouldn’t take you more than a minute and isn’t exactly rocket science.
Still, with that out the whey (OK, I’ll stop now), Slender Shake does do exactly what it says on the tin, with a few hitches, and at a price premium…