NOW Foods Sports Nutrition, Whey Protein Isolate, 25 g With BCAAs, Unflavored Powder, 1.2-Pound

Now Foods and this protein are great!
I bought the 1 lb. size to try out the taste, etc of this protein. I’m no nutrician and am choosing not to offer a lot of information on the health benefits of this product. There are already other great reviews that I strongly agree with written by people that know much more than me.
Now Foods appears to be, from everything I’ve been able to find/reseach on-line, a very good quality company that produces top notch, bio-active products that are worth spending a few extra dollars on over much of what the copetition has to offer.
Whey Protein Isolate is the best, most pure quality of protein available. This particular protein appears to have been made in a way that preserves more of the bio-active nutrients (proteins and amino acids) than how some/many/most other manufacturers process their protein powders. This protein does not seem to have anything in it that is not natural. In other words, all the bad stuff, artificial flavorings, etc have been left out of this product.
This protein does clump some. It does have some mild taste that is easily masked by my morning cereal or whatever you mix it with. The taste does not rival that of a chocolate shake, nor does it taste bad. It specifically does not in any way shape or form appear to be foul smelling or tasting to me. It is also hard for me to imagine how anyone could suggest this product would smell or taste foul. (I mention this only because another reviewer mentioned taste in their review.) Though to be fair, taste is a very subjective thing. For how well it dissolves… I put a scoop in my morning cereal. By the time I have made it half way through the bowl, the protein powder has completely disolved on its own.
I have no negative comments to offer. I do plan to try Allmax IsoNatural Whey Protein Isolate. It is the only protein powder I’ve been able to find that could possibly be better than this one from Now Foods. The IsoNatural is more expensive. The two products are so close in terms of their perceived quality and nutritional content that I may opt for Now Foods in the end simply because it is cheaper.
This is my two cents worth. I hope you find it helpful. Highly recommended!!
***UPDATE 3/29/11*** I tried the Allmax IsoNatural Whey Protein Isolate. Here’s how they compared. I like the taste of the Now Foods whey a little better. Neither was offensive. While they were very similar, the Now Foods tasted slightly sweeter where the Isonatural (especially if you got a clump of it in your mouth) tasted a bit like (for lack of a better word) goo. The Iso natural had a slightly higher content of protein by 1 gram. (Note: Their labels use different serving sizes. So, you have to do some math to equal things out.) The Now Foods whey seemed to disolve a little easier. If you are buying small quatities (1 or 2 lbs), they are very similar in price. If you are buying 5 lb. containers, the Now Foods whey is much less expensive. I give the nod to Now Foods!!

Great if you know what you’re buying
I bought this Protein Powder because I didn’t want a bunch of artificial sweeteners or other random chemical “food products” in my protein powder. That’s basically what this is and it’s really good but you need to know a few things before buying this:
1. This has virtually no carbs
You need carbs as part of your protein shake in order to maximize the benefits of a post workout shake. There are lots of studies about the perfect ratio of carbs to protein (Google it). Since this is basically pure protein, you need to get that ratio yourself. This means you can’t just mix this with water and expect a perfect product. If you want a perfect ratio, you need to do some measuring and math. I just usually mix it with milk and some healthy breakfast shake mix call it good. I’ve also done chocolate milk with this.
2. It tastes mildly bad by itself
It has a very mild flavor but that flavor is a bad “sour milk” flavor as some other reviews have mentioned. Just mixing this and water is pretty much disgusting. However if you mix this with milk, you hardly notice it’s even there. It tastes basically like whatever you put it in as there’s no added flavors. Don’t expect to use this like other protein drinks with just water. That’s probably where most of the negative “Tastes Bad” reviews come from. You can’t treat this like another protein mix. They have a lot of flavors to mask any bad tastes. This is pure Whey Protein. You have to add your own flavoring.
3. It mixes OK but not great
This is my only real complaint about the product. It’s really really fine (think flour) and you’d think it’d mix well. Not so much. It does mix eventually but it takes a while. I’ve had some powders that clump no matter how much you mix it. This isn’t like that. It will eventually mix (I use both and electric blender and the BlenderBall cup) but it takes a while. Since it is fine, any clumps you do get don’t have that grainy texture. They actually kind of tend to melt in your mouth (sort of a weird way to describe it but the best I can do).
Final Verdict:
I would recommend this product to just about anyone, but you just have to remember what you are purchasing when you use this product. It’s a great healthy alternative to the hundreds of “chemically enhanced” protein powders out there. Just remember that you will be responsible for adding your own flavoring and carbs. Don’t mix with only water.

Easy way to boost protein
This powder blends easily, no clumping. I just sprinkled it into a glass of water and stirred it with a fork. It was ready to drink in no time – no special shaker glass needed. It has no flavoring, so just tastes kind of… like nothing. I’ll be buying again.

This is my second. I like that it’s unflavored and doesn’t cause any digestive issues.

This review is my personal view, others may like the taste but not me. It was not acceptable and I gave up. I ended up adding way too much other stuff to get past the taste. Kind of counter productive.

original and good price