Tag Archives: protein powder

biPro Natural Strawberry Whey Protein Review + Giveaway

07/12/2016 R.C. Liley 6 Comments

“I don’t know what you’re making, but is sounds good.” My wife said this just minutes after I opened a container of biPro’s newest whey protein powder, Strawberry.

biPro asked me if I’d like to review their new strawberry flavor to which I happily accepted. Their natural chocolate, vanilla, and unflavored whey proteins already received my seal of approval, and I expected the new addition would so be added to the highly touted seal.

natural whey protein powder, review, giveaway, healthy

As I’ve already alluded to, before even tasting the strawberry whey protein, it’s scent of fresh strawberries easily filled half of our house. The aroma was almost instantaneous, and had me eager to give it a try.

biPro usa strawberry whey protein, giveaway, natural, food, healthy

With only six ingredients, naturally sweetened with stevia (zero sugar), 90 calories and 20 g of protein per 25 gram serving, this is not the typical, low quality protein powder. Simply looking inside at the powder will reveal tiny pieces of real strawberries.

BiPro Strawberry Protein Powder

Probably where the wonderful smell of fresh strawberries comes from; actual strawberries! The only thing I’d like to see is that their whey protein source come from grass-fed cows, and organic would always be preferred. But that is a known factor, not something I would count against them. So, how did I like it?

Solubility – This powder mixes easily in any shaker cup with or without a blenderball. I mixed a scoop in water by just shaking my cup with zero clumping.

Taste – Unlike the wonderfully intense smell, the taste was not as powerful. To some, including me, this is a good thing. I used water to mix, mind you, so any milk will change the flavor a little. It’s not overly sweet that might give it an artificial, chemically flavor. For me, the flavor is subtle, not overpowering, which makes for the perfect foundation of blending with frozen strawberries for a healthy and delicious treat.

Texture – After shaking in water, the mixture turns a creamy pinkish brown. It was smooth, but the color might be off putting. But it’s a welcome color for me since biPro did not use any artificial or natural dyes just to change colors. If it really bothers you, just blend with berries in a blender and you’ll get a more pleasing red/pink color. Problem solved!

16A-0627_Strawberry_Launch_Blogger info card

I make green smoothies for our family every night before dinner and decided to treat my two lovely girls with the Strawberry BiPro Protein Powder. With lots of greens, spirulina, hemp seeds, frozen strawberries, and the Strawberry protein, I blended with water and a little unsweetened almond milk. The resulting nutrient-packed smoothies were a hit! Smooth, creamy, full of nutrients, and delicious enough to earn a hug and kiss, will have me making many more in the future.

Whether you’re just looking to keep in shape or an elite athlete, biPro is a great choice for a healthy protein supplement free from the artificial stuff found in most. It’s also NOT from China or other country where heavy metals are found. Instead, it’s proudly made right here in America!

And, if you are an elite athlete, you can rest assured you won’t unknowingly take in any banned substances that would get you kicked out of an event for doping on accident. Why? Because biPro is NSF Certified for Sport®, which means it’s third-party tested for banned substances.

Are you craving to try your own naturally flavored, protein packed, strawberry drink? Lucky for you, the good folks at biPro USA are offering one lucky reader the chance to win a one pound jar of their Strawberry Whey Protein Powder and a Strawberry Cookbook full of healthy ways to use your new powder.

1lbJar_Cookbook

Follow the directions below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!

If it just so happens that luck seems to never work in your favor (don’t worry, you’re not alone), you can bi-pass this by taking advantage of the awesome Neapolitan Bundle deal they have going on until the end of this month 7/31/16. Order jars of chocolate and French vanilla BiPro to receive a free jar of BiPro’s new strawberry flavor.

No matter what option you choose, you’ll be a winner either way.

Disclaimer: biPro provided this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.

Going Healthy, Going Strong

Is Protein Powder Really Worth It?

03/28/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Just the other day, I set out on the simple task of finding a new protein powder that wasn’t filled with junk. Before I knew it, 2 hours had passed as I perused the plethora of options for this popular supplement!

This made me ponder whether I should really stress over the different types, flavors, functions, and brands. I recently shared the benefits of protein and making it complete with all 23 amino acids, so it’s obviously an important macronutrient. But, do we really need protein in powder form, and, more importantly, is it even worth it?

You can find protein powders made out of things you’d never expect. We all know the common whey protein, which is broken into concentrates, isolates, and even goat whey protein. Other popular varieties are soy, egg white, and casein. Some less common, but still good types are rice, hemp, and pea proteins, but did you ever hear of beef protein powder?

Beef is an excellent source of protein, but having it in a smoothie seems a little odd. I might try it as long as the ingredients are good, but it’s also one of the most expensive forms. Expensive and very processed! I mean, I can accept processed beef when it’s put through the grinder, but how much has to happen to turn it into a flavored powder?

Can you really see yourself paying a premium to drink beef protein powder that’s Blue Raspberry, Peanut Butter, Cherry Vanilla, Fruit Punch or other some other flavor? MuscleMeds has all of these flavors if your answer is yet, but it’s filled with artificial colors and flavors that I avoid in any product.

MuscleMeds Carnivore_Beef Protein Powder — Carnivores like meat, not blue raspberry powder….

Anyway, back to the question at hand. Do I really need protein in the form of powder instead of enjoying freshly cooked chicken, beef or fish? There are also many sustainably caught and packaged canned options like tuna, salmon, and sardines I always have around. These are just as quick and the ones with pull tabs require no can opener to lug around wherever you go. My current favorite are canned anchovies in water, and even my 2 year old daughter loves having the “little fishies” with me.

Whole food sources of protein are obviously the better choice since powder, no matter how clean, organic, or super-duper ultra filtered it is, is still highly processed.

There are many healthy plant based protein powders packed full of enzymes, superfoods, cleansing herbs, and they taste good too. I have tried several and enjoy them in smoothies as well as many recipes. But in retrospect do I really need all of these “extras” in a protein powder? Isn’t that what a good vitamin or, better yet, having a diet rich in whole foods should provide?

I was all about buying this high quality Garden of Life Raw Protein, but then thought about how I like to cook a lot with my powders. Wouldn’t cooking pretty much make the whole “Raw” aspect obsolete? Then I just paid a premium for higher quality protein and destroyed the premium part. And again, there are plenty of whole food based multivitamins that will give you everything in these superfood protein powders.

Maybe I will break down and buy a raw protein powder just for mixing into drinks or no-bake recipes like these No-Bake Quinoa Almond Protein Cookies as they are great to take along when traveling for a healthy snack option both kids and adults will enjoy.

I have used many protein powders, both good and bad over the years. Currently, my favorite brands are Legion, BiPro, and Naked Nutrition. If you haven’t tried my healthy Legion Banana Vanilla Protein Pancakes recipe, I highly suggest you do…..fast!

As you can see, I enjoy protein powder and by no means am I quitting the stuff, but maybe not stressing over the the slew of extra ingredients. Now I when I’m in the market for a good protein powder, I focus on the one thing that matters, the protein!

Setting guidelines before you make a purchase will help save a lot of time and stress when choosing a protein powder. Trust me, I would really appreciate having those 2+ hours back!

Here are the main things I look for in (or not in) a protein powder:

No artificial sweeteners…EVER!
Non-GMO, preferably organic
If whey protein, I typically prefer that it’s sourced from grass-fed cows not treated with antibiotics
Very little to no sugar (less than 3g per serving); prefer no sugar and only stevia or unsweetened
No added soybean or other oil
No nonsense “super pump” marketing/gimmicky ingredients
Short, simple list of ingredients; unless it is the raw green food kind

These guidelines for a quality supplement will narrow your options in a good way. Yes, it usually means higher prices, but I’m willing to pay more when it comes to things that go in my family’s body. Plus, as long as you’re not relying on powder as your main source, it should last a while.

What type or types of protein powder do you use?

Do you get caught up searching for the “right” protein powder or anything else? Too much information makes too much confusion sometimes!

Food, Going Reviews

Naked Nutrition Protein Powders: The Power of Pure

02/09/2016 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

Disclaimer: Naked Nutrition provided their protein powders sample pack to me free of charge in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

I’ve had the opportunity to try several high quality protein powders lately, and they have all ranked high on the approved by Going Dad list so far. Some are higher than others, but I’d feel confident giving any of them to friends and family. Oh, and I care about my friends and family, just to make that clear. 🙂

The one thing that sets Naked Nutrition apart from all of the other protein powders I’ve tried is that they are all unflavored. When you check the ingredient list for any of their powders, you will on find one thing, the protein!

See that, right there in bold? Whey Protein Concentrate, that’s it, done, nada, clean and pure. Just my kind of product.

Their whey is sourced from grass-fed cows never treated with growth hormones or antibiotics, is GMO free, has no artificial mumbo jumbo, is cold processed, and full of branched chain amino acids ready to fuel and repair muscles.

Yes, protein powder is still a processed item, but why make it any worse with all of the crap you see in so many powders on the market? Naked Nutrition cuts the crap and gives you the only thing that really matters which earns my full respect. And this is not just their whey protein, but in all of their products!

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy tasty stevia sweetened protein powders, but when I’m having a post workout protein drink, I don’t need something to sip and savor. I simply want a quality protein to get into my system quickly and will just quickly drink it down. To review the Naked Nutrition protein powders I received, this is how I mainly used them.

I sampled these by mixing each one with water in a shaker cup to truly get an accurate taste. Here are my thoughts:

Naked Nutrition Pea Protein

I’ve tried other plant-based powders in the past, but never from peas, so this I had to try first. After mixing in the shaker cup, there was still a bit of chalkiness, but it mixed better than expected. The taste was earthy, as I would expect from a plant, but not unpleasant. What I liked most is that this is protein did not give me any stomach distress which has happened with other powders in the past. I can see the pea protein going well in a green smoothie or mixed with your favorite non-dairy milk if you don’t want to simply mix with water.

Naked Nutrition Goat Protein

Another intriguing, never-tried-before protein I was eager to test. There is a slight scent of goat milk when opening the package which I take as a good sign since it is goat protein. There was only a hint of goat cheese flavor and just in water, the mix turned nice and creamy. We love our goat cheese in this house, so I wouldn’t mind a stronger goat dairy flavor, but even it’s not your favorite, don’t be scared to give this one a try. For smoothies, this would be perfect blended with strawberries to make a creamy strawberry protein shake.

Naked Nutrition Rice Protein

Like the pea protein, this one was a bit chalky, and even a little gritty. The earthy flavor is not as noticeable, but there is also no flavor or creaminess after mixing. Of all proteins, this is my least favorite and one I would not buy if I had a choice. That said, if you need a dairy-free protein source, it’s still a great option since you’d be hard-pressed to find a cleaner rice protein than Naked Nutrition’s.

Naked Nutrition Casein Protein

Casein, unlike whey, is a slow-digesting protein and therefore best consumed at night to allow it work on repairing muscle as you sleep. For that reason, I drank it at night, but still mixed with just water. I enjoyed the creaminess and imagine it being great to mix with Greek yogurt and pumpkin puree for a healthy, muscle building nighttime treat. There was no strong taste, it was actually pretty bland, so it should take on whatever flavor you add.

Naked Nutrition Whey Protein

I saved the most common one for last. As it turned out, it’s also the best in my opinion. Creamy, slightly sweet, and no sign of grittiness. I could easily drink this plain after a workout with no issue. Unlike most whey proteins, there was no associated stomach upset which is HUGE!

Of all of these, the whey was my favorite. It’s easy to mix with anything, provides plenty of quality protein, and even tastes good on its own. For a non-dairy/vegan option, the pea protein is definitely better than the rice. If you want to try them all for yourself, Naked Nutrition offers the sample pack to buy so you can find one that suits your preferences best. naked nutrition protein powder

I know these are all high in price, but also high in quality. The saying “You get what you pay for.” applies here as you are getting protein powders from the best sources and treated with care. I appreciate how much Naked Nutrition cares about their products and how passionate they are, which is something I look for in any business I give my business to. I hope you have the chance to give their products a try for yourself.

naked nutrition protein powders sample pack, non-gmo, muscle vegan, vegetarian