Best tasting whey protein supplements.

Summary: The best tasting whey protein powders and a quick discussion on whether or not taste is important when it comes to protein supplements.

Is taste important?

If you enjoy the taste of your whey protein powder, you'll never be reluctant to miss a shake.

No matter how much you might try to convince yourself that taste isn't a factor in how strict you are with your diet, it's always going to play a role. You may be able to power through and stick to consuming 3 unpleasant shakes a day for a while, but there will be times where you just don't fancy it and decide to give is a miss – missing out on that extra protein too.

Early morning example.

It's 8:15am and you're disgustingly tired for no apparent reason. It's raining outside, your house is cold and your feet are even colder. You know you're going to be late for wherever you're meant to be at 9am and you haven't even showered yet. How does an unpleasant protein shake sound now? Can you fit it in? Do you fancy downing 400ml of that in less than 30 seconds, or shall we just give it a miss? After all, one missed shake won't hurt right?

On the other hand, let's say you've got a whey protein supplement that genuinely tastes better than a milkshake. It tastes so delightful that you could kill one off in 5 seconds, and drinking it would actually be the highlight of this abysmal morning. Do you think you're more likely to get that all important protein in to your system now?

The lazy early mornings aren't the only times you might miss a shake. Here are some more:

• When you're hungover. Missing out on protein is only going to make things worse.
• When it's time for bed and you're already falling asleep.
• When you're in any kind of rush.
• When you forget. If you look forward to having a protein shake, you're less likely to forget about it.

The main benefit of buying a great tasting whey protein powder.

If you look forward to drinking your protein shake, you'll build your time around taking it rather than trying to force it in to your schedule. Sure, if you've got the willpower and perseverance to continue drinking a whey protein powder that you don't enjoy then I salute you. However, with all the great tasting whey protein powders out there for you to choose from, why stick with something you don't like?

All the top whey protein powders are as good as each other these days, so you can afford to care about taste when deciding which one to buy. Taste and effectiveness aren't mutually exclusive in whey protein supplements.

A great tasting protein shake isn't going to build any more or less muscle than a disgusting one, but it will certainly help make sure you're consistently getting all those essential grams of protein in to your system.

Whey protein generally tastes good.

From my experience of different proteins (e.g. whey, casein and blends), whey generally tastes the best.

I'm guessing that it's easier to make whey protein powder taste good than it is to do a good job of flavouring other forms of protein. Whey must be more "neutral" on its own. This is not to say you can't get casein protein or protein blends that taste incredible, but on average you're less likely to go wrong with whey.

So again, if it's easy enough to get a nice tasting whey protein supplement, why settle for one you don't like?

Doesn't nice taste mean more sugar?

Very good thinking, but surprisingly it's not always the case.

I don't know how some whey protein manufacturers do it, but even the best tasting whey supplements have similar levels of sugar to some awful tasting ones. So it's not as though a whey protein powder has to be pumped full of unwanted sugar for it to taste good.

It's certainly worth keeping an eye on though, which is why I've included the sugar/100g information for each whey protein in the table above.

Unflavoured vs. flavoured whey protein.

Some companies allow you to buy an unflavoured version of their whey protein. This doesn't taste bad, but it's definitely not what you'd call enjoyable. However, the idea is that you flavour it yourself, with stuff like Crusha or Nesquik.

You're better off using stuff like Nesquik over proper cocoa powder. Cocoa powder does give your unflavoured whey a bit of flavour, but it tastes just as bad. If you've ever had to experience the disappointment of trying cocoa powder before you'll know what I mean.

I personally much prefer buying flavoured over unflavoured whey. Why? Three main reasons:

1. It's a massive ball-ache having to flavour your own whey every time you want to have a shake.
2. It never tastes nearly as good when you flavour whey protein yourself.
3. If you use Nesquik to add some flavour you're probably ramming more sugar and carbs in to your shake than the normal flavoured version would have. (Nesquik has about 7.5g of sugar in every 10g of powder, which is about 2 heaped teaspoons worth)

So all in all, if you've got the money to buy flavoured protein, buy flavoured protein. It's just easier and nicer.