As a personal trainer and a nutrition coach, people often come to me for advice. They want to know what to kind of supplements to use, how to use them, and what brands are the best. Recently, I have decided to try different protein powders in order to give a better recommendation to my clients.

The one I chose Today, was Power Plant Protein from Prana. As the name states, it is a plant-based supplement  made from pea, sprouted and fermented brown rice, and sacha inchi* protein. This product is also fortified with digestive enzymes, probiotics, and amino acids.

One serving contains about 155 cal, 30 grams of protein, and only 2.7 grams of sugar (low carb as well with 7.5 grams of total carbs) which is adequate for most people trying to build or maintain muscle mass.

For this review I picked coconut milk as my flavour but there are many more (including safe choices like vanilla and chocolate and more bold ones such as banana and cream or himalayan salted caramel). I mixed one scoop of the powder (40g) with 500 ml of water as a post-workout shake.Here are my notes:

  • Texture – I was pleasantly surprised by the creamy thick texture of the shake. My previous experiences with vegetarian proteins were fairly disappointing (the ones I’ve tried before were very thin and bland).
  • Smell – This protein powder has a really nice but subtle coconut scent.
  • Taste – It was just ok (remember, taste is personal), but I wasn’t expecting a flavour explosion anyway. It didn’t have an artificial aftertaste, neither it was overly sweet. .
  • Mouth feel – As any other vegetarian protein I’ve tried so far, it has a slight grainy texture that it is quite hard to ignore. On a positive note though, it did have little pieces of coconut which reminded me of eating a Bounty.

Overall I would say this is a good product. It was by far one of the best vegetarian protein powder I have tried. So if you are lactose intolerant and can’t/won’t have whey protein, give this one a go;)

*Sacha Inchi aka Inca-peanut is a seed native to Peru. It’s been marketed as a superfood because it’s rich in vitamin E, linolenic acid and omega 3.