REVIEW - OPTIMUM NUTRITION OPTIMUM NUTRITION 100% WHEY GOLD STANDARD REVIEW

SUMMARY

OUR REVIEW

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Whey protein powders are by far the most popular form of protein on the market today. Following an intense training session your body will be in a state of recovery. A protein shake will encourage the recovery process by providing your body with the appropriate nutrients needed to build and repair muscle tissue. Whey proteins are ideally suited to this situation in that they are quickly and easily digested and offer the highest concentration of branched-chain amino acid to help build and retain muscle tissue.

If you’ve been searching for a whey protein powder, there is a good chance you’ve heard of Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard. It is one of the better know whey protein supplements available and there is a reason for that. Optimum Nutrition has an excellent reputation for supplying high quality products, not to mention its 100% Whey Gold Standard product line is the winner of both overall supplement and protein powder of the year for the last 5 years. With such endorsements I was eager to try the product myself to see how it stacks up to the competition.

Taste

Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard Whey is offered in 15 different flavours: Extreme Milk Chocolate, Cookies and Cream, Chocolate, Mocha Cappuccino, Banana Cream, Choc-mint, Strawberry Banana, French Vanilla Cream, Vanilla, Rocky Road, Strawberry, Choc malt, Choc Coconut, Tropical Punch and Coffee. With such a variety of flavours you would be hard pressed to find something you didn’t like. Through my samples I was able to trial a good variety of these options. While each flavour offered a unique taste I found the simpler flavours to be the best of the range, my personal favourites being Extreme Milk Chocolate, French Vanilla Cream, Banana Cream, and Choc-mint. With some of the more unique flavours I sometimes found the taste a bit overpowering or a little too sweet, however over the long term I started to become more accustomed to the taste and they slowly grew on me. Overall Optimum Nutrition does an excellent job at catering to all tastes and is unquestionably one of the better tasting protein powders.

Ease of Mixing

All of the Gold Standard flavours mixed extremely well in either milk or water. Texture of all the products was of a good standard and showed no signs of clumping with little to no residue left over. Optimum nutrition prides itself on the instant mixability of its powders with either a protein shaker or a spoon and 200-300ml of liquid, although better results were obtained when using a shaker. Some of the flavours did lead to a little more foaming than others, although overall this was rather minimal and alleviated relatively quickly. 

Effectiveness

It’s often difficult to evaluate the overall effectiveness of protein supplements, the reason being unlike creatine or pre-workout supplements there is no immediate effects. Over the long term however protein supplements are likely to assist in enhancing recovery, fitness, fat oxidation and muscle development. Not only that they offer a convenient way to carry around a quick and easy source of protein to be consumed immediate post workout or around meal times when you might be hard pressed to find a quality protein based meal or snack.

Nutritional Analysis

All the 100% Gold Standard Whey flavours utilise Optimum Nutrition’s unique whey proprietary blend consisting of:

1. Microfiltered Whey Protein Isolates
2. Ion-Exchange Whey Protein Isolates
3. Ultrafiltered Whey Protein Concentrate
4. HydroWhey Hydrolyzed Whey Peptides

Whey protein Isolates represent the highest quality of whey, where through isolation techniques the protein is separated from lactose and fat produced during the initial stages of manufacturing. Whey protein concentrates are a lower quality of protein, but are more economical. Finally the Hydrolyzed Whey peptides are a partially broken down form of whey which is both faster acting and more easily absorbed.

A single (30.4g) serve of 100% Gold Standard contains 120 calories with only 1 gram of fat, 4grams of carbohydrates and 24 grams of protein, so you’re looking at around a 79% protein concentration by weight. What I particularly like is the inclusion of lactase and Aminogen digestive enzymes which designed to further improve absorption and digestion. Each serve also contains 4 gram of glutamine, glutamine precursors and 5 grams of branched-chain amino acids both of which have been shown to aid recovery and muscle development. The combination of four types of protein in addition to the added digestive enzymes, glutamine and branched chain amino acids is what sets Optimum Nutrition’s 100% Gold Standard Whey apart from the competition.

Value for Money

Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard Whey is available in three sizes designed to suit any budget. For those looking for the best value for money the 4.7kg bag contains 155 serves and costs $154.95 which equates to around $1 per serve. The 2.34kg offers 77 serves, at cost $84.70 with each serve costing $1.10. The smallest size of 908g contains 30 serves for $54.70 and works out at $1.82 per (30.4g) serve. Although Optimum Nutrition products are slightly higher than some of its competitors knowing you’ll be receiving a high quality product more than justifies a slighter higher asking price in my option.

Conclusion

There is no doubt Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard Whey is an excellent product. With more flavours available than any of its competitors, excellent mixability, great taste and more importantly a high quality nutrient profile that really blows away the competition. As five times winner of both overall supplement of the year and protein powder of the year, plus the ability to purchase in three sizes right up to a 4.7kg value bag you would be hard pressed to find a better whey protein supplement on the market today.