By Previnex®
Protein powder is a great way to get in some nutrient-packed protein at any point in your day. It’s a convenient (and delicious) protein boost for recipes, and it’s easy to take shakes on the go. While it would be great if all protein powders were high-quality and clean, unfortunately, that’s not the case. Many protein powders on the market are filled with unnecessary (and unhealthy) additives.
Unfortunately, the supplement industry is largely unregulated, meaning companies can police themselves on ingredient sourcing, manufacturing standards, and product claims. Theoretically that means that if a company had no moral compass, it could take sand from the beach, fill it in jugs, label those jugs as protein powder, and be in business tomorrow. While this is an extreme example and that company most likely wouldn’t be in business very long, the point is that supplement companies use the lack of regulation to prey on consumers in more subtle ways.
There are even lawsuits against supplement companies for the quality of their protein powders.
The goal of protein powder and other supplements should be to enhance and optimize your health, not to decrease its quality and effectiveness due to low-quality ingredients and manufacturing standards.
So, is your protein powder really good for you? Here are some things to look out for in a protein powder to ensure you’re getting the highest quality product possible!
1. Ingredient Sourcing and Manufacturing
Where and how a company sources and manufactures ingredients from matters. Many popular supplement companies source their ingredients from China, where the soil quality is poor, allowing heavy metals and other contaminants into the crops. We do things differently at Previnex. We source our pea protein from Canada and a high-quality farm in Southeast Asia. You can learn more about our sourcing, manufacturing, and testing here.
2. Type of Protein
Our Nourify® PLUS protein powder is vegan—it’s made from pea protein and rice protein. Whey protein is highly popular, as well. Some common differences are:
Vegan Protein
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Made from plant sources like peas, legumes, soy, rice, or nuts
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Not a complete protein on its own, but by combining different types of plant protein you can create a whole meal
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Commonly gluten and dairy free
Whey Protein
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Isolated from whey: a milky liquid that’s a byproduct from making cheese
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Complete protein—meaning it has all nine essential amino acids
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Contains lactose
The type of protein you choose can have an impact on how healthy it is based on manufacturing of those ingredients, protein level, nutrient level, vitamins and minerals, etc. Whether you use vegan protein or whey protein, it’s crucial to find one that is clean and contains a wide variety of nutrients.
3. Testing
Finding a protein powder that has been tested is crucial to ensuring its quality. It’s equally as important to consume products that have been third-party tested, meaning they have been tested by a lab unaffiliated with the supplement company itself. Here at Previnex, we do three types of testing:
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Raw Material Testing - each ingredient that comes through the doors of our company is tested for contaminants like heavy metals, microbials, bacteria, and more. If an ingredient fails the testing, our raw material suppliers are responsible for pulling the ingredient and providing a new, passing ingredient.
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Product Run Testing - during manufacturing, we pull product to perform US Pharmacopeia testing. This tests for stability, hardness, thickness, dissolution, disintegration, etc. It’s important that supplements can dissolve in your body in 45 minutes or less to ensure the nutrients reach your small intestine. On average, Previnex supplements dissolve within 20 minutes, giving you maximum nutrient absorption.
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Finished Product Testing - once products pass the first two testing runs, we use this stage to finalize everything, create Certificates of Analysis, and ensure that everything you read on the label is in the product. If it’s not on the label, it’s not in the product.
Finding supplements and protein powders that undergo testing is crucial. Without third party testing of some kind, protein powders and supplements are subject to contaminants and other additives.
4. Ingredients and Additives
Protein powder should be clean…meaning, it should not have any unnecessary additives, gums, emulsifiers, or ingredients that do not directly contribute to the quality of the product or your health. Additives like sugar alcohols, gums (xanthan gum, guar gum, etc), or carrageenan can cause GI issues, stomach upset, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and the feeling of being constantly full. Additionally, some sugar alcohols are considered fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (FODMAPs), which are carbs that your gut is unable to properly absorb and has a hard time breaking down. Finding a protein powder without these additives is a key component in deriving all the possible nutrients.
Find a High-Quality Protein Powder
When you combine ingredients sourced from reputable farms, testing, science, and nutrient value, you get a high-quality protein powder designed to give you a wealth of nutrients. Nourify® PLUS in both vanilla and chocolate is packed with nutrients, digestive enzymes, probiotics, vitamins, minerals and, obviously, protein. Both flavors are gluten free, dairy, free, and soy free, and completely void of artificial sweeteners, or other additives. Take your protein game to the next level and grab a bottle of Nourify® PLUS!
