Protein Energy

Protein Energy Supplement Review

“Protein Energy” = Protein + Energy = Awesome

Optimum Nutrition isn’t a brand that complicates things; what you see on the label is what you get in the product. Their ingredients are wholesome and pure. So it’s no surprise that when they saw the success of Amino Energy (an amino acid product that also contains energizing caffeine and other performance nutrients), they decided to launch Protein Energy, a protein powder that contains caffeine. However, caffeine isn’t the only ingredient that makes us fall in love with Protein Energy; it has tons of vital nutrients we want: green tea, B vitamins, protein, and caffeine. Because of its diverse ingredient profile and amazing flavours, Protein Energy is perfect any time of day! Bodybuilders and other performance athletes have busy lives that require enough protein and ample energy to power through the day, and Optimum Nutrition’s Protein Energy delivers both! With 20 grams of high-quality protein and 120 milligrams of caffeine from natural sources (about as much as 10 ounces of coffee), Protein Energy kills two birds with one stone!

Protein Energy’s Unique Combination of Ingredients
Protein Energy delivers 100 milligrams of green tea extract, 8 and 24 milligrams of vitamins B6 and B12, respectively, and 30 IU of vitamin E. Read below to find out why you don’t just want these ingredients in your protein—you need them!

Protein Energy Under the Microscope

Green Tea: Green tea provides a ton of health benefits and has a lot of research to back up its fat-burning properties. It only makes sense that a product such as Protein Energy, which also contains caffeine, would have a fat-burning catechin such as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in it. Green tea can help reduce fat absorption in the body, so it has a twofold method for helping you get—and stay—lean!

Vitamin B6 and B12: Both these forms of vitamin B have been shown in research to support increases in strength and testosterone. Vitamin B6 has also been shown to reduce levels of homocysteine (a breakdown product of protein metabolism), increase nitric oxide production, and thus improve blood flow and nutrient delivery to working muscles. According to research, “Both vitamin B6 and B12 have a direct role in protein metabolism. Another interesting fact is that vitamin B6 is needed to support the absorption of vitamin B12. Together, these B vitamins are essential in the production of red blood cells and immune system cells, both of which are invaluable to muscle growth and repair.” Again, another ideal ingredient for a well-rounded protein/pre-workout supplement!

Caffeine: As if we need to tell you about the benefits of caffeine to your training. Despite decades of being the hottest selling pre-workout ingredient on the market, caffeine is still just as popular as ever! Caffeine has been shown time and again to be the most widely used performance enhancer in the world. Not only can it increase energy expenditure and fat oxidation, it can improve mental alertness, cognition, physical endurance, and even strength—all great reasons for Protein Energy to have 120 milligrams of caffeine from natural sources.

Vitamin E: Vitamin E is a potent antioxidant and has been shown in studies to lessen the severity of certain inflammatory disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis. This particular antioxidant works to protect the integrity of cells in the body. Exercise and intense training produces free radicals, which are toxic by-products of cellular respiration. As these free radicals accumulate, the body becomes more toxic, leading the way to impaired performance, muscle growth, recovery, and immune health! Vitamin E works to attack these free radicals and flush them out of the body and help decrease muscle damage. It’s clearly a smart choice for any hard-training athlete!

Protein Energy Macros
Protein Energy comes in four flavours. The chocolate flavour delivers 100 calories in total with 20 grams of whey protein, 1 gram of carbs (less than a gram of sugar), 1 gram of fibre, and just 2 grams of fat. It’s important to note that 50 percent of the fat in each serving is unsaturated fat. Each serving weighs 28 grams, and each bag delivers 26 two-scoop servings, so it should last the average gym rat about a month. However, the MUSCLE INSIDER staff scarfed this stuff down so often that a bag lasted about two weeks!

How to Take Protein Energy
This product is exceptionally versatile. The powder is instantized in order to mix easily into water or milk using just a glass and spoon! Just mix one serving with 8 ounces of water or milk or even juice if you’re looking to increase your carb intake. We like the product best when just mixed with cold water, first thing in the morning. Protein Energy is great to take either pre-workout or in the morning with breakfast. But if you’re going to take it in the afternoon or evening, be cautious of the caffeine content in terms of your sensitivity. If you take it at 6:30 p.m. before training at 7, you may be too wired to go to bed at a normal hour! Time for some of Optimum Nutrition’s Melatonin! We used the product two ways, baked and stirred. First, we threw it into a basic protein pancake recipe for breakfast:

Protein Energy Pancakes
6 g egg whites
20 g pancake mix
28 g Optimum Nutrition Protein Energy
3 g baking powder

Throw ingredients in a mug, stir until you get pancake batter consistency, and then place on a pan at medium heat until both sides are golden brown! This way you get a perfect start to your morning with 215 calories, 20 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fat, and 29 grams of protein.

Pre-Workout & Post-Workout
And obviously, we also tried Protein Energy pre-workout and it went down ultra-smooth and filled us up, killing any hunger pains we had. But during training, it provided good, steady energy. We also tried it post-workout to get our grow on, and it went down well—just two scoops, water, and you’re done. Throw in a piece of fruit or mix it with 8 ounces of juice to help quickly replenish glycogen if you’re taking it after training. Fruit juice contains fructose, which helps replenish liver glycogen, and glucose, which helps replenish muscle glycogen. Protein energy contains only whey as its protein source, which is the fastest digesting protein source available, making it ideal post-training or as soon as you wake up to help fight catabolism.

Protein Energy Is Made by Glanbia Performance Nutrition
 

Glanbia is an international nutritional ingredients group, which has its headquarters in Ireland. It’s the parent company of Glanbia Performance Nutrition, which is the one that houses the brands you’re probably familiar with. GPN has three global labels: Optimum Nutrition, BSN, and Isopure and two regional labels, Nutramino and ABB. GPN’s global infrastructure is massive, as it includes 1.3 million square feet of facilities and over 1,600 employees worldwide (Glanbia, as a parent company, has 5,800 people total). You can see Glanbia Performance Nutrition products available in over 100 countries—they’re everywhere because they’re amazing. If that doesn’t tell you that this is a trustworthy, reliable, solid brand, we don’t know what does.

Final Thoughts on Protein Energy
The idea of giving people a way to get their protein and get an energy lift at the same time is outstanding and very convenient. Who needs a morning coffee when you can get your caffeine fix and your protein before you leave for work or school? All the protein in each serving is made of whey, which is the fastest absorbing protein source, making it perfect for first thing in the morning, immediately before training, or in between meals. Protein Energy is available in Chocolate, Cinnamon Bun, Mocha Cappuccino, and Vanilla Latte. They all mix perfectly with or without a blender. From personal experience, these flavours are incredible when mixed with water, milk, blended in a shake with ice, and even baked in your favourite protein pancake recipe! Protein Energy is one of the most versatile proteins we’ve ever tried, and we give it five giant stars!

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