Whats wrong with wal-mart protein?

[Carve]

*My intent with this thread is not to promote a different store than DA or products they don't carry. (I'm guessing someone will prove that products you can buy on DA are better anyway.) But if this is not appropriate to discuss here please take it down mods.

So my roomate was taking this protein he got at walmart so I decided to give it a try when I ran out of my bottle and my new one hadn't gotten here yet. I got a bottle of Body Fortress Premium Whey Protein (chocolate, 2lbs) for $10.40, which is pretty dang cheap. They also carry another brand, 6 star or something, for about the same price.

Here is the nutrition info and Ingredients:

Serving size 1 Scoop (30g)
Servings Per Container about 30

Calories 110 Cal from Fat 25
Total Fat 2.5g
Saturated Fat 1g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 65 mg
Sodium 150mg
Potassium 250mg
Total Carb 5g
Dietary Fiber <1g
Sugars 1g
Protein 20g

Calcium 15%


Ingredients: Protein Blend (Whey Protein Concentrate, Whey Protein Isolate), Cocoa Powder (processed with alkali), Natural and Artificial flavors, cellulose gum, slat, soy lecithin, xanthan gum, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, maltodextrin, acessulfame K.



Now I don't really know to much about all that so I'm hoping someone nutrition oriented will chime in here. The protein is actually one of the easiest mixing ones I've tried and tastes pretty good.

DA's top 3 protein powder sellers-
Compared to Muscle Milk sold on DA ($22 for 2.5 lbs) its a lot cheaper but it can't beat Elite Whey ($24 for 5lbs) and theres Optimum whey gold ($30 5lbs). The second two proteins both have a couple more grams of protein per serving, less fat, less cholesterol, and less sodium. The ingredient lists of these last two proteins are a bit shorter than the wally protein, and a bunch of artificial flavor and big words I havn't heard of in ingredient lists make me a little wary.

DA has some really good prices on protein a lot lower than you'd find at my gym or GNC and those prices are kinda what I'm comparing this wally world protein too. I'm really just wondering about the quality of the product and such.

[dinoiii]

I'm going to wait a little before chiming in here. I am curious what dictate's people's thoughts on this. A protein product formulation is in the works, but most seem to like it at a $$-efficient price with no matter for other considerations.

[italionstallionl]

You have to look at ingredients. WPC is very cheap to buy/manufacture and WPI is much more expensive. If WPC is what your budget allows, then this whey will work fine.

[pbk]

Yea, pretty much what italion said. Here is some info just for thought. A good isolate, such as CFM, should equal 27 grams of protein per a 30 gram serving. A good whey concentrate should equal 21 grams per 30 gram serving.

The "wally" brand, as you call it, only has 20 grams of protein per 30 grams. This most likely is due to the addition of the "cheap" maltodextrin for added "filler", although there cannot be that much...since only 5 grams of carbs per serving...but that is a little less protein you are getting. I doubt there is much whey isolate in it, just enough so that they can put it on the label. Also, whenever I can, I like to buy products without acessulfame K, although that can be difficult at times since so many products have it.

Quality wise, I think you can do better right here at DA, for around the same $$. Check out the ON Natural Whey, for instance. http://www.discountanabolics.com/p/ON05
You can get 5 lbs for $28, and it uses a great natural sweetener, stevia, plus it has an enzyme blend of Aminogen and Lactase, which is a nice extra. You get about 22 grams of protein per 30 grams, which I realize is not much more than the 20, but some is in the form of peptides and should be more absorbable. I really like it. There are others here at DA as well, as you already mentioned. And as italion said, the more of the isolate, the more the cost. You can expect to pay $9 - $11 per lb on avg for good pure cfm whey.

[pbk]

I'm going to wait a little before chiming in here. I am curious what dictate's people's thoughts on this. A protein product formulation is in the works, but most seem to like it at a $$-efficient price with no matter for other considerations.

Dinoiii, I definitely am interested in what you might "mix up" for us in the way of a good protein. One major request...please consider using stevia as a sweetener, or at the very worst, sucralose....but I would much prefer the stevia. Leave out all that other crap.

As far as price point, I think it best to have several "blends". Yea, we all would prefer to have only the best all the time, but cannot always afford it. Not only that though....a little whey concentrate thrown in does have some benefits. As you already know, just depends on the use. For post workout I prefer pure isolate or pure isolate plus a little whey peptides. All other times I am usually using a blend, due to cost.

And I know you are fond of casein protein, so I imagine that might figure in with what you are doing. I have read controversial info about casein, so I do not know what to think of it, although I have certainly used plenty of it. I really like good egg white protein, and I think there is not much controversy there, unless one is a vegetarian.