The other Touchstone climbing gyms I’ve seen in the San Francisco Bay Area don’t offer any protein shakes for sale, but GWPC in Oakland does.
Previously they only had the REBBL shake which is vegan, but it’s a bit annoying to me as it has MCT and 6 grams of saturated fat. From memory, I believe it has about 250 calories and 16 grams protein. I did get it previously and was glad for the protein and calories.
Now they are offering the EVOLVE vegan protein shake which tastes awful, but it does have 10 grams fiber (probably why it tastes bad), 20 grams protein, 4 grams sugar, only 0.5 gram saturated fat, and only 140 calories. It has 350 mg sodium.
I bought the EVOLVE and got it into my system, despite the awful texture / taste !
Also newly on offer at the gym is the Premier protein (dairy-based) shake, pumpkin spice flavor. The clerk told me the Premier dairy based shake has been selling quite well, but I was the first to buy the Evolve Plant-Based shake.
Looking at the nutrition, I can see why. The Premier dairy-based has 160 calories, 30 grams protein, 0.5 gram saturated fat, 1 gram fiber, only 1 gram sugar, 20 mg cholesterol (7% daily value), and 230 mg sodium.
In every way that J see, except for fiber and cholesterol (although the cholesterol in the Premier shake is a small amount), it seems the Premier dairy-based shake outshines the two vegan options … REBBL and Evolve. I didn’t try it, but I’m guessing the Premier might taste better as well. No wonder the Premier is selling better at the climbing gym!
Plus, the Premier was the same price as the Evolve ($3.00); both were much cheaper than the REBBL ($5.50).
Can a vegan protein shake be made that would provide similar nutrition as the Premier? Yes, I believe so, but it wasn’t available here.
Vegans get very fussy at people for not choosing vegan options, but look at the actual options that are available to people in the real world. Like this example. 👍
In my opinion, it’s unethical to tell people it’s their “moral obligation” to make a less nutritious choice. Sure, if someone is allergic to milk or lactose intolerant, they may be stuck with the less nutritious choice, but to say it’s a person’s moral obligation? Nope, I don’t think so!
I got a thing of the Evolve from Sam’s Club one time. I didn’t care for them because of the stevia and pea protein. Personally, I’d rather have soy. I think that’s the two big culprits affecting taste. I did find putting it in unsweetened coffee made them actually taste kind of nice so that’s how I went through mine, although I never ordered them again! The Premier probably doesn’t taste great either, although probably better because whey tastes better than pea!, and I’m sure has a texture issue. Not sure how you avoid that when you cram that much protein into a small liquid package and may even use some kind of not great tasting sweeteners too. I think that’s something some people can deal with when they need or want to drink a protein shake.
That is to say, I’ve had some pretty gnarly protein shakes before I avoided dairy when possible and I want to say we accidentally bought some that were trickily labeled and I think that latter one was actually the grossest one I’ve had yet. I think it was a Muscle Milk one? Which I know isn’t the point of your article, but I’m just reminiscing. LOL.
Yes, I’m not sure if any of these protein shakes actually taste good! The best that we can hope for is to find one we can tolerate. I’ve learned to tolerate the Orgain vagan protein shakes from Costco quite well, I like the price and I also like that they are only 150 cal and 20 g of protein. I have found that when I drink a couple of these shakes per day, I lose weight. Doing that, I’ve lost 10 pounds, and I still have maybe 10 pounds more I want to lose. So I want to keep drinking those shakes.
Even if I reach the weight that I want to reach, I think those shakes will still help me maintain my weight at that level, as much as possible.
I used to be really grossed out by the sweetener that they have, I think it’s Stevia or something like that. But I’ve gradually become used to it.