It’s only last year that I started adding protein powders to my diet and that’s only because my calorie counting app showed that I wasn’t fuelling my body with enough protein. Before that, I thought that protein powders were an unnecessary addition to anybody’s diet but little did I know!
Actually, when you don’t eat meat it’s very easy not to consume enough protein also if you try hard to get it from other sources (like I’ve tried). So here I am, all of a sudden a big fan of protein powders as they help me meet my daily protein needs easily. On top of that, they help me feel fuller for longer and stop me from snacking in between the meals (they are great for weight loss, by the way).
So far I’ve tried a few different protein powder brands and I am still continuing to try new ones before I settle for my favourite.
Not long ago I discovered Scitec Nutrition brand who have kindly sent me some of their vegan protein powders to try and review on my blog*. I’ve tried the following flavours: Chocolate and Hazelnut Toffee.
To be honest, nothing beats chocolate flavour in my eyes, always. Also if I try other interesting flavours such as hazelnut toffee, chocolate is still my favourite and if there is a fruity flavour on offer I would personally not choose it. That’s my preference obviously and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are many people out there who love hazelnut toffee flavour.
Leaving personal flavour preferences behind, I was quite impressed with vegan protein powders from Scitec Nutrition (also called Pure Form Vegan Protein). These are available directly on their website here (packaging is different but it’s essentially the same product).
Vegan protein powders from Scitec Nutrition are well balanced
The Scitec Nutrition protein blends have been carefully put together to create protein powders that are well balanced in terms of the number of amino acids they contain.
Scitec Nutrition have combined pea protein powder with brown rice protein powder to create a complete vegan protein which includes all essential amino acids. In addition to these two protein powders, the blends also contain Coconut Protein, Pomegranate Protein and Pumpkin Protein and of course, some flavouring, naturally sweetened with stevia. No artificial sweeteners!
The problem with vegan protein powders
In case you didn’t know, not all vegan protein powders are created equal. Different types of vegan protein will provide you with a different quality of protein and will contain different essential amino acids, in different quantities.
For our bodies to function properly, we need all essential amino acids which are found in animal protein sources but not in vegan food sources.
When consuming typical vegan powders, these often lack certain amino acids or are low in one amino acid or the other.
Brown rice protein powder, for example, has many essential amino acids but is low in lysine. Pea protein powder, on the other hand, is high in lysine but low in methionine which can be found in rice protein. So when these two are combined together they create a perfect protein source as they balance each other well.
Scitec Nutrition vegan protein powders review
What I really like about Scitec Nutrition vegan protein powders is that they contain organic ingredients and are all natural with no artificial ingredients. There are no artificial sweeteners in them, only stevia which is natural.
In these protein powders you won’t find soy either, or things like vegetable fats, thickeners and fillers. They only contain essential ingredients which is a big plus and this makes them unlike some other vegan protein powders on the market today.
To drink vegan protein powder from Scitec Nutrition, just mix it in 300ml water or if you like, use plant-based milk for this such as almond. One scoop (30g) contains 20g of protein and almost no fat. The powders mix well in a liquid to produce a delicious, smooth drink.
Both flavours, Chocolate and Hazelnut & Toffee are lovely but as already mentioned Chocolate is my favourite.
In terms of sweetness, I think they are perfect (not too sweet) when you drink them with the recommended amount of liquid (300ml) but if you reduce that, you may feel that they are a little bit too sweet. However, they are not sickly sweet like some other protein powders that I’ve tried before (those weren’t that natural though).
These protein powders also contain salt which is meant to boost the flavour and could be useful after are a very sweaty and hard workout. But I am not sure whether there is too much salt in one scoop, it really depends on your overall daily salt intake. I think if your diet is quite healthy and you don’t eat processed or junk food, then you should be fine. It’s just something to keep in mind when consuming these type of powders.
I’ve been using Scitec Nutrition vegan powders in a variety of ways:
- I add them to my muesli in the morning (usually not the whole scoop)
- I use them in my porridge
- I add them to my smoothies
- I drink them mixed with almond milk
Hazelnut Toffee flavour is delicious in porridge and here is how I made it one day:
- I made porridge on the hob as usual
- Sliced 1/2 banana and added it to the porridge
- Added half a scoop of Hazelnut Toffee flavour protein powder
- Added additional toppings: chopped almonds and 1tsp chia seeds
- Mixed everything together and added almond milk to make it less thick.
This porridge was out of this world, as my fiance said. Highly recommend it!
The final verdict
I loved using vegan protein powders from Scitec Nutrition, they are certainly of good quality and really delicious so I would recommend you give them a go if you are looking to add more protein to your diet. It’s especially beneficial to have them after exercise, to recover faster but you can also make them part of your breakfast so that you could feel fuller for longer. Check them out on Scitec Nutrition website.
* This post has been written in collaboration with Scitec Nutrition. All opinions and thoughts are my own.