NOW Foods Sports Nutrition, Whey Protein Isolate, 25 g With BCAAs, Unflavored Powder, 5-Pound

This is an amazing protein isolate, and it’s actually my repeat purchase. It’s a very pure and easily digestible form of protein. The price is excellent, especially for such a large quantity. I always buy the unflavored version because it mixes easily into smoothies. Flavored proteins can sometimes be too sweet or hard to drink, but the unflavored one is the perfect solution for all kinds of shakes and recipes. Highly recommend this product — I will definitely keep buying it again and again!

I'm no expert but I feel like this is one of the better Whey proteins out there. No added junk, just pure whey. Others have reviewed the nutrition merits so I'll go into consumption.When taking this I recommend only 1 cup of water per scoop. If you add more water I think it tastes worse. When I first started taking this I didn't like the taste and needed to add a spoon of my hot chocolate mix to it for taste. Now I actually really like the taste of it with nothing added. If you didn't know Whey is actually the protein from milk. It doesn't taste like milk but you get maybe a hint of that taste. I can't really describe it.Another trick I use is if you mix 1 cup of fruit punch and 1 scoop of Whey you get something that tastes like a delicious berry smoothie. This will also give you a 1:1 carb / protein ratio in itself. If I'm not working out at home I take one of these drinks with me so I can take it immediately after my workout or hockey game.Now just some tips I've picked up since you're looking to get Whey - muscle bulked up. (keep in mind I'm on that route but I'm not all muscle yet)Carbs are you energy - I recommend getting your carbs in the morning, before your workout so you have enough energy to get through it, and post workout to help restore energy. Half of a PB&J sandwich is my go to energy carb right now. White bread gets absorbed and converted to energy very fast and it works well for me. Carbs are needed to get the protein where it needs to go so don't go cutting them out completely. Update - Sounds odd but don't neglect fat - you want about half as many grams of fat or less (preferably unsaturated) as you do protein. You will suffer if you don't have any fat in your diet. Sunflower seeds, nuts, peanut butter, avocados all have some fat you can use.I'm trying for somewhere around a 2:1:.5 to 1:1:.3 grams of carbs:protein:fat per pound daily.When to take your Whey? There's some debate on whether to take Whey pre-workout or post-workout. Some say both. I used to go post but I recently switched to taking it pre-workout when I take my carbs (simple carbs around 45 minutes before workout) - logic being the protein will already be in your system for muscle repair. I haven't practiced it enough to say which way is best though. I also take a scoop in the morning. If you go for the daily recommended 1 gram per pound you'll be taking it throughout the day.Burning Fat: I'm a fairly skinny guy - however I've always had fat over my lower abs. I want abs so that had to go. I've lost almost all of that fat and here's how I did it. To lose weight you simply need to burn more calories then you take in. First, small meals / I make half sandwiches instead of whole ones now - when you go out to eat take home some of your meal in a doggie bag rather than forcing it all down. I only eat when I'm hungry, wait for your hunger pangs and fight them a little. If you're preoccupied with other things you can ignore hunger pangs easier. If they get too bad go make make yourself a small meal. If you fight hunger pangs for too long your energy levels will drop so go eat some carbs and it will pick them right back up. I'd take a multivitamin to make sure you're getting everything you need. Do this and watch fat go away - it doesn't take long, I can see / feel a difference in my stomach every day. When I do have a cheat day - sometimes the stomach wins or peer pressure and you just want to eat - the extra fat added on my belly is noticeable - but don't fret, you can burn it off in a day or two.Doing the above routine I lost a lot of fat eating a small bowl of cereal in the morning and a homemade hamburger for dinner. So honestly I don't think what you eat matters so much as waiting for and resisting the hunger pangs a bit. The end goal is to just burn more calories then you take in - so simply taking in less is an easy way to do that.Eating healthy: Recently I started eating healthier. It's a lot easier then you think. Vegetables, low fat meats, egg whites. Spend some time in the produce section of the grocery store and you'll find a lot of good, quick finger food you may have not considered before. My lunches are mostly all vegetables now. Cherry tomato's, broccoli, mushrooms, baby carrots, lettuce. All things you can just grab out of your fridge and snack on. Hard boil some eggs, put them in a bag in your fridge and you'll have egg whites whenever you want. Tuna, mackerel, sardines, frozen tilapia fillets (microwave for 1:30 or so) for fish protein. Skinless chicken breasts or whatever - marinate them in Italian dressing - sprinkle some Weber Gourmet Burger seasoning on right before cooking - cover in tin foil and pop in the oven at 350 degrees for around 40 minutes - delicious. I cook extra to refrigerate and microwave later. Not as good as out of the oven but still good. I've never been much of a chef - just picking up stuff along the way. If you have other healthy foods you like please share. I'm always looking to add to my menu.Workouts: Why the heck is this last? Hah, I'll just say I've been doing the p90x routine, I'm on week 5 and loving it. I find it helps to have something guide you rather than just going to the gym and doing whatever you feel like. When you're working out you get exhausted and don't want to think so I would find a good complete routine that switches things up, allows rest days, keeps you motivated, and is easy to follow. Of course take that with a grain of salt, as I said I don't have huge muscles yet - this is just what I've learned so far.

Hello, I just received mine, but I didn't receive the scoop. It could be way at the bottom because this is a big container. Is there supposed to be a scoop? I just started. I will let you know how it goes.

First things first, blanket statement: every BODY is different and you will have to try this yourself to see if it has similar effects for you. There are big positives and in my case also very big negatives that forced me to begrudgingly quit using this product. I do wish I could still use it because it was the best.ULTIMATE SUMMARY: It made my muscle bigger better than any other and also gave me heart palpitations. Laying in bed trying to sleep my heart jumped to 120 bpm with no stimulation. Scared me s***less, felt like no other sensation, and is the reason I'm writing this review. Keyword L-Phenylalanine. Read on for details.GOOD NEWSThis protein is the only one of about 15 or so that I've tried that has immediate and measurable anabolic effects. Take a scoop 45 min to an hour before your work out, and in my case it feels like a creatine pump. It's that intense. Read the amino acid profile and you'll see why. Everything is there. You will gain muscle.What separates this protein from every other high dollar mix that I've tried, including all the top reviewed mixes here on amazon, is that the gains are simply faster and more noticeable. End of story. I'm recovering from a neck injury and have not been able to consistently lift heavy for over a year now. Without heavy weight, muscle gains are hard to find. I'm mostly battling muscle loss at this point, but this protein has put extra width on my arms in just the first half of the bottle. Get the idea? It works better than any other and second place doesn't even come close. Like I said, with this stuff, my pumps feel like creatine pumps.Now the bad:Read the amino acid profile very closely and look up all the aminos within a legitimate medical journal of any kind. Your biggest concern here is L-Phenylalanine. Long story short, this stuff COULD raise your blood pressure, which COULD lead to heart palpitations or "sudden acute tachycardia" in my case. If you're old or unhealthy, this COULD lead to heart attack or death. After taking this stuff, admittedly and definitely in unsafe excess, I've got blood pressure loud enough to keep my from falling asleep and I experienced my very first tachycardia heart flutter at the ripe age of 26. I've been an athlete 10 years, have knowingly pushed my heart to the limit, have a resting heart rate of 56 when I wake up, and have never had heart trouble of any sort ever. Medical records to prove it. There are no other clear variables that could be as directly responsible as taking nearly 3g of phenylalanine a day.The details: I was so excited about the clear anabolic effects of this protein that I started taking 3 scoops a day, instead of eating 3 servings a meat a day. Obviously that was stupid and you shouldn't be stupid. I did feel a rise in my blood pressure within 5 or so days. And when I say feel, I mean FEEL. Enough that I took a closer look at that label, did my research, stopped taking it, bought a blood pressure monitor, gave it a while to clear, and then started taking 1 scoop a day for several weeks now.Then just a few hours ago I had the sudden palpitation after laying in bed trying to sleep for several hours. Young guy no heart trouble, highly trained amateur athlete, sudden high blood pressure and tachycardia? I'll settle for "average" arms in exchange for my healthy functioning heart.CLOSING THOUGHTSEverybody is still different. It may not effect you this way. I had no previous trouble to indicate this would be a concern; you'll have to just try it for yourself and gauge your own results. Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. AKA this stuff is powerful so don't use it in excess like I did.PS THOUGHTSAfter having adverse reactions to nearly everything man made product I've tried (this stuff and my heart experience, creatine monohydrate with balding and prostate enlargement, D-aspartic acid with balding again, citrulline mallate again balding from the creatine availability increase, arimidex with intensely unnatural and panicky dreams, baclofen with the numbing limbs, etc) I've decided that it's far healthier to eat from the earth and barn instead of the lab and factory. I've never had any adverse effects from a medium rare ribeye and collard greens.