Customer Reviews

OPTIMUM NUTRITION, 100% WHEY GOLD VARIETY 16/PACK

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've been using ON's Gold Standard Protein for quite some time now, and have been buying it solely from Amazon.com, as their price is the lowest. I have seen gains in strength and muscle mass (partially) from the use of this product (and unflavored optimum nutrition creatine monohydrate).

Here's my opinion on some of the flavors of ON's protein that I've tried

Double Rich Chocolate
Rating - 5/5
Tastes great...chocolatey, tastes like a milk shake - hard to get tired of.

Mint Chocolate
Rating - 4.5/5
Good taste again. It's a little minty, and I can see myself getting tired of it, but I'll have no problem getting through a 5LB tub. Tastes like Double Rich with a mint flavoring.

Vanilla
Rating - 3/5
I didn't care for this. I only mix my protein with water so that probably was a factor...I would imagine it tastes much better with milk. No way I could consume more than a 5LB tub.

Strawberry
Rating - 1.5/5
Very artificial taste...way too sweet. I can't even drink it whilst breathing out of my nose. It makes me gag..literally. Still struggling to get through a 5LB tub I bought last year. I've heard of people enjoying it, though...

Cookies n' Creme
Rating - 0.5/5
I tried this through a friend..let me just say this: awful. It has cookie bits in it but they do nothing for the flavor, especially the smell. It's hard to say what it tastes like..it's like a mix between vanilla and coffee (it smells like coffee). Either way, it isn't pleasant...try a small pouch of it before buying a huge tub!

The natural stuff is decent tasting, but I wouldn't recommend it. A little artificial sweetener isn't going to hurt you - especially if this is your only source of it. If you're really going to be an extreme health freak, then the natural stuff is a good alternative...but as I said before, the taste isn't as good.

Anyways, those are the only Optimum Nutrition flavors I've tried. I hope to try more, but we'll see. If anyone wants any advice just message me or leave a comment to this post...I'd be more than happy to offer my opinion.

I have been using Optimum Nutrition's 100% Whey Protein (off and on, depending on my current need) for a number of years now. As others have noted here about protein powders, you need to consider what your real NEEDS are and buy accordingly.

Let's face it, unless you are a truly elite athlete (and the vast majority of us are not), you really only need a protein powder to supplement your protein intake while controlling your calorie intake. The best protein sources are properly prepared foods, but they often come with a cost... extra calories, the wrong kinds of fats, allergens (gluten, nuts, egg, etc.), etc. Hence, the need for supplemental protein powders.

I have tried a great many powders. I have spent a great deal more than this product and somewhat less. However, even when I was body building (at a high level) I found one "truth". It was almost impossible to tell the difference, in my body's progress, between the various protein powders. Other factors were much more important (proper balance of exercise vs recuperation time, exercise programs, matching a training regimen to body type, etc.).

That is not to say that there is no difference between protein powders, but that the difference is generally NOT in the way your body responds to the supplement in your exercise program. The difference that the vast majority of people WILL recognize are, IMO (in no particular order):

1. Taste - Taste is very important. If a product doesn't taste good you won't use it long-term. A good tasting product also offers a greater variety of preparation options (e.g. it will taste better with just plain water when you are really trying to control calories). Finally, if you insist on using other supplements that don't taste good in preparation, you can mix them with this product for a better taste. Some protein powders I have tried tasted like poorly flavored, bitter, and acidic chalk. Maybe they were actually better than my experience with them showed, but the taste made me glad to find something (anything!) else.

My personal favorite flavors in this brand are the Double Chocolate and Chocolate Mint.

2. Digestibility - Usually, this is noticeable in various forms of digestive upset. I cannot tell you how many other types of protein powders I have tried and had gas, indigestion, reflux, etc. and/or all as a result.

This powder is, in my experience very digestible so long as you do not ingest an overly large amount at any one time. This is true for all forms of protein (protein needs HCL to be properly broken down into the amino acids your body actually uses), I have found this product to provide a noticeably lower level of digestive upset than other products I have tried.

3. Basic Metabolic Needs - Most protein powders on the market are WAY overkill when it comes to meeting the body's training needs. People tend to think that some of the "better" products (those that tend to have high calorie counts relative to gram of protein) are good because they make them feel as though they are stronger/have more energy. What is likely really happening (YMMV), is that the product is partially compensating for their not getting enough rest. This is why many of these same people get injured frequently.

I used to have a pamphlet written by Arnold Schwartzenegger when he had temporarily changed his name to Arnold Strong and in it he made a very interesting observation relating to the importance of proper rest relative to very hard workouts:

"Don't run if you can walk,
don't walk if you can stand,
don't stand if you can sit,
don't sit if you can lie down,
don't lie down if you can sleep."

While a good workout is important to physical development, so is PROPER rest! It will help you progress quicker AND help prevent injuries.

4. Value - How well does the protein powder meet the other three needs vs how much it costs. This is where this product "hits it out of the park". IMO, it meets the first three listed needs in a more than "good enough" manner while still being very reasonably priced. A solid value!

In these four categories, I have yet to find a comparable product. Buy this one and I strongly doubt you will be disappointed!

For additional reading, an excellent, if old book to look at is Dr. Franco Columbu's (a good friend of Arnold Schwartzeneger's from the "Pumping Iron" days) book, The Bodybuilder's Nutrition Book. While it is becoming a bit dated, the basics of the book lay out a good foundation for off-competition training. Also, while the title implies the book is only for body builder's, any athlete who is striving to improve and understand their body's nutritional needs will find this book helpful! Dr. Columbu is a doctor of chiropractic and has a PhD in Nutrition in addition to his years of experience as a top level competitive bodybuilder.

Disclaimer: I have no financial interest or personal relationship in/with any of the products discussed in this review.

I recently purchased the variety pack from ON and wrote a little review about each flavor. Hopefully it can help you choose a flavor you will enjoy. This is a high quality whey protein and an essential for anyone who spends time with weights at the gym. With all the fast absorbing protein and BCAA's your muscles will be able to recover faster and in turn you will see quicker gains. Hope this helps!
ON Variety Pack Flavor Ratings

Banana Cream 5/5
* Tastes like banana laffy taffy. Best banana I have had in a protein powder. Rich, sweet, creamy and delicious!

Chocolate Malt 3/5
* Pretty good taste, but a little too rich and creamy. More of a malty than expected or wanted.

Cookies and Cream 5/5
* Very rich and creamy! I have never had a good tasting whey protein in this flavor, but this one was actually really good. Good and creamy and will hit your sweet tooth cravings! No weird "cookie" chunks like you sometimes see with this flavor.

Double Rich Chocolate 4/5
* Very rich chocolate flavor, just like the name! Tastes like creamy chocolate milk.

French Vanilla 4/5
* Good and creamy vanilla flavor. It was very good, but I have had better tasting vanilla whey

Orange Cream 2/5
* Not bad, but not good either. Taste like what you would think, sort of like a orange push pop. Not a flavor I would want to indulge in regularily.

Root Beer Float 3/5
* Did not really taste like a root beer float to me. I can taste a little similarity, but it wasn't close. Still rich and sweet, good taste but it would get old quickly.

Tropical Punch 4/5
* Tastes exactly like Hawaiian Punch! Very good and incredibly refreshing after a hard workout.

Caramel Toffee Fudge 3/5
* Interesting taste, not what I expected. I think it's the after-taste that's goofy. Good and creamy; caramel and toffee are the most noticeable flavors in it. Not something I would want to drink on a regular basis though.

Chocolate Mint 1/5
* Smells like an Andes mint; tastes decent but would get old really fast.

Delicious Strawberry 4/5
* Good and creamy. No metallic-like taste normally found in strawberry powders. Very good flavor, but not a long-term choice for me.

Extreme Milk Chocolate 5/5
* Delicious, creamy milk chocolate taste. Similar to chocolate milk but not quite as thick, though you could make it thicker by using less liquid.

Mocha Cappuccino 5/5
* Yum! Just a hint of coffee flavor to it, mostly a chocolate taste similar to hot cocoa. Not overwhelming, very good. Not too rich or creamy.

Rocky Road 2/5
* Good taste, light chocolaty flavor. I would not want to drink this regularly. Has an interesting after-taste

Strawberry Banana 4/5
* Very sweet. Not too thick or creamy, very good texture. Great taste, but a little too sweet for my liking, and I would tire of it quickly.

Vanilla Ice Cream 5/5
* Tastes like the name! Creamy consistency and delicious taste.

Ok. I grew up with my dad being a weight lifting coach, so he always was in the know of what was good/ wasnt..

this whey protein is authentic whey.
ill review the product first, and then the performance factors 2nd.

Taste: when mixed with skim milk, it offers a smooth low-creamy effect. i use a gnc shaker bottle with it. it tastes better than any yoohoo or nesquick out there. id even buy this at 7-11 for the taste if it wasnt good for me.
Texture: mixes smooth. use a shaker cup, 30 seconds of casual mixing and its good to go.
Chocolateness: the double chocolate actually has a pretty decent chocolate back taste.

Performance:i started up on this stuff and noticed with in a few days a big increase in performance. along the way, i did want to see if i was just wasting my money, and stopped this for about 2 weeks but kept up high protein meals. i was lacking in performance, recovery, and strength. went back on and it came back within a few days.

Nutrition: i was always big into protein, however i strongly feel the performance of this stuff is much much better than just doing eggs/meat milk etc.. for my protein. theres hardly any (if not 0 grams) of fat/calories.. so its much healthier and better on your cholesterol.

Endurance/recovery: my "peak" comes faster into my workout and lasts for alot ALOT longer.. the next day im not nearly as sore. i know this as during my "testing" phase i was doing the same stretches/lifting and was alot more sore the next day.

GIVE THIS A TRY. dont forget, your body needs to have not just protein but also amino acids.. they help rebuild your muslces faster so you can get a better workout next.
I drink it in the morning (when your protein is the lowest after the night), RIGHT after an exercise (the key is to drink within the first 30 minutes of your workout. that is your peak absorption for your body to suck up all the goodness of this stuff..)
and right before bed so your body has a storage of protein to draw from during the night.

small snacks/meals during the day with protein has been proven to spike your metabolism (as even having a higher protein intake overall.. )

[...]
go here, half way down and use the calculator to figure out your protein intake. try to get up to near that number during the day.

hope this has helped.

cheers!

I wish to edit my post:
Yes the company wrote to say that there is no artificial sweetener but they lied. If you take note they say in the reply below that they do not container artificial sweeteners and that there is no Splenda as the fellow said. They said it does contain the sweetener Stevia, and that is a lie! There is no Stevia (I am looking at the ingredeints)there is an artificial sweetner called Acesulfame Potassium, supposedly this sweetener is safe (but it is that is for you to decide.
This is a comment about Acesculfame Potassium:
Acesulfame potassium, also known as Acesulfame K, is an artificial sweetener. It was first discovered in 1967 by chemist Karl Clauss, working at the time for the company that would become Nutrinova.

The reality is that it is an artificial sweetener making them a liar. I do not like being lied to and thought you might like to know the kind of company this is. So you can judge weather this ingredient is safe or not.


This is my original note, I take it back.
This is an excellant product, I tried it at a friends house and did not notice the sweetner (maybe because it was not artificial) but when I saw it on here that someone said it contained splenda I thought I would write to the company.
[===> OUR REPLY <===]:
[Answered on: 6/9/2009] Rosemarie,
The 100% Whey Gold Standard is sweetened with Stevia and does not contain Splenda. Please respond if we can assist you further. Thank you for choosing Supplement Warehouse!![Rep: Carissa]
Her answer was,
short, sweet, honest and speedy. Stevia as you may know is not artificial it is made from drying the leaves of the stevia plant I am growing one right now and it is beautiful with very sweet tasting leaves.
I will be ordering it right now but I wanted to set the record straight.
If a company goes to so much trouble to make a high quality product I do not think they are going to ruin their rep by using artificial ingredients.

I really like this brand of protein supplement. It is the only brand I've tried, after reading many reviews on the web and Amazon. I wanted to write a note about the flavors, though, as I did not have a good experience with the Cookies N Cream flavor. I have tried the Double Rich Chocolate flavor for 2 months and decided to try a different flavor. The Cookies flavor tastes fine, however it is extremely salty! The nutrition label lists 1 serving contains 8% of the daily recommended sodium.. imagine eating 3 or more servings to meet your protein needs for a day - the salt content will quickly add up. Compare this to 3% sodium for the Chocolate flavor... much more pleasant and enjoyable drink.

I am going back to the Chocolate ASAP, but will keep the Cookies flavor around and finish it slowly, perhaps 1 serving / day, due to HIGH sodium content.

I'm just commenting about taste and stomach upset here.

I've tried double chocolate and it's really good with fat free milk.

I like strawberry in general, but this Whey strawberry
does NOT taste good even with milk. It also upsets my stomach unlike
the double chocolate.

First I'll say that the Double Rich Chocolate is the best of the flavors Ive tried. Vanilla being the second and Strawberry was just painful, which was a real let down because I really like the others. Ive only tried these flavors so I can't comment on the others (banana, cookies/cream etc). The DRChocolate or other chocolate flavors are great and the ones I get most often. I would purchase the Vanilla if I somehow couldnt get the Chocolate one but will never buy the Strawberry again.

Ive tried alot of the powder proteins and the Gold Standard brand is the best one that I've had so far (with exception of the Strawberry flavor) If you've only tried brands of powdered protein from regular box stores and didnt like them you need to try this, there is no comparison. Nutrition stores carry this product but its around 10.00 cheaper to buy it online here. Ive not found a box store that has this brand at this price for 2lb.

For the price, convenience, and flavor, this is the best whey product I have owned.

The price of this product, ordered through Amazon(33.36 per month under my present subscription via subscribe and save), is the best I have found so far at 45 cents per scoop.

In the arena of convenience, shipping the product directly to me assists me in not having to waste precious time going to some retail store - I simply go onto Amazon.com and click a few buttons if I run out before my next subscription ships another batch to me.

As far as the flavor, this product does not taste like sugar-loaded candy. It is not meant to. For the low quantity of sweeteners and additives it actually has, it tastes fantastic. The flavor is somewhat like a hot chocolate mix, which is satisfying even when mixed and ingested with water alone.

I recommend this product to anyone.

Ive taken quite a few protein shakes and none have compared to the taste of chocolate flavored Gold Standard. Its not going to be ice cream but are you fricken kidding me, do you expect something that good for you to taste like an ice cream shake. I take it with skim milk and the taste is amazing. You can go listen to all the technical mumbo jumbo of the other reviews but give or take a gram or two most (quality) whey protein shakes are comparable...what seperates it is the taste and I absolutely love the taste of the Chocolate and mint chocolate Gold Standard...cant say for the other flavors.