Optimum Nutrition Lean Whey Review
The people at Optimum Nutrition fully understand and accept that the only constant in life is change. Even though they’ve made quite a few high-quality supplements. they refuse to rest on their accomplishments.
Instead, they’ve created a new style of whey protein that combines plenty of protein with highly beneficial ingredients. But does this experiment pay off? Or has Optimum Nutrition bitten off more than they could chew?
Taste and Mixability:
When it comes to the taste of Lean Whey. you can’t go wrong. Chocolate Shake was our personal favorite, but the other two flavors (Vanilla and Strawberry Milkshake) tasted just as good. When it came to mixability, Optimum Nutrition developed a protein powder that doesn’t clump or have the infamous ‘chalk’ texture.
Before we really start to dig into our Optimum Nutrition Lean Whey review, we think it’s important to mention what we mean when we say ‘value’. Value is about more than how much you’re going to pay. Frankly, that’s only half of what value means to us. Value is about the quality of product you’re getting for your money. Value is about getting the best supplement for the best possible price.
Lean Whey’s value is actually pretty reasonable… IF you live in the UK. At about £0.80 per serving, this supplement is a quite a good deal, considering what you get for your money. Unfortunately US buyers will have to pay around $1.90 per serving – If that’s outside of your price range, take a look at our other whey protein reviews for some great alternatives.
The best prices we found were at Amazon.com.
Effectiveness:
Speaking of what you’re getting for your money, let’s take a look at this supplement’s ingredient list and (more importantly) whether or not it actually works well. It’s the elephant in the room, so we might as well address it first: the protein content. At about 20 grams per serving, it’s not particularly mind-blowing. Of course, keep in mind that 20 grams of protein after your workout has actually been found to be the minimum effective dose for protein after an intense workout.
But remember: this is an experimental protein powder designed to challenge our perception of whey protein. This particular type of whey protein has a variety of interesting ingredients. The most eye catching one on the list being Green Tea Extract.78 mgs of Green Tea Extract which are capable of everything from treating stomach disorders to improving mental alertness. It goes without saying that most whey protein supplements don’t come with something like this.
As if that wasn’t interesting enough, Lean Whey also has 234 mgs of CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid). Basically, CLA is a slightly modified form of an omega-6 fatty acid. More importantly, it’s been shown to lower your insulin resistance, increase your metabolic rate and even enhance muscle growth. Plus, Lean Whey has an impressive amount of L-Carnitine (an amino acid that improves athletic performance and endurance), 130mg of it, in fact.
Of course, how a supplement looks on paper is one thing. How it actually effects you is another. When it comes to how we experienced Lean Whey, we have to admit that we were impressed. Not only does this supplement do exactly what a whey protein should (support muscular growth), but goes above and beyond in its attempt to give you the best results possible. We even noticed an increase in our natural resting energy level, which is uncommon for most whey protein supplements.
Side Effects:
Optimum Nutrition Lean Whey doesn’t have anything in particular to look out for as a side effect. That being said, remember the golden rule of supplements: if at any moment you start feeling ill after taking this supplement, discontinue use immediately and consult your physician.
For
- Relatively affordable (If in the UK)
- Tastes great and mixes well
- A variety of high-quality ingredients