
This product was on a "NEW!" display in the front area of
Vitamin World a while back, and in my limited knowledge, the ingredient profile looked pretty good, so I decided to try it out. Since purchasing it, and in the time since joining this site, I realize my research wasn't sufficient enough to spend as much money as I did. But we live and learn. I can't say I'm completely satisfied with this protein, specifically because of how expensive it is, but I did see some positive results, and I've definitely had worse. If you look at the spread of
Inner Armour products, they have some concentrated
BCAA mixtures, some
MASS gainers, etc., so this is a sort of "catch-all" blend that would be best suited for someone who doesn't want 5 or 6 tubs of stuff on their shelf.
Profile: 7/10 - This product contains both Whey (concentrate, isolate, and hydrolysate) and Casein proteins, which covers both immediate nutritional needs post-workout and long term absorption. It also contains a respectable compliment of
Glutamine and
BCAAs for muscle
recovery and aiding in gaining lean muscle mass. The label touts a proprietary enzyme blend called the "Aminogen Complex," which should ideally aid in
digestion and absorption, but who really knows. I would have liked to see more protein per serving, and a higher proportion of whey isolate or hydrolysate to concentrate, based on the price.
Taste/Mixability: 7/10 - I bought the Strawberry flavor. I would typically mix one scoop of powder with about 24+ ounces of water in my shaker bottle, and a few good shakes usually did the trick. Once in a while, though, I'd get some stubborn clumps that would stick to the bottom and be incredibly hard to get rid of, and would even be left at the bottom of my shaker when I'd finished drinking. I'd also sometimes mix it with milk, which tastes SO much better and is a lot more enjoyable, but the mixing is much more difficult, and it gets very thick. This is one of the better tasting proteins I've had, and it never got old for me, but the mixing issues get annoying after a while. I suspect if you used 2 scoops (which I was tempted to, and would have if not for the price), the mixing would be even more difficult.
Results: 6/10 - I did experience some gains in size and strength while on this product, but I can't possibly contribute those gains solely to this product. I lift hard, and eat a lot, so I would naturally expect gains to follow. But between strictly eating well and supplementing my protein intake with this product, I believe I experienced more noticeable gains at a faster pace. This could very well be due to the
BCAAs, as my protein intake is typically pretty solid but doesn't contain
Aminos in this reduced form. I wish I'd felt the effects of the
glutamine a lot more, as I didn't really notice any difference in
recovery time, but I might have if I'd dosed up to 2 scoops, so you may want to do so. I didn't experience any negative side effects from this product. No
digestive issues, discomfort, bad gas, etc. The "Aminogen" enzyme blend may have aided in this, but I very rarely have problems digesting things anyway, and haven't with any other protein, so I can't really tell.
Value: 5/10 - This is what really brings down my rating of the product. I got the 4.4 lb. tub at around $40, and considering what each serving holds, this seems steep to me. If you take only one scoop, there are 55 servings, but 2 would probably be more effective, and that thereby cuts longevity in half. I would rather go with a smaller tub of another product that contains more beneficial ingredients per serving, where one scoop would go much further. Based on the label, this blend contains more whey concentrate than either isolate or hydrolysate, which is not ideal.
Overall: 6/10 - In summary, Nitro Peak has a decent ingredient profile, and could very well aid in lean
MASS and strength gains. But because of the price, and aggravating mixing issues, I won't be purchasing this product again. It may work well for you, and I do believe it can yield some results, but I think there are much better protein blends out there.
Thank you for reading. I hope this helps aid someone's research.