About
ISOTOPE is a whey protein powder made by Redcon1. It is a dairy-based protein designed to support lean muscle gains and recovery.
The product is made 100% whey protein. It is free from lactose and contains 25g of protein, 3g of carbohydrates, 0.5g of total fat and 130 calories per serving (one scoop).
According to Redcon1’s FAQ section for ISOTOPE, your serving size depends on your needs. It states that if you weigh between 100lb and 150lb, then “one scoop per serving” is ideal. However, those who weigh over 150lb should take “two scoops per serving”.
shinndigg –
A Protein That’s Good in Theory, Flawed in Execution
Big thanks to Redcon1 for the hookup on this product and many of their others to the TROOPs. A whey isolate is the choice of many for a post-workout shake, and with good reason. Whey isolates provide fast absorbing protein without the fat, cholesterol, and added calories of a concentrate. But not all isolates are created equal, so here’s my scope into this particular one: Dosage: 1 scoop post-workout, mixed with a carb supplement. Ingredient profile (5/10): What could possibly be wrong with a whey isolate? Well the process that the protein goes through to become an isolate has a lot to do with how the finished product comes out. Cold processed, filtered whey isolate is the best method for my two cents worth, which is the primary source of this product. So far, so good. Now for the bummer, ion-exhanged whey isolate. In layman’s terms Ion-exchange is an isolation process that utilizes hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide to positively and negatively charge ions in the protein that all but eliminates the fat and carbs in the protein. The issue with this process is that it significantly denatures major sub-fractions of the protein: gylcomacropeptides, and Alpha Lactalbumin. A large part of the essential aminos and bioactive proteins are contained in these sub-fractions. I’ve never been a fan of this process since discovering what it entails. The rest of the protein profile is hydrolyzed whey isolate, which is the fastest absorbing and purest form of protein you can get. So while this product does utilize good forms of whey isolate, the inclusion of ion exchange totally ruins it for me. You do get 25 grams of protein per 32 gram scoop though, which is 78% protein so at least the ratio is good on this product. Mixture (9/10): A few shakes in a shaker cup do the trick for this product. One of the benefits of isolates is they dissolve and mix extremely well, and this product is no exception. There is a little bit of foam that tends to occur with proteins that contain hydrolyzed whey, but not excessive. Taste (9/10): I tried out the chocolate flavor in this product, which is usually my default when trying a new protein. Of the numerous chocolate proteins I have tried in my life this one is one of the tastiest I have ever enjoyed. This product has a wonderful light, sweet flavor with no bad lingering after taste, a real treat after a workout. Effectiveness (7/10): A protein powder in my eyes is the foundation you set for your recovery and nutrition, it won’t necessarily give you all kinds of gainzzbut it is a solid building block to work off of. I noticed the usual recovery aspects a good whey isolate gives you, decreased soreness, ect. However in the back of my mind knowing that part of the protein I was putting in me was incomplete and denatured kind of ruins the nutritional aspect of the protein for me. Value (5/10): The cheapest spot you can cop this that I found is actually Redcon1’s own website at $34.99 for 30 servings. This comes out to approximately $1.16 per serving, which is a little on the high side when it comes to protein, even isolates. Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but when you consider that along with the higher price tag per serving, part of the protein you are getting is of a lower quality, it makes the value less significant. Overall while this product does contain quality isolate proteins, the inclusion of the ion-exchange isolate makes this product a swing and a miss in my eyes. If those were taken out, I feel this would be an excellent product. The rest of Redcon1’s lineup looks promising and I look forward to trying and reviewing them, this one however was a dud for me. Thumbs down!
workoutguru –
Wanted to have that nice isotope effect from a protein but it seemed to be missing for me.
—-Quick Summary—-
We look to proteins to help us recover better and build more muscle. Proteins are the build blocks to building more and better muscle. Also proteins are good if you have trouble meeting your daily macros and need that extra help at reaching them.
—-Introduction—-
First off I want to thank Redcon1 for letting us troopers have the chance to give this product a try. Right now I have tried a few of Redcon1 product but none of their standard protein products. Protein is a must have in my supplement stacks since it is the building blocks for building more muscle. When ever I get a chance to try new protein from different companies I am always up for doing so as long as it is from a decent company I like and trust.
—-Ingredient Profile—-
This has a nice transparency label to it. Your proteins in this come from 100% milk proteins. You get three kinds of milk proteins in this. Whey protein isolate, Ion exchanged whey protein isolate, and Hydrolyzed whey protein isolate. Each scoop containers 25g of protein. They processes the Isolate using a cold processed micro and ultra filter – the basis of this is to assort enzymes that are used to hydrolyze whey protein concentrate to reduce its antigenic fractions and increase the peptides content. My one complaint is the 2nd kind of protein they use the Ion Exchange. Ion-exchange is an isolation process that utilizes hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide to positively and negatively charge ions in the protein that all but eliminates the fat and carbs in the protein which the additional benefits of whey could potentially get lost with that process. 3G of carbs, 1.5G sugars, Total amount of fat is 0.5g, Cholesterol 5mg, Sodium 85mg. I think these amounts are good if your trying to keep your macro counts in check.
—-Taste/Mixability/Dosing—-
I decided to give one of their newer flavors blueberry yogurt a try. I always like to try different flavors than your normal chocolate or vanilla when I can. I thought this sounded good so I thought I would give it a try. I was rather pleased with this flavor and good it tasted. This had that nice blueberry yogurt taste to it. Maybe just a little on the sweet side but not to bad. I know some people might think it’s to sweet but I thought it was just right and made it taste better. No weird after taste when you get done drinking it. This stuff mixes really well and had no issues at all with it not fully mixing. Since this is going to be a fast digesting type protein you will want to take this right away after your workout. I would do one scoop after my workouts.
—-Effectiveness—-
I look to protein for recovery and how well it digests. I thought overall my recovery from this was ok. It was nothing real outstanding for me but nothing horrible either. Depending on what body part I worked this seemed to help me recovery better on certain body parts better than others. I know on leg days and days when I would work more upper back and rear delts I seemed to feel a little more sore than normal the next day. When I would work any other body part I did not seem to be as sore. It depended a lot on how hard I worked out that day and how heavy I went as to how well I would recover. It seemed like the harder much more intense workouts I did I did not seem to recovery as quickly like I normally would. On days when I would not work out as hard I recovered a lot better and had hardly any issues with any DOM’s. So over all my recovery was more like so so I thought. I think with the use of the Ion Exchanged whey protein hindered my recovery a bit and how I recovered. This was still better than nothing but I think it could have been a little better than it was but just needs a little tweaking of the protein they use. For digestion it was really good. This seemed to fully digest right away even though this is made up of mainly milk proteins. I never felt this just sitting in my stomach waiting to digest. I think with this being cold process and micro filtration helped it to digest better. If your looking for a good protein that will fit well into your macro count I think this is a good protein to go with. This is not loaded with a lot of extra stuff and what is in this they try to keep the dosage amount lower which I do like. I did feel that after I would drink this I did feel a little more full but that did not last very long. I think this helped me more at maintaining my body weight and not really did much to help me increase my overall body weight and help put on more muscle mass.
—-Value—-
The cheapest I could find this was on muscleandstrength.com and they want $29.99 for 30 servings. For an Isolate protein this is a fairly decent price. I know a lot of Isolate proteins they want a little more for them than regular whey proteins. I would not care to spend more than $30-35 at most for a product.
—-Side Effects—-
Nothing I noticed.
—-Conclusion—-
This I thought was an ok protein. This was nothing I was real crazy about but did help me in some ways. If they were to change the protein they use in this I think it would really help make this a lot better and more effective. For your macro count this I feel is pretty good because they keep everything at much lower dosages. I think for the price they want for this is little high for me considering how effective it was for me. Would I recommend this maybe but I think there are some better options out there. If your looking for a protein that will help you keep in check your macro count better and you want something sweet you can use as a snack then this would be ok to have but other than that I would mostly likely have to pass on wanting to use this again. Again I want to thank Redcon1 for making this and letting me have the chance to give it a try.
pfajgen –
Won’t wow you in any particular whey, but it gets the job done.
—-Quick Summary—-
Redcon1 Isotope was a tasty protein shake once I could get the ingredients to mix. It is a solid protein shake but there isn’t anything special that would make me purchase it again over other similarly priced products.
—-Introduction—-
Big thank you to the TROOP Program and Redcon1 for allowing me to review this product. Isotope is Redcon1’s whey protein isolate product. I believe that protein products are essential to any serious weightlifter/athlete/bodybuilder, and mostly help with recovery and putting on lean mass. Products that I compared Isotope to when I used it were Iso100, MTS Machine Whey, Animal Whey, and Gold Standard Whey. While they are not all purely WPI products, I believed they gave me a good baseline to compare this product to as I used it.
—-Ingredient Profile—-
As per usual with Redcon1, Isotope has a fully transparent label! In my opinion, the important notables with any protein product are 1) the quality of the protein source and 2) the macros. Isotope’s protein is derived from: cold processed micro and ultra filtered whey protein isolate, ion exchanged whey protein isolate, hydrolyzed whey protein isolate. These are all super fast digesting forms of WPI so they should be absorbed by your body quickly post workout when you need it most. Another major benefit to these proteins is that they do not come with the added carbs and fats that other forms may have. Additionally, these forms of protein should cause less bloating. Some people are not fans of the proteins used in Isotope because they are allegedly stripped of growth factors and other beneficial properties that you would get with Whey Concentrates or other proteins. However, if you have digestion issues or are on a tight macro budget- the WPI’s used in Isotope are what you are looking for. As for the macros, Isotope contains 3g carbs, .5g fat, and 25g protein. This is a solid macro profile and would definitely benefit those on a restrictive diet.
—-Taste/Mixability/Dosing—-
I received the blueberry yogurt flavor. It was tart and tangy. It honestly tasted just like my favorite blueberry greek yogurt. I only used it in water, but am sure it would taste even better in milk or almond milk. The consistency was not too thick in water once you got it to mix. Mixability was probably one of the biggest difficulties for me in taking this product. It seemed that no matter how much I shaked or let it sit, Isotope would contain clumps of protein. Furthermore, it did not wash out of my shaker easily at all. I took one scoop of Isotope each day after my workouts. I would use between 6-10oz of water. I never felt the need to consume more than my 1 scoop.
—-Effectiveness—-
I typically judge the effectiveness of a protein based on the macros and the recovery benefits of the product. I believe that Isotope increased my ability to recover, but it didn’t do anything special for me. There is honestly not much to say here. I wasn’t wowed. It was literally just ok. I was able to hit my macro goals and believe I had some added recovery so I would say that this product was pretty much average.
—-Value—-
Right now, the cheapest I can find online is Amazon for around $31. That is a little over $1/serving which isn’t too bad. That being said, for the very average effectiveness rating I could find other products for a better price per serving. If I was tired of my usual protein powders and needed a change up I would buy Isotope, but otherwise I would spend my $30 on Iso100 or MTS Whey.
—-Side Effects—-
None. No bloating which is a benefit for me when taking protein powders!
—-Conclusion—-
This product was just ok. It didn’t wow me in any particular way and didn’t leave me feeling like I wanted another tub. I don’t see myself buying it again unless I really grow tired of my usual go-to protein powders (which I don’t see happening any time soon). If you see a particular flavor that you really want to try, give it a go. Isotope won’t hurt you in any way or really let you down, it just gets the job done and that’s about it.
Sparticide –
It’s all right but definitely not a top pick for me.
—-Quick Summary—-
—-Introduction—-
—-Ingredient Profile—-
—-Taste/Mixability/Dosing—-
I tried the cake batter flavor to compare it to Optimum Nutrition’s version. It was all right but I wouldn’t get it again; for me it was a bit strong and had a less natural feel to it. The powder clumps a bit more than I’d like. Any shaker I used would get powder stuck in the mixer
—-Effectiveness—-
—-Value—-
The value here is pretty typical for an isolate, the MSRP is $39.99 which puts this at $1.33/serving. This isn’t what you’re likely to be paying though since there are numerous discounts available through Redcon1’s site
—-Side Effects—-
None to report here.
—-Conclusion—-
bzyczek –
Mislabeled Flavor and Noncompetitive value made no impression on me.
—-Quick Summary—-
Whey Protein Isolate simply put.
—-Introduction—-
First and foremost I would like to thank [b]Redcon1[/b] for sending me out their product so I could try it and review it for you guys. I would also like to thank SR for providing me the opportunity and the tools so that I can share with you guys my experience. I’m a big boy so I don’t usually consume enough protein for my body. So, I do what most of us do and supplement my protein intake. I do prefer whey isolate for the taste and the minimum macros. I noticed this offering from a well known company so I opted to try one.
—-Ingredient Profile—-
This profile has three forms of protein isolate … we don’t know how much you get of each … Cold processed micro and ultra filtered whey protein isolate, Ion exchanged whey protein isolate and lastly hydrolyzed whey protein isolate. Hydrolyzed protein is the quickest to digest because of the heat, acids or enzymes process it went trough. Ion exchanged whey protein isolate is a cheap way to filter protein and the least beneficial process because it’s done using chemicals and some of the aminos could be lost in that process. Cold processed micro and ultra filtered whey protein isolate is what you want really … I’m hoping that this is the more concentrated protein in this tub since it’s listed first. This is the best way to filter and isolate the protein from milk. You get 25 grams of protein from a 32 gram scoop. So you get 7 grams of fillers. Not bad but not great either. Lastly, 130 Calories 0.5 grams of Fat 0 of Saturated Fat 5mg of Cholesterol 3 grams of Carbs Protein 25g These numbers are really good. There are no enzymes or anything else added to this profile. Actually that’s not bad considering that isolate is the easiest to absorb by your body.
—-Taste/Mixability/Dosing—-
So here is where I have beef with the company … It’s clearly mislabeled … This was in no way Peanut butter chocolate flavor. I did taste chocolate but there was no hint or trace of peanut butter. If I had to label this flavor myself I would probably say it’s Almond butter chocolate flavor. Other than that I mixed one scoop with milk, shake for a few and it was ready to consume. I did also notice that this protein is a little more creamier than other isolates I’ve tried before. Usually Isolate have that very differential taste from standard whey where it tastes skinnier … like comparing skin milk with whole milk.
—-Effectiveness—-
I’m not sure how to tell you how effective this is … It’s really food so I’m not sure if you go to reviews to read how food was helping your body … especially food that was stripped from everything to just give you one particular ingredient … Protein. I can say that I did not feel bloated at all when consuming this product. I did not experience any negative digestive byproduct (flatulence). All in all very easy way to reach your daily goals for protein consumption.
—-Value—-
So this can be purchased from many sources … kudos to redcon1. The cheapest I found at the moment of writing this review was a 2.38lb tub for 35$. That comes out to 1.16$ per serving or if you want to be very accurate it’s 0.046 cents per protein .. Compering this to other isolates there are definitely cheaper products out there from reputable companies. So I have to neg rep this product just based on value.
—-Side Effects—-
None.
—-Conclusion—-
Unfortunately because of inaccurate labeling of flavor and the fact that there are cheaper standards out there I have to say Meh to this product. I didn’t enjoy the taste and I’m to frugal to pay more for something I didn’t enjoy. I think I don’t even have to be frugal to make the same decision. It just wasn’t want I wanted and I didn’t enjoy the taste of this isolate. I don’t know how other flavors taste but I’m assuming it would be worth a try since this isolate has a creamier taste than others that would enhance the “right” flavor … I thank you for reading this review and wish you a wonderful day.