What Is The Best Whey Protein? Top 6 Criteria To Use

Finding the best whey protein really comes down to your own definition of what “best” means to you.

But even if you know what factors are most important to you, it can still be extremely difficult to find the best one.

There are literally thousands of whey protein products to choose from and they all vary in quality, ingredients, cost and a number of other factors!

I’ve spent a lot of time researching and testing different whey protein powders and put together a list of 6 criteria to help find the best one.

What criteria is that?

I’ve written it up below so you can see how I go about selecting whey protein powders to test.

Hopefully this information will make it easier for you to discover which whey protein powder is best for you.

Criteria #1: All Natural Whey Protein

Optimizing my health is first and foremost for me so I do my best to avoid putting anything that is un-natural into my body.

So when I consider a Whey Protein powder, I first look to see if it is all natural.

This actually narrows the choices quite a bit because most whey protein powders contains artificial ingredients.

Some people don’t care much about the long-term consequences of eating a product with artificial ingredients.

No thanks. Long term health is what is most important to me so it’s gotta be all natural.

Criteria #2: Grass Fed Whey Protein

Once I find an all-natural whey protein powder, I look to see if the whey is from Grass Fed Cows.

Animals that eat what they are supposed to eat are healthier.

And healthier animals produce healthier products.

Cows in pasture eat grass….not Soy, Corn, Grains etc.

So grass-fed is the best choice if I am going for optimum health.

Criteria #3: Cost Per Gram of Whey Protein

If the whey protein powder is all natural AND from grass fed cows, the next thing I look at is cost.

This is where selecting a whey protein powder can get really tricky.

Why is the pricing so tricky?

• Whey protein powders come with different amounts of protein in the jar
• The size of the jar does not necessarily indicate the amount of protein in the jar
• Companies use different units of measurement for the amount of protein in the jar
• Serving size varies from brand to brand
• Sometimes the information the company provides on their website is not the same as what is on the label when you receive the product

So it’s almost impossible to pick up two jars of whey protein powder and do an accurate cost analysis on them without doing some conversions and math calculations.

How To Figure Out The Real Cost of Whey Protein?

I used to compare protein powders by the amount of protein per serving and the total cost of the jar.

That’s a bad because it’s not an accurate way to compare costs.

And if you don’t compare the costs accurately, you could end up spending MUCH more money than you need to spend.

Spreadsheets To The Rescue

To make things easier for myself to compare whey protein powders I made a chart HERE to compare all of the important criteria.

This spreadsheet makes it easy to compare the brand, product name, type of whey protein, cost, serving size and amount of whey protein per serving.

It is my goal to try every brand of all natural whey protein from grass fed cows because there is NO replacement for personal testing.

Incorrect Product Labels

For example, as a result of personally buying and testing these proteins, I’ve discovered some “inaccuracies” between what manufacturers show on their website and the actual product label.

One product website said the weight of the jar of protein was 2.2 lbs.

However when I received the protein the weight is actually 2.02 lbs.

Not a huge difference but it’s a difference and we as consumers deserve to have accurate information so we can make the right decision.

Another brand indicated that the serving size was 10 g which provided 12 g of whey protein.

However, when I received the product the serving size was 11 g and the amount of protein provided was 8 g.

That’s a BIG difference.

I don’t think these companies are trying to intentionally mislead us but accuracy is important to help us make the right decision.

Maybe I’m just cynical but when companies make these kinds of errors it makes me trust their brand less.

Cost Per Jar vs. Cost Per Gram Of Whey Protein

As far as cost goes, cost per gram of protein (column P on the spreadsheet) is the best way to accurately compare the cost of each whey protein powder.

The spreadsheet allows you to sort the list based on various criteria like lowest to highest cost.

As I continue to discover and try new products, I will continue to update the list accordingly.

Note: Most of the links on the spreadsheet are my affiliate links so I may make a (tiny) commission if you purchase a product after clicking on one of those links. You DO NOT pay more by clicking on those links. The prices you see there are the prices everyone pays including me. I just receive a portion of the profit for referring you.  Much of what I do on this site takes me a LOT of time so I hope you will  use my affiliate link if you decide to purchase one of those products. It helps me cover some of the costs for what I do here and I really appreciate your support 🙂

Criteria #4: Convenience

Once I go through the above criteria the next thing that is very important to me is Convenience.

It has to be easy for me to get the protein but sometimes convenience can be costly.

Retail Stores vs. Online Stores

Retail stores make it very convenient to buy whey protein but they typically charge MUCH more than online retailers.

As far as online retailers go, I like Amazon the best for several reasons.

• They sell almost every whey protein powder available
• They typically have the best pricing
• Standard shipping is free or very low cost
• Amazon Prime members receive free 2-day shipping and very low cost overnight shipping

I use Amazon Prime because it is low cost and it includes free 2-day shipping.

Shipping Speed Is Important

Why is shipping speed important?

Because heat can damage whey protein powder.

That’s why they tell you on the label to “STORE IN A COOL, DRY PLACE”.

What does heat have to do with shipping?

Slower shipping means your protein powder will sit on hot trucks and distribution centers for a longer amount of time.

Some distribution hubs are air-conditioned and some are not.

The hubs that are not air conditioned can get very hot.

The trucks are also not air conditioned.

So if your package is sitting in a hot truck, it’s most likely going to get hot.

Faster shipping = lower chance your shipment will get hot.

Slower Shipping = greater chance your shipment will get hot.

I don’t want my Whey Protein heating up in the box for several days so I go with 1-2 day shipping.

Criteria #5: Additional Ingredients

Many whey protein powders contain a variety of different ingredients.

Many products contain sugar, food coloring and a bunch of other junk.

The other ingredients are typically a sweetener like Stevia and an emulsifier like soy lecithin.

I try to avoid Soy as much as possible but I’m not too concerned about the soy lecithin in the protein powder.

Criteria #6: Taste

I usually blend my whey protein powder with healthy fruits or vegetables so taste for me isn’t as critical as the other factors above.

I’m really more concerned with the quality of the product than taste.

However, I will say that out of all the vanilla whey protein powders I’ve tried so far I like the taste of BodyLogix Natural Whey Vanilla Bean and Blue Bonnet French Vanilla Whey the best.

Taste is very personal though.

So if you tried one brand of whey protein powder before but didn’t like the taste, you may want to try another brand.

To me, they all taste fairly similar but each one is slightly different.

Conclusion

Based on all of the criteria above my preferred whey protein is BodyLogix Vanilla Whey Protein in first with BlueBonnet French Vanilla Whey coming in at a very close second.

Hopefully this article and my Whey Protein Comparison Chart will help you decide which is the best whey protein for you too.

If this article was helpful, please do me a favor and share it with someone! Thanks!