Protein powders are all more or less the same, aren’t they? Not anymore! Once every blue moon, a product arises that brings something completely new to the table.
SERIOUS about your protein? BN Labs Ultimate Whey Isolate is TRIPLE lab-tested, 90% protein by weight, and our first to include Velositol to enhance Muscle Protein Synthesis!
What Do We Want in a Protein Powder?
The answer to this question should be simple, right? We want a product that delivers protein to make our diets easier to adhere to. We want a product that drives up the synthesis of new muscle tissue while fixing our old, broken down fibers.
But what if there was an ingredient added that could make it happen stronger and faster than ever, all while keeping it insanely pure?
BN Labs answers that question with the new BN Labs Ultimate Whey Isolate, which has a glorious 90% protein by weight statline (this is after the flavoring and thickeners have been added!)… but more importantly, it’s our first Velositol-based protein powder here on PricePlow!
Finally, something new in a protein powder is here… and it’s not cheap filler aminos! There’s some fascinating new research to back up the ingredient’s claims, and we’ll dig into that below, but first you need to see our coupon-powered deals and sign up for alerts on other BN Labs supplements:
BN Labs Ultimate Whey Isolate – Deals and Price Drop Alerts
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The Perfect Whey Protein Isolate? Our BN Labs Ultimate Isolate Review
How do these guys make it 90% protein by weight and it still tastes good? No clue, but watch Mike and CJ discuss this Velositol research and test out the tubs:
Now let’s figure out how they did it:
A crazy pure protein… with even more
Wow, look at this! There’s a reason you’re not going to see a chocolate flavor… because BN Labs is ferocious about keeping it at 90% protein by weight!
Some of our readers want cereal, candy, and even toys in their protein powders. They’re fine with cheap whey concentrate and bear with the gastrointestinal distress (or are lucky not to have any!) But then there’s the other kind of consumer – the one who wants their protein powder to be just that – pure protein!
BN Labs understands this neglected portion of the market all too well. So when they created Ultimate Whey Isolate, they went crazy making it 90% of protein by weight with zero added fat. There’s just a single gram of carbohydrate present per serving. What’s this leave you with? A fantastic 27g of protein in a 30g scoop!!
So let’s get into the ingredients, but let’s start with the real reason you’re here — the Velositol!
BN Labs Ultimate Whey Isolate Ingredients
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Velositol
This is actually the second ingredient on the label, but it’s really why we’re excited about BN’s Ultimate Whey Isolate here, so we’re cutting to the chase:
What the world is Velositol?
Velositol was created by Nutrition 21, who announced their first successful clinical study as early as 2015[1] — so this has been in the works for quite some time.
In a newer release with more information, Nutrition 21 describes Velositol as:
“a patented ingredient designed to double the effects of protein and exercise on muscle protein synthesis (MPS). When added to protein, Velositol’s novel complex rapidly stimulates insulin release and increases the muscle cell’s sensitivity to insulin.
Nutrition 21’s Velositol is finally making its way out there!
This helps to safely increase insulin levels and enhance the body’s amino acid uptake, stimulating and boosting MPS.
Velositol has attained GRAS (generally regarded as safe) status for 2 grams, to be used in protein drinks (including ready-to-drink and powder), meal replacement bars, energy and protein bars.”
–Nutrition 21, creators of Velositol[2] (emphasis PricePlow’s)
Interesting… our longtime readers will assume that Velositol is a new ingredient in the nutrient partitioning game, or possibly even a carbohydrate… and that’s not not too far from the truth, but with a serious twist.
We’ve seen great products that promise to help you use macronutrients more efficiently. But Velositol is different here. Its required dose is very low compared to those other ingredients, and it apparently doubles protein synthesis when supplemented.[3]
But what is it?!
Clinical research shows Velositol nearly doubling the power of protein when the two are consumed together… with the caveat that this study only used 6g protein. What happens with 25g?
The ingredient is actually made of a chromium complex modified with a specialized form of amylopectin.[1,2] We’ve seen chromium before, as it’s commonly found in glucose disposal agents, since it helps transport glucose from the bloodstream into cells.
But amylopectin? This is a polymer found in starches,[4] and is the part that’s rapidly absorbed. The good news is that you apparently don’t need much at all to make absorption enhancement begin!
Let’s break down this press release further.
How does Velositol work?
Nutrition 21 is advertising Velositol as a “modifier of the insulinogenic response”. While you may associate insulin with driving carbohydrates into cells, insulin increases macronutrient absorption for some amino acids as well.[5] When absorbed, the levels of myokines increases.[2,3,6] This is important because these help promote signaling pathways involved in fat oxidation and glucose uptake within muscle cells.
But what’s crazy here is that Velositol itself is reported not to alter blood glucose levels!! (The whey isolate powder in this product will a bit, of course).
So the ingredient can increase Muscle Protein Synthesis with protein… but NOT add to an increase blood glucose levels?! Color us interested…
So if Nutrition 21’s claims are to be believed, this could change the game. A protein powder that helps with better utilization of proteins and amino acids will allow Velositol to be a tough contender in the coming year, and BN Labs Ultimate Whey Isolate is the first protein we’ve seen to use it.
Should We Be Excited?
Yes… but we’re honestly still not sure how excited. Velositol is new to the game. There have only been a handful of studies on the ingredient so far, and they’re of course funded by Nutrition 21, and the best one used 2g Velositol against 6g protein, which isn’t what we have here. However, these studies are still promising.
One of these studies, perhaps the most relevant of the few, already showed a significant improvement in acute muscle protein synthesis via a measure of cytokines[7] (the myokines mentioned above are cytokines). Since cytokines are involved in muscle growth,[8] this is an awesome finding.
We’ll be writing a full in-depth post about Velositol and will keep it updated as more investigations come out.
Our initial verdict: cautious optimism, and worth a shot for anyone interested in new stuff. One of the biggest question marks is why the main Velositol study was done with only 6g protein and not a full 25g dose.
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Instantized BiPRO Whey Protein Isolate
Now here’s how BN Labs was able to get everything to fit with 90% protein by weight after adding the thickeners, sweeteners, sea salt, and even that Velositol.
With BiPRO!
This is an ultra-pure whey protein isolate (WPI), and while “BiPro” is a competing product in its own right, it’s also a raw material whey isolate powder created by Davisco foods.[9,10]
Davisco uses a process known as “controlled denaturation” of the whey protein to keep solubility high at room temperature.[11]
BiPro’s spec sheet states the following:
Instantized BiPRO I.P. is manufactured from fresh, sweet dairy whey that is concentrated and spray dried. The product is a homogenous, free flowing, semi-hygroscopic powder[10]
–Davisco Foods
Why use a pure isolate in general?
As our readers know, whey isolate is fantastic for those that have digestive issues with dairy or lactose. Considering 75% of the world’s population loses lactase upon weening,[12] and lactase is the enzyme responsible for lactose metabolism — you might want to stick with WPI. The blend is also free of casein, which has a slew of intolerance issues attached to it as well.[13]
This chart compares the essential amino acid pattern as suggested by FAO/WHO to that of BiPRO. BiPRO contains greater amounts of every essential amino acid that is required by 2-5 year old children.
But using BiPRO takes it to a whole new level, since they’re claiming a far superior amino acid profile with that extra protein you’re getting in.[14]
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The extras
Outside of these two, you have sea salt, natural and artificial flavors, xanthan gum, and sweetening:
Sucralose sweetener used
The sweetening, driven by sucralose, allows for this fantastic macronutrient profile. If the “artificial sweetener” scares, you, don’t let it. Not only has sucralose been demonstrated to be well-tolerated time and time again, the doses present in most protein products are too low to even worry about [15,16]
And that is how you conclude a crazy clean label!
But now it’s time to see what happens after the ingredients are put into the bottle – the testing:
Banned Substance Tested… and then some!
It’s clear that BN Labs is positioning this as a serious athlete’s product.
BN Labs Ultra Whey Isolate is drug-tested athlete approved and then some!
Ultimate Whey Isolate is probably the most well-tested protein product we’ve seen. BN Labs went a liiiiil crazy and got tested by three companies: BSCG (this is who Kaged Muscle uses), Informed Choice, and a third party independent lab to boot! We’ve honestly never seen anyone do this, but it covers all bases and athletes can be absolutely sure that this batch has been tested and is free of any banned substances!
The product is so damn clean they are apparently using it for actual research! While the BN Labs site doesn’t list the specific studies Ultimate Whey Isolate is used in, it’s still impressive if true.
So far we have a clean and honest protein product that almost anyone — sorry vegans — can tolerate. Can it get any better from here?
Flavors
Science aside, our favorite part of a protein powder is the taste. And we have some awesome and unique options here. The initial offerings are:
BN Labs has dropped an intense protein powder here, no doubt!
While vanilla and salted caramel are well-loved darlings of the industry already, graham cracker stands out as an interesting choice – but honest truth here, the graham cracker flavor tastes way better with a poof of added cinnamon. You’ll thank us later on that one!
We haven’t reviewed everything else though, so stay tuned to our YouTube channel for more, and we’ll embed the video below.
No chocolate? No space-wasting cocoa for this one…
Of course, we were initially surprised by the lack in chocolate flavored options, and our guess was that they didn’t want to deal with the cocoa adding that extra carb! BN Labs is clearly playing for purity here!
We asked them about that, and our suspicions were correct:
Unfortunately we can’t make a chocolate flavor. Since we have to use Cocoa in the chocolate flavor it’ll take up too much room in the product that the product will no longer be 90% protein by weight.
We’ve had to use such as small flavor system to make this project work it’s crazy.
— BN Labs
This is how you know what you’re dealing with here.
Finally, a new kind of protein… and it’s not because of cereal chunks
Our industry is a wasteland of broken promises and failed products. Over the years, our protein powders have been tainted with cheap filler amino acids rather than real, muscle protein synthesizing protein. The trend towards the ridiculous has been fun, but serious athletes have been a bit neglected lately, and BN Labs saw that.
Are you ready for a super clean protein again?
Meanwhile, ingredients come and go, only failing the consumer that just wants to achieve more gains. Velositol may just be different.
BN Labs has dropped a very interesting product with their Ultimate Whey Isolate. Even without including Velositol, the powder has a crazy clean label thanks to the BiPRO and lab testing. Not only is will it be easy to tolerate for everybody, it’s clean and third-party tested.
The macronutrient profile means it’ll match any diet. While the retail price may seem steep for some, it’s still cheaper per tub than its competitors like Hydrowhey from Optimum Nutrition, especially after our coupon (which may not last forever!)…
In the coming months, we’d like to see more research on Velositol — especially in humans with realistic doses of protein (ie 20-25g, not 6g) — but so far what we’re seeing is pretty promising.
But for now, athletes have something new to look into, and BN Labs is proud to be the first to bring it with Velositol in their Ultimate Whey Isolate.
BN Labs Ultimate Whey Isolate – Deals and Price Drop Alerts
Get Price Alerts
No spam, no scams.
Disclosure: PricePlow relies on pricing from stores with which we have a business relationship. We work hard to keep pricing current, but you may find a better offer.
Posts are sponsored in part by the retailers and/or brands listed on this page.
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