Myprotein The ioPea: Optimized Pea Protein

When it comes to exciting new supplement technologies and developments, we’ve done our best to stay on top of novel ingredients and the formulas that include them. The protein industry pioneers at Myprotein have a specific line of supplements named The Pro Range that utilize many of these cutting-edge technologies. One example is Myprotein’s The Pre Workout Thermo, a fat-burning pre workout supplement that includes industry-leading CaloriBurn grains of paradise extract.

Myprotein The ioPea is a pea protein isolate powder enhanced by Ingredient Optimized‘s io technology!

In the middle of some other Pro Range updates we’ve recently covered (new Mike and Ike The Pre Workout flavors), Myprotein also launched what we consider to be their best dairy-free protein offering yet: The ioPea.

The ioPea: Pea Protein enhanced by io Technology

The ioPea is an ultra-clean pea protein isolate powder that’s been enhanced by io Technology from Ingredient Optimized. This novel process increases the protein’s bioavailability, with research showing improved BCAA/EAA levels in users after taking it. We’ve covered this tech multiple times on PricePlow, finding more fascinating research on it every time we look.

Whether you’re a vegan, vegetarian, or simply looking for a dairy-free protein that can hang with its whey protein competition, Myprotein’s The ioPea is one worth researching.

It’s all covered below, but first, sign up for our Myprotein news alerts, it’s going to be a big year for the big brand:

Let’s check the extremely clean macros before getting into the protein and its “enhancement”:

The ioPea Macros

In a 30.8 gram scoop:

Look how clean these macros are! This is what you get with a pure pea protein isolate, but what’s not on the label is even more important: Ingredient Optimization!

• Calories: 100

• Protein: 21g

• Carbohydrates: 3g

  • Dietary Fiber: 1g

  • Total Sugar: 0g

• Fat: 0g

These are extraordinary compared to most vegan proteins – the trick is that Myprotein starts the process with pea protein isolate – and then they make it even better. We discuss how below:

The ioPea Ingredients: io-enhanced Pea Protein Isolate

The ioPea consists primarily of one thing – io-optimized pea protein isolate – so we’re going to focus on that, and then talk about the io (Ingredient Optimized) process itself.

Pea protein is popular in vegan (and dairy-free) protein powders because it is a complete, whole-food protein source.^[1-3] This means that it has all nine essential amino acids, but it is a bit low in methionine,^[4] which you may or may not prefer depending on your health situation. Some say it’s great for longevity, controlling blood glucose levels, and overall metabolic health,^[5-7] while others who are looking for growth-at-all-costs will want more methionine since it’s the start codon of translation,^[8] and therefore all forms of growth (both good and bad) require the amino acid.

Pea protein has been shown to build just as much muscle as whey in athletes.^[9,10] But wait until you see the io process

Regardless, pea protein works great for its job – a randomized, double-blinded, controlled study published in 2015 showed that athletes taking a pea protein supplement gained just as much weight from resistance training compared to those who took whey protein, which is a known muscle-builder.^[9] The result has been replicated in further studies using different types of athletics similar to crossfit.^[10]

Real world results are what matter, but companies like Myprotein still want to help their customers achieve more – especially in their high-end Pro Range line of supplements. Since plant proteins may not have the “perfect” PDCAAS (protein digestibility corrected amino acid score) as whey protein does,^[11-14] Myprotein wanted to do everything they could to supercharge their pea protein isolate. This is where they brought in io technology:

Ingredient Optimized: io technology

Pea protein optimized.

Taking pea protein isolate to the next level, Myprotein employed io technology from Ingredient Optimized, who takes pea protein and makes it even better – they have research showing significant EAA and BCAA blood plasma level increases compared to regular pea protein when using their process explained below.^[15]

Ingredient Optimized specializes in natural atmospheric plasma treatment to literally shift the protein molecules into a better position. We’ve covered this technology in two articles (in our main ioPea and ioWhey articles) — io technology improves the powder’s solubility, dispersion, and overall bioavailability by increasing the protein’s surface area.

More bioavailability from shifting protein?!

This may sound like science fiction, but it’s an incredible process used by other highly-intelligent brands that is backed by a great deal of research. What happens is that proteins and/or amino acids that receive the cold atmospheric treatment go through structural changes that expose the protein’s peptide binding sites more. With these sites better exposed, our body is able to cleave and process them far easier – ultimately leading to significant gains in the powder’s bioavailability.^[16,17]

In addition, those structural changes expose more hydrophobic pockets in the protein,^[18,19] which similar research has shown can help our enzymes to better attach to the molecules, ultimately improving digestibility.^[20]

io works in human research

ioPea has a significantly increased bioavailability of all nine essential amino acids. Image courtesy of Plasma Nutrition.

To back up the science, Ingredient Optimized has published studies on both whey protein isolate and pea protein getting enhanced by io and yielding significantly better EAA and BCAA blood plasma levels in humans at all timestamps measured (30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes post consumption).^[15,21] Obviously for Myprotein’s The ioPea, the pea protein study is of most relevance to us.^[15]

You can read more in our article titled ioPea Protein: A Plant Protein With the Power of Whey.

Other Ingredients added

No major surprises elsewhere on the label — The ioPea uses natural flavoring, is stevia-sweetened, and has a triple gum blend of xanthan, guar, and acacia gums.

Flavors available

ioPea or Myprotein’s The Plant Protein?

You may recall that Myprotein already has a plant protein in the Pro Range named The Plant Protein. While that was a great addition due to its mixture, leading to a smooth texture, The ioPea takes actual protein utilization and efficacy to the next level. Both are great, but if you forced us to choose one, we choose the io-enhanced ioPea any day of the week.

See the Myvegan Plant Protein Bars on the left

Meanwhile, it’s worth mentioning Myprotein’s Vegan Protein Bar, which is also phenomenal for dairy-free dieters.

Innovation takes all forms at Myprotein

The ioPea was released during a storm of releases at Myprotein that included two new Mike and Ike Clear Whey Isolate flavor collabs alongside two Mike and Ike The Pre Workout flavors and the huge Eddie Hall All-in-One Protein Protein partnership.

Lost in that mix was this incredible ioPea release here – but the plant proteins deserve some love too, after all.

But of all the plant proteins, this one deserves the most love. Myprotein has numerous plant proteins throughout their product lines – some are just standard pea and rice proteins, others are higher-quality blends like The Plant Protein discussed above. However, none rival the unique and novel io technology brought by Ingredient Optimized. So if you’re a Myprotein fan on the hunt for a plant protein (or a dairy-free protein in general), The ioPea is our choice.