PES Select Vegan Protein: New Vegetarian Protein Powder

PES looks to capitalize on the growing vegan market by releasing a plant-based version of their protein powder titled PES Select Vegan

Recently, PEScience has been shifting their marketing gears, looking to get out of the bodybuilding and hardcore fitness markets and into more homes across the world. Case in point are the two reformulations of their two fat burners (now turned “lite energy supplements”), Alphamine and Norcodrene.

Now, to expand on their reach and appeal to an entirely new and growing demographic of consumers, PES is about to release PES Select Vegan, a plant-based alternative to their incredibly popular and ultra-clean Select Protein.

You can check out the label below, but first make sure to check the best deal and sign up for PricePlow alerts:

Select Vegan Ingredients

Select Vegan is a blended protein, just like the animal-based Select, however, with the vegan option, the protein is derived from two sources: pea and rice protein. This combination should help provide a more well-rounded texture than a single sourced plant protein powder.

• Pea Protein Concentrate

  

  Select Vegan uses a combination of pea protein and brown rice protein to give a full amino acid profile and a pleasing texture and taste.

  If you’ve ever dabbled in the plant-based protein world, you’re no stranger to pea protein. It’s a great alternative to dairy for the lactose intolerant, that contains a complete amino acid profile just their animal-based counterparts.

  For those of you thinking that choosing a vegan protein based are peas will automatically make you lose your gains, fear not as pea protein has been shown to be just as effective as whey protein when it comes to building muscle.^[1]

  There’s additional benefits to pea protein aside from muscle growth though. Pea protein helps fill you up and has been shown to be just as satiating as casein protein.^[2] Furthermore, research shows it lowers cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure^[3], all important markers for supporting a healthy heart.

  However, the one downside to pea protein is that on its own, it really does taste (and smell) like peas. Due to this, it’s usually blended along rice protein, as it is here, or another plant-based protein to both improve the taste and aroma of the powder.

• Brown Rice Protein Concentrate

  Similar to pea protein, rice protein also contains all of the essential amino acids (EAAs) required by the body to stimulate muscle protein synthesis and rev up your anabolic engine. This means you won’t have to worry about “losing your gains” just for choosing a plant-based protein.

  

  These PES sponsored athletes are all smiles over the original version of PES Select, but will they be the same with the Vegan Select?

  A double-blind, placebo-controlled study compared the effects of whey protein versus rice protein on markers of performance and lean mass gains over an 8 week period. After the trial, researchers observed that rice protein provided better gains in strength, power, lean body mass as well as reduced body fat compared to whey protein.^[4]

  That’s not all though, as another interesting study found that rice protein also reduces blood pressure and cholesterol.^[5] Maybe there’s something to be said for adopting a more plant-focused diet after all?

  On top of this, the brown rice protein adds back in some of the taste to counteract the pea protein. On its own, brown rice protein typically doesn’t mix well, but it does much better when combined with pea. So right now, pea/rice is the ideal vegetable protein solution.

• The Rest

  To complete the ingredient list of Select Vegan, you’ll see the usual assortment of things like guar gum, cocoa powder, natural flavors, salt. What you won’t see are any artificial sweeteners or dyes. PES has chosen to go the completely natural route with Select Vegan and sweeten the protein with stevia as opposed to sucralose or Ace-K.

  This should help win favor with the more holistic crowd that Select Vegan is primarily targeting.

  Sucralose and ace-k are going down, and stevia is getting better and better, as proven by some of the fantastic naturally-sweetened supplements by Transparent Labs like PreSeries Bulk and Transparent Labs’ Grass-Fed Whey Isolate. They’re not as sweet as sucralose, but stevia’s definitely gotten to the point where it’s not awful anymore either, and well worth trying for natural eaters.

Macros

Select Vegan isn’t here just yet, but it should be landing in 2 tantalizing flavors soon.

Each serving of PES Select Vegan weighs in at 34g and contains the following:

• Calories: 110
• Protein: 20g
• Carbs: 6g (0g sugar)
• Fats: 0.5g (0g saturated)

Flavors Available

Below is a list of all of the flavors:

Takeaway

It’s rare to see one of the major players in the supplement game thrown their hat into the plant-based protein world. It’s usually reserved for the more niche companies out there looking to make a name for themselves.

Yet PES is run by smart guys who see the trend, and the trends state that vegans and vegetarians are simultaneously growing in numbers while also realizing that they need more protein in order to not look like dying skeletons. This is one way to boost that protein number. You know we love our vegetables, but standard vegetable-only diets simply lack what it takes to have an attractive physique unless you get really creative, and a protein powder like this helps with that situation.

The original milk-based Select Protein is a fan favorite and is what we consider the best protein powder for a vast majority of protein consumers out there, and now PES has their sights set on making fans of the vegan crowd as well. The real question will be if PES has the flavoring and texture of this protein just right so it doesn’t have the ultra-chalky taste and grainy texture of most plant proteins.