Quest Protein Powder Review: Is Quest Actually Healthy?

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Are The Ingredients In Quest Nutrition Protein Powder Clean?

On today’s episode of Live Lean TV, I’m doing a Quest protein powder review to determine if it passes our 4 healthy guidelines to follow when choosing a high quality protein powder.

Let’s put this protein powder to the test and see if Quest is actually healthy?

Table Of Contents: Jump To

Since 2010, Quest Nutrition has emerged as a leading brand specializing in protein powders, protein bars, protein shakes, and protein chips to promote a healthier lifestyle.

Over the years, we’ve received quite a few questions about Quest Nutrition ingredients.

Specifically, if Quest Nutrition uses clean ingredients that are Live Lean approved.

4 Healthy Guidelines When Choosing A High Quality Protein Powder

To assess whether a protein powder is healthy, I did a video post on the 4 healthy guidelines to follow when choosing a high quality protein powder.

These 4 healthy guidelines for protein powder included:

1. Type Of Protein
2. Percentage Of Protein Based On Weight Per Serving
3. Percentage Of Calories From Protein
4. Ingredients And Sweeteners

Healthy Protein Powder Guideline #1. Type Of Protein

What type of protein is in Quest Nutrition?

The highest quality protein powder should come from a protein source with a complete amino acid profile and a high protein digestibility score.

Quest Nutrition Protein Powder Ingredients (Vanilla Milkshake):

According to the ingredients list, Quest Nutrition protein powder is a protein blend comprised of:

• 60% whey protein isolate
• 40% micellar casein

The main advantage of this protein powder blend is the whey protein isolate offers rapid amino acid release for post-workout recovery, while the micellar casein provides a slower, sustained release of amino acids over a longer period.

The main drawback to the Quest Nutrition protein blend is it may not be as effective for immediate post workout recovery compared to whey protein isolate alone.

Both whey protein isolate and micellar prptein are complete protein sources, with all 9 essential amino acids, as well as having a maximum protein digestibility score of 1.0, which measures how well your body is able to digest and utilize the protein.

However, I would like to see Quest Nutrition be transparent by providing the amounts of each essential amino acid on their label.

Since they didn’t do this, we can’t truly get the best understanding of the overall quality of the amino acid profile.

Based on what we know, Quest Nutrition Protein Powder uses an approved type of protein.

✅ Approved.

Healthy Protein Powder Guideline #2. Percentage Of Protein Based On Weight Per Serving

What percentage of protein is in a serving of Quest Nutrition protein powder?

Another way to determine if a protein powder is healthy is to calculate the percentage of protein based on the weight per serving.

To do this, simply look at the nutrition facts label for the serving size in grams and the amount of protein in grams.

Quest Nutrition Protein Powder Nutrition Facts:

Healthy Goal: 70-90% of weight should come from the weight of protein

Quest Protein Powder Percentage Of Protein Based On Weight Per Serving:

• 24g of protein / 31g scoop serving size = 77% of weight from protein

✅ Approved.

Healthy Protein Powder Guideline #3. Percentage Of Calories From Protein

What percentage of calories come from protein in Quest Nutrition protein powder?

Once again, let’s take another look at the nutrition facts label on Quest Nutrition’s protein powder to calculate this.

Healthy Goal: 80% or more of calories should come from protein.

Question Protein Powder Nutrition Facts per 31g scoop serving size:

• Calories: 110
• Protein: 24g
• Carbohydrates: 3g
• Fat: 0g

Quest Protein Powder Percentage Of Calories From Protein:

• 24g protein x 4 calories per gram of protein = 96 protein calories
• 96 protein calories / 110 total calories = 87% of calories from protein

✅ Approved.

Healthy Protein Powder Guideline #4. Ingredients And Sweeteners

Does Quest Nutrition protein powder actually contain clean ingredients?

To determine if a protein powder is healthy, you need to examine the ingredients list to check the quality of the ingredients and the types of sweeteners used.

Healthy Goals: Minimal clean ingredients that use natural zero calorie sweeteners such as stevia or monk fruit, rather than artificial sweeteners.

Let’s take a look at Quest Nutrition’s Vanilla Milkshake protein powder ingredients list:

Number of ingredients: 9

• Natural Flavors: refers to compounds derived from natural sources, rather than synthetic chemicals, to enhance the taste.
  • ✅ Approved
• Silicon Dioxide, Lecithin, Cellulose, and Carrageenan: are anti-clumping, emulsifier, and thickening ingredients to improve the mixability and texture.
  • Fortunately, small amounts has been shown to be safe.
  • ✅ Approved
• Sea Salt: used to enhance flavor and add a touch of trace minerals for electrolyte balance.
  • ✅ Approved
• Sucralose and Stevia: used in protein powder as a zero calorie sweeteners.
  • Stevia is a natural, plant-derived sweetener.
    • ✅ Approved
  • Sucralose is an artificial chemical that may have potential long-term health concerns.
    • ❌ Fail

Overall, the quality of the 9 ingredients is not too bad, however the usage of the artificial sweetener sucralose negatively impacts the quality for me.

Bonus: Third-Party Tested

Is Quest Nutrition protein powder third party tested?

Third-party testing indicates that the supplement has been independently evaluated by an external organization to verify its quality, purity, and ingredient accuracy.

This is usually indicated as a logo on the label.

Unfortunately, Question Nutrition protein powder is not listed as being third-party tested by NSF Certified for Sport, USP, Informed-Sport, or Informed-Choice.

Due to the expense, not all companies can afford to pay, or want to increase their price to account for third-party testing.

Therefore, if you see these third-party testing logos on the packaging, consider it a bonus, but not a necessity.

Quest Nutrition Protein Powder Review: Taste, Mixability, And Price

Now that we reviewed Question Nutrition protein powder based on our healthy guidelines, what does Quest Nutrition protein powder taste like, does it mix well, and how is the price?

Taste

Quest Nutrition Vanilla Milkshake Protein Powder tastes generally good.

It has a creamy, sweet flavor that resembles a real vanilla milkshake, however I do find it has a slightly artificial taste due to the sucralose, and is a little too sweet for my liking.

Mixability

When mixing Quest Nutrition Vanilla Milkshake Protein Powder with water or milk in a glass, it seems to have a smooth texture, with little to no clumping.

Price

Quest Nutrition protein powder comes in two sizes:

• 3 pound container of Quest Nutrition protein powder provides 43 servings of 24 grams of protein at a cost $47.29
  • Cost per 24 gram serving of protein:
    • $47.29 / 43 servings = $1.10
  • Cost per gram of protein:
    • $47.29 / (43 servings x 24 grams per serving) = $0.05
• 1.6 pound container provides 23 servings of 24 grams of protein at a cost of $31.51
  • Cost per 24 gram serving of protein:
    • $31.51 / 23 servings = $1.37
  • Cost per gram of protein:
    • $31.51 / (23 servings x 24 grams per serving) = $0.06

The average price per serving of protein ranges typically ranges from $1.50-$3.00, so based on price, Quest Nutrition protein powder is an affordable option.

Final Review

Overall, Quest Nutrition protein powder is suitable for occasional use, however since I consume protein powder everyday after my workouts, I wouldn’t choose it as my daily option since it is sweetened with the artificial sweetener sucralose.

I’m ok with occasionally consuming artificial sweeteners, however I don’t consume it daily.

When it comes to food, drinks, and supplements that I consume everyday, I always opt for natural sweeteners such as stevia and monk fruit.

Question Of The Day

Let me know in the comments:

• What’s your favorite flavor of protein powder, and how does it compare to Quest Nutrition’s offerings?

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Check out this video post on the differences between Grass Fed vs Organic vs Regular Whey Protein Powder.

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