When I started adding smoothies to my diet, the goal was twofold: to get more fruit & vegetables into my diet and to keep me full just as long as a big “traditional” breakfast of eggs, meat & toast.
The key to keeping me full seems to be protein and ground chia seeds were working well for that, but I decided to try a few protein powders to see if they would do the trick or not — and also if they could replace the thickness that the yogurt adds. Typically these powders are meant to be added to milk (dairy or non) or water without anything else. I still want to get some fruit in, so I pared down my usual smoothies.
After learning from my greens booster experiences, I bought single-serving packets instead of full containers. (Oh, and the best greens booster is real greens, spinach or kale. Everything else tends to taste like seaweed and sadness.)
Here’s what I tried:
Harmonized Protein vanilla flavour (Progressive) — this was smooth, smelled like a vanilla shake, and didn’t get in the way of other ingredients (banana, blueberries, almond milk). However, I was hungry by 11:00 — about an hour earlier than usual. Still, would likely buy and use more of that.
Raw Protein vanilla (Garden of Life) — when I opened it, there was a scent I can only describe as reminiscent of Play-Doh; I should NOT have added it to the blender. I had almond milk, frozen strawberries and a kiwi plus this. It came out kind of an unfortunate yellow-brown and the Play-Doh scent lingered. The flavour was so awful that I couldn’t even finish half of it. Bleah.
Vega One vanilla chai (Vega) — a slightly dull green colour, I was hesitant but threw it in with a banana, almond milk, ice and a dash of extra cinnamon. It tasted good and filled me right up. It’s also more than protein; the supplement includes fibre, greens, probiotics, omega 3 and antioxidants.
Proteins+ (Genuine Health) — this one looked, smelled and tasted the best but with blueberries and a banana plus almond milk, I was ridiculously hungry only 3 hours later. This made me both sad and angry — I ended up eating my lunch before 11 am.
So after all that… I will watch for sales on the Harmonized Protein but I think I am going back to ground chia seeds which helped keep me full til noon at least, are a complete protein, and cost much less because I can get many more servings out of a bag.