Is USN whey protein any good?
USN Blue Lab Whey protein promised that the “The Best Whey Just Got Better”, but does it deliver on that statement? We believe so, delivering 26g of high quality of whey protein isolate, whey protein hydrolysate, whey protein concentrate with low sugar, low fat, delicious flavours and absolutely no amino spiking or no soy protein.
Let's see why I came to this conclusion. USN Blue Lab Whey protein will be replacing 100% Premium Protein in the UK. Now, I’ve only ever used 100% Premium Whey a handful of times in work. I’ve never bought a tub because frankly, it just tasted like an average whey protein powder. It didn’t wow me, and yeah I can picture some of you guys thinking ‘what the hell do you expect from a protein?” Well, for one thing, the big factor for me is taste.
Yeah yeah the macronutrients matter too but I’m not bringing that up just yet because frankly 100% Premium Whey is pretty solid ingredient wise. Ok, if I were to nit-pick, maltodextrin is in the ingredients after whey protein isolate and concentrate, but it’s there for flavouring, not a cheap filler like often used in weight gainers. You’re looking at a 2g tops of maltodextrin since whey protein concentrate has naturally occurring carbs.
Anyway, just to fill you in too, I’ve never been a big USN fan anyway. Why? Well nothing has really stood out to me in the 12 years I’ve been in this industry. They aren’t known for any one product right now. They need that hero SKU, that hero product to separate them from the pack. Now don't get me wrong, USN have made some really good products in the past, but I need to be really impressed. I need a product that pioneers, not just follows the leader. If you want to really make me support your brand and not just go "they're ok", then actually use your R&D team. If you can't come up with a winning formula, then at least listen to what the public wants!
And here is where USN Blue Lab Whey protein might be just what USN needed to accomplish that.
What is Blue Lab even mean?
So the brand is USN, but Blue Lab? Well it’s not a blue labrador for definite. Blue Lab is.. actually I’ll stop right there and not bore you with more text than is needed.
Before launching a big product such as this in the UK in the 2kg size (Holland & Barrett got exclusivity for 1 month only on the 908g size, don’t ask haha), we met up with USN to discuss USN Blue Lab Whey protein and why we should carry it. After all, what separates this, and considering how truthful we are here over reviews, will it meet our standards? If the product is crap, not only will we tell the brand but also our customers. We’re not here to bullsh*t you.
The cool thing is the guys at USN were all for it, they want the truth. They NEED the truth, because frankly that is the only way the brand, any brand, is going to develop better products that not makes us want to sell it but you guys buying it seeing the results you want and loving your progress.
Gavin the USN Specialist Manager brought with him a 908g Caramel Chocolate USN Blue Lab Whey protein for us to see the label, go over the ingredients and give it a taste. Big promises were made as this and every other flavour was taste tested by the general public. Tested by you the customer and used by William Bonac and Ryan Terry
How's USN Blue Lab Whey Taste?
Hmmm, taste tested by the public? Hmmm, it definitely caught my interest and I couldn’t wait to try it for myself. After all, besides the USN ready to drinks, I’ve never been impressed by USN’s protein flavouring. Then again, the RTD’s do have a huge amount of sugar in them to make them taste good (Protein Fuel 24 at 12g and Protein Fuel 50 at 20g.)
Well, time to open up that Caramel Chocolate tub! Off pops the lid, in goes 1 scoop into the shaker and 20 seconds later I was pouring it out in cups for us to try. USN wanted me to do two scoops, but what is the point? Of course two scoops will taste better, there’s more flavouring in the same amount of water, but how many of you guys are doing two scoops at a time? Most people I know do a single serving and that is what I try things by.
Smells good, looks good, mixes easy, but then so has other USN whey protein in my opinion. Time to taste…
Coco essence floated to the roof of my mouth before settling down on my taste buds and flooding it with what tasted like premium milk chocolate. Then when I thought it was over, hints of caramel started dancing all over my tongue. This tasted delicious! They’ve got it! Finally a great testing whey protein by USN that is low in sugar.
While I carried on drinking my shake, I looked over the panel to double check, in case it was amino spiked or had extra carbs…
Added amino acids? No. Awesome. (ALL protein has amino acids / BCAAs naturally, you DO NOT want added amino acids / BCAAs in a protein because the law allows you to count them as ‘protein’.)
Added carbs? Nope, all naturally occurring at 2.1g. Sweet!
Protein per serving? 25g, that’s a hefty dosage.
But what is the protein percentage? Well, at 26g of protein per 34g scoop USN Blue Lab Whey protein is 76.5% protein coming from Whey Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Hydrosylate and Whey Protein Concentrate, in that order. That is a bit on the low end if you compare it to the leading selling Whey which is 81% protein, but it also is £5 more expensive.
Whey protein hydrosylate is as pure of a protein as you can get, digesting rapidly and causing a blood leucine spike for growth around 20 minutes after ingestion, followed by isolate at 30-45 minutes and then whey protein concentrate elevates your blood leucine levels again about 3-4 hours after you finished the shake. So you get three nice blood leucine elevations over the span of 4 hours, helping your muscles recover and grow. This is much better than just taking an isolate that spikes it once. After all, you're trying to grow here and how much can you build in an hour compared to 4 hours?
Anyway, back to cost. To really know the value of Blue Lab Whey protein you need to look at it this way...
How Much Is USN Blue Lab Whey?
You get 59 servings at 26g making the whole 2kg tub hold 1,534g of actual protein. Divide that by the cost of £44.95 and you’re paying 3p per gram of protein.
The leading best selling whey right now at 24 x 74 = 1,776g total protein per 2.27kg tub, making it again 3p per gram of protein.
So if both tubs cost the same and USN Blue Lab Whey protein tastes better, why buy the other? The quality is actually better with USN Blue Lab Whey too with hydrosylate listed before concentrate (unlike the leading best seller, which by now I’m sure you know who this is ;))
I don’t know about you, but I’m getting no stomach issues drinking this stuff, unlike that other whey who shall not be named. I’m actually drinking some of the Strawberry flavour USN Blue Lab Whey, which we opened up to sample out, and yes, this tastes amazing too, but you’ll find out too if you come to the USN Blue Lab Whey protein launch at T-Nutrition April 28th and mingle with Ryan Terry and William Bonac!
But if you can’t wait until then, pop in store and grab yourself a tub of USN Blue Lab Whey protein for £44.95 and it’s worth every penny to actually look forward to drinking your shakes.