Organic Is The Whey Ahead

Once you've finished admiring the excellently punny title of this post, I'd like to talk to you about protein. Specifically, whey protein. More specifically still, Whey Ahead's 'peruvian chocolate' and 'naked unflavoured' whey protein, and why I can accept them.

I have always been sceptical of protein powders and supplements generally, which I attribute largely to the decidedly intimidating, synthetic and chemical looking packaging they come in. Without naming specific brands, there are certainly some whose products look less than natural, and sport alarmingly scientific names (ha ha sport like protein get it).

Furthermore, after a talk about protein and protein supplements from a sports nutritionist many moons ago at school, I was convinced that they were unnecessary and faddy and generally quite pointless.

Enter Whey Ahead. And enter vegetarianism.

Yup, correctamundo - I (along with just about the whole rest of the world, it seems) am doing veggie lent. There are a couple of reasons for this. Reason uno is that I remain incredibly suspicious of the bag of (apparently Grade A) chicken pieces I bought quite some time ago that has been living inconspicuously in the freezer ever since. Reason dos is because I am going to a yoga retreat in the summer (CANNOT TELL YOU HOW EXCITED I AM OH GOODNESS) where the menu for the whole thing is vegetarian, so I thought I should probably acquaint myself with it a bit first.

Being veggie for lent isn't a massive stretch for me - while I do, in most cases, opt for something chicken-based when I dine out, I don't cook it loads at home and tend to rely much more heavily on cured meats (these ones are incroyable) and primarily chorizo. I currently have what could quite happily be described as an entire log of chorizo on my shelf of the fridge, a delicious sounding chicken and vegetable soup in the freezer, and a humongously tempting Pizza Express 'pollo ad astra romana pizza' alongside it. All of which will have to wait.

So now, instead of adding chorizo to everything in sight (not even really exaggerating), I am adding yet more blue cheese and boursin than before and, more often than not, an egg.

"But that's not as much protein!" you exclaim. (You probably don't; you probably aren't really bothered at all.) Well, since my diet already heavily featured much cheese, much peanut butter, and much quinoa (that I have now run out of, sad times), the extra protein has to come from somewhere.

Conveniently, it was just before the beginning of lent that the founder of Whey Ahead (ahoy there Ethan) asked me if I'd like to review some of their organic whey organic protein flavours, which are organic. Oh guys, I forgot to tell you the best bit - it's all organic.

You see, organic matters to me a great deal. I want to know that I'm chowing down on stuff that is better for me, and better for where it is coming from. Organic, to me, seems a whole lot more trustworthy than the non-organic alternatives. In this respect, it's as if Whey Ahead read my mind. Either that, or a considerable number of other people are also suspicious of manufactured protein. Personally, I think they read my mind. Hence why I said yes, and am here now presenting them to you!

So let's have a lil bit of blurbery about the protein and why I actually like this one, even though as a general rule (up until now) I have steered clear. Because I am a serial productive-procrastinator, I regularly find myself reading up on and educating myself about things I happen to find interesting at any particular moment. Right now, it's protein. (If you, too, like procrastinating by learning about things irrelevant to what you should be doing, or you just want to know about protein, this article gives a good grounding in the basics of whey and casein proteins.)

The low down on Whey Ahead's protein:
- it's whey (wow good one Sherlock)
- it's from free-range, grass-fed cows
- it's certified organic by Organic Farmers & Growers (and the first organic protein in the UK!)
- it's environmentally sustainable
- it uses raw superfoods instead of "manufactured nasties" (what did I say about reading my mind?)
- it's "clean" - no chemicals or GMOs and nothing artificial (preservatives, flavours, sweeteners blah blah blah)

Whey is a by-product of cheese, meaning that it kind of gets made accidentally when cheese is in the process of coming to life to endow us with its greatness (I like cheese okay). It's a fast-acting protein, ('anabolic' if you're feeling pro) and is best taken either directly before or after a workout. Directly before will give you immediate energy for said workout, while directly after will give you back the energy you used up in your killer exercise regime, you machine. It's one of the most thermogenic proteins, which means that you burn more calories (purely as a measure of energy; the calorie system is outdated and redundant in every other sense) than you consume, compared to other types of protein (casein, pea, soya, egg etc.).

So basically whey protein is swell, everything I have held against protein powders has been addressed, and I am happy as a Whey Ahead happy cow.

All that's left is to gobble it up. Whey Ahead's website actually has a bunch of fab recipes, but I fancy concocting my own, so stay tuned for some recipes in the very near future that will pack a protein punch. They're gonna be good, I can just tell. (Really I know this because the powders on their own smell like milkshakes so I'm incredibly excited.)

To be totally frank, though, I'd probably recommend this protein over other proteins even if they didn't smell as glorious as they do. My scepticism was as a result of the manufacturedness of most protein supplements, and the fact that I thought I didn't need it. Now though, from a position where I feel like my diet may well benefit from some extra protein, and with a brand that dispels all concerns I had over weird additives and artificial bits and bobs, I've been won over. Besides, anyone who has anything to do with matcha is instantly in my good books. Whey to go, Whey Ahead.



*All photos in this post are mine. If you wish to use them, please ask my permission and credit me!*