10g BCAA/EAA or 20g of whey (any will do) to maximize muscle protein synthesis before and after workout.

Rest of the day you should eat your food, not drink it.

Wobur, I have numerous friends who compete in natural bodybuilding, so I'll pass along some of their favorites:

Of the bigger companies: Optimum Nutrition, Scivation, and Myofusion are very well-regarded.

A smaller company called Phenom Labs has a product called Wicked Whey, which I have tried--very tasty.

Be warned that no protein powder I have seen (and I've seen quite a few) are perfectly strict paleo. Some have carb sources like oat flour, many have dextrose, maltodextrin, or sucralose.

I still take protein powder every day, and regard it as an exception I'm willing to live with. (Btw, I use an egg white protein powder because I've developed an adult dairy allergy that precludes whey.)

True Protein lets you make your own custom blend, so you could get all protein, or with low carb sweeteners, or whatever floats your boat, they do offer waxy maize starch, oatmeal starch, brown rice starch and potatoe starch if you are active enough to warrant the carb+protein Pre/peri/post mix, otherwise, just put together what works for you and sticks the closest to whatever paleo guideline you are strict on.

I have an egg based protein shake mix that I combine with coconut milk and water. Since dairy may be on the no list for some paleo practitioners this might be a good option. You should be able to find it at GNC.

Gold Standard 100% Egg (rich chocolate flavor) Optimal Nutrition brand

Ingredients: Egg Albumen, Cocoa, Artificial Flavor, Lecithin, Sucralose, Aminogen (some proprietary blend of digestive enzymes or something)

Nutrition facts: 32.5 gram serving: Cals: 120 Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 5mg Sodium: 420mg Carb: 4g Fiber: 1g Protein: 24g

Hmm...well, if you're a hardgainer, and want to gain some mass, and are going to do some form of dairy with protein powder, might as well dive in, eh?

http://stronglifts.com/gomad-milk-squats-gallon-gain-weight/

GOMAD! It works :-)

I really like Optimum Nutrition's 100% Whey Gold Standard (http://www.wheygoldstandard.com/). Started using it before I went paleo/primal. But it tastes great and doesn't have too bad of an ingredient list, though it is by no means perfect.

Another option, one that I have not personally tried, is BiPro (http://www.biprousa.com/bipro.html). Supposedly it has no filler, additives, or unwanted sweeteners, but I've never seen the ingredients list, so I can neither confirm nor deny that claim.

http://www.iherb.com/Bluebonnet-Nutrition-Whey-Protein-Isolate-Natural-Chocolate-Flavor-2-lb-924-g/15912?utm_source=shc&utm_medium=c&=ppnshpng&at=0

This is the best I found. Its completely gluten, soy, and corn free. Tastes OK. Doesn't dissolve as well as GNC brand I used to use, but does not clump. The only sweetener in it is a little bit of stevia. As far as I have found, it is the cleanest power.

In my opinion any highly processed protein supplement based on animal proteins (including egg) is not something i want to put in my body. For my money, the best paleo-friendly protein supplements come from the raw/vegan community. they're alkaline-forming, and most of them are organic and made from whole or minimally processed foods. One of my favorites is called Thor's Raw Power:

http://www.rawpower.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?id=544991631751&d=single&item_id=0002&c=Supplements&sc=Protein_Products&tc=

it's made from raw hemp and raw brazil nut protein (enzymatically active, although any raw, unsprouted nuts and seeds are going to have the usual phytate and enzyme inhibitor issues) along with maca, goji berry powder and mesquite powder. It's minimally processed, very easy to digest, and the synergistic effect of the protein along with the superfoods has to be felt to be believed. the finished product is only about 38% protein by weight (on account of dilution from the superfoods), but the antioxidant nutrition from the goji berry and brazil nuts (high in selenium) along with the metabolic stimulation of the maca and the high fiber of the hemp are well worth it. FYI the same website also sells the hemp protein powder and brazil protein powder by themselves. also, Trader Joes sells a fantastic organic hemp protein powder (get the vanilla - avoid the chocolate!) if you're looking for an inexpensive option.

if you're looking for options outside of the realm of nuts and seeds you can't do better than spirulina and chlorella. each is about 60% protein by weight, and both are absolute nutritional powerhouses. if you prefer pills there are some great options at the raw power website, such as:

http://www.rawpower.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?id=855089720296&d=single&item_id=0556&c=Supplements&sc=Thors%20Hammer&tc=

if you don't mind the flavor, a company called HealthForce Nutritionals sells (in my opinion) the highest quality spirulina and chlorella powders available, but you need to mix them with water or juice and drink them. personally i enjoy the flavor, and ever since my body learned to appreciate the nutrition and energy boost i get from them i actually have cravings for them (by the way HealthForce does make chlorelly tablets, but not spirulina). check out their website, they're an awesome company, and the quality of both their sourcing and processing methods is unequaled by any other supplement company i've ever encountered.

http://www.healthforce.com/

every single product the company makes is the best in its class and is absolutely worth taking (if you can afford it). i highly recommend poking around their website and learning what makes their supplements unique (and why i say they're the highest quality available). they make an outstanding protein powder called Warrior Food which, while not strictly paleo (it has sprouted organic brown rice protein in adition to hemp protein), is by far the easiest digesting protein powder i've ever tried. it has digestive enzymes added, along with nopal cactus (excellent stuff, naturally slows nutrient absorption and prolongs high levels of proteins in the bloodstream, also excellent for moderating blood glucose spikes) and phycocyanin for kidney support (extracted from klamath blue-green algae). also, this is just my subjective opinion, but for me personally i've found that it's the best vegan protein supplement for building muscle tissue. it's also an extraordinary 70% protein by weight, and depending on where you buy the stuff it can be had for as little as 7 cents/gram of protein. quite a bargain if you ask me.

a little bit about me: i'm 32 years old, white male, diagnosed with Type I diabetes at age 28. i was vegeterian for 16 years, vegan for 7 of those years, and raw/vegan for 2. i always took my health very seriously, and i've been a supplement fanatic for about a decade. however, a little over a year ago i started eating fish and seafood again in an effort to reduce my carbohydrate intake, which helped a lot, but recently i eliminated beans, grains, legumes and dairy and began consuming a limited amount of eggs and organic, grass-fed beef. i still get about two thirds of my protein from vegeterian sources (hemp, spriulina, chlorella, soaked and sprouted almonds/brazil nuts/pumpkin seeds/chia seeds etc.), but i've never felt better (or digested better) in my entire life. i support the paleo movement 100%, and i also believe firmly that the high quantities of grains, beans and legumes that sustained my existence for over a decade contributed significantly, if not solely, to the autoimmune response that caused my diabetes.

Mark Sisson has two good articles on whey protein and alternatives to whey. I had ordered Mercola's Pro-Optimal Whey before I had read there that paying extra $$ for whey from grass-fed cows was pretty much a waste; the fat that would have contained any of the beneficial nutrients is pretty much extracted as part of the processing.

And like you, I know it's better to eat whole foods. But for now, a quick shake in the AM works for me to get the protein in and get to work on time. I do add some fat to my shake which may help with whey's potential insulin response. Certainly lasts me til lunch, so it seems to be okay on that front.

One of my measures is whether a powder has ever caused me any sign or trace of upset stomach. This is one of my checks against unreal food.

I happen to use NOW 100% whey protein isolate, unflavored.

I make it with warm water so that i can drop in some ghee or coconut oil for some good fats.

Hey, it tastes good warm, and that a very good sign of lack o' junk for me.

I once ate EAS's vanilla powder, and that stuff was VILE warm, and that was years ago before Paleo boosted my sense of taste and smell.

Depends on how detailed and anal you want to be on the protein. Protein for body building has a ton of details that will drive you crazy. There's all sorts of marketing mumbojumbo that doesn't necessarily matter for your needs. I'm on the more anal side, while not totally crazy about it, I like to know what's in what I'm drinking/eating.

In general, things I look out for: 1) Protein content/serving. For the most part, protein's the big bang ingredient, so you want high protein content whey. You can get protein % from the ingredients by dividing protein amount by serving size. So for example on a whey I've seen at Costco. Serving = 2 scoops (35 grams total). Protein per serving = 27 grams. 27/35 = .77, so 77% protein. So you're getting 23% of non-protein in there (sugar, filler, whatever else they include). It's probably less of an issue for your since you're a hard gainer, but I prefer to control quality and ingredients by mixing myself (part of which is avoiding a bunch of empty calories).

2) Protein type (Whey vs egg vs isolate vs casein, etc). Tons and tons of details, mostly related to digestion speed. I got with an isolate, which gives the highest rapid digesting protein for my buck. Different proteins cost different amounts. Usually what you'll see in combo protein packages is high amounts of cheap protein, low amount of expensive protein, but all at the high price. You don't see the %'s in the ingredients, so you never know which is which (but you'll see the different items listed in the ingredients).

3) Taste. If you can't stomach it, you won't drink it. Some of the stuff (especially the hydrolyzed proteins) taste horrible. Body builders desperate for an edge for competitions go for that, the rest of us, not so much.

I get CFM Whey Isolate from ProteinFactory.com (with no flavoring/additions). Ultra-High fast digesting Protein content (90%), reasonable price, mixes well (no big lumps), not really any taste.

Bipro is pure whey protein with less than .05 soy oil for helping disperse the protein. Now it it NSF sport certified - no worries about failing a drug test.

I'm sorry, I'm new to Paleo transitioning from a more vegetarian approach,so forgive my ignorance, but what about Hemp Protein? Is that a viable, non dairy source?

I'm new to Paleo as well and have been looking for a egg protein powder without soy and artificial ingredients, but have yet to find one. Perhaps a shake with raw eggs, plain cocoa powder, agave nectar would do the trick, but I'm not sure what's more likely, it tasting good or getting salmonella.

I have a protein powder that is processed of course, but it is purely just defatted pumpkin seeds. The carbs are low and I get about 20 grams of protein per serving that I use. I mix it with water, sometimes a bit of coconut milk, cocoa powder and chunks of frozen banana and a couple of handfuls of spinach or kale. It seems to do the trick for me after a workout. its the only time I use a protein powder.

BioChem has some great gluten free whey protein products.

If you're really looking to gain muscle mass but you want to take it easy on your digestive track get a whey protein that is gluten free (and soy free if you can), and literally eat it raw instead of mixing it with water or (God forbid) milk. It's easier on gut.

I actually mix two scoops protein powder, two tablespoons of raw almond butter, cinnamon, half a table spoon of flax seed, and (sometimes) a little gluten free anti-oxidant trail mix) and that makes a killer home-made, gluten free protein bar.

How else can you get 48 grams of protein in your diet for $2.00??

I've been using Pea Protein. 28 grams of protein totally NON-GMO. Low carb, delicious..Lately I've had no apetite so I've been getting full on cucumbers. It seems like that's all I ever want to eat. So I'm drinking 4 shakes a day, mixing the pea protein with almond milk so I can get tons of protein. Also lifting and running 5days/wk. I feel great, besides getting absolutely exhausted during workouts. what the heck should I do? Or is this totally fine? ---Also-I'm sorry for asking a question on top of someone elses qestion. I just felt an overwhelming desire to ask. I apologize.

I use NitroFusion... it's vegan, but not entirely Paleo. The site says 1/3 brown rice protein, the label says 1/3 quinoa powder.

Either way it's organic, dairy & soy free. So I'll take it. My only dairy is the butter in my coffee, but I just found a local raw milk source so that might be happening.

I had actually been looking for an actual 'paleo' protein powder...not much out there without whey! found this site yesterday www.paleoproproducts.com - looks pretty new. I just ordered online at www.truenutrition.com but it looks like it's only egg white, whole egg, and beef protein...you can get it flavored or plain, we'll see how it goes!

Fish Protein Powder is a great alternative.

A pound of ground beef has between 70 and 80 grams of protein and it's $2.50 at Trader Joes.