1. If you want to drink protein, drink raw milk. It is much cheaper, a whole food and a whole lot more anabolic than the whey which is extracted from it.

2. Personally I think, and my personal experience is, that you are better off eating your protein. Eat eggs, steaks, organ meats - especially liver, fatty cuts (I use them in curries and stews), fish, the lot. It takes a bit of practice to eat a lot of protein, but once you get used to it, it's very enjoyable. :)

I have found by eating protein and lots of fat with some POW carbs I get strong and stay damn lean. And I don't get the crazy digestive issues that I get from a whey protein supplement.

So my advice, n=1, try it for 30 - 60 days and see what you think for yourself.

Not too sure what the actual question is in the OP but as long as we're all chiming in with our opinions regarding protein shakes are:

I'd say that the use of whey protein powder post workout depends on your goals. If you are trying to increase your strength repeatedly with each or at least most of your workouts then you want to drink a protein shake. You will have to be using progressively heavier loads or less rest or more reps - ie some kind of increased workload as the stimulus for growth for your body.

The body has just been stressed to a new point during this workout. Your body is repairing/rebuilding your muscles such that they come back stronger and ready to deal with that last, new load. So, your goal in this scenario is growth: coming back stronger, perhaps bigger too, to handle that load next time. With this as the stated goal then you want to give your body every opportunity, every possible asset to use in its recovery. Drinking about 24 grams of protein in literally seconds as soon as you can after the workout simply delivers those essential building blocks in the most efficient manner we now know of. This is not mutually exclusive with eating whole real foods, ala paleo keep in mind.

I down my whey protein shake as soon as humanly possible after lifting my last rep, then also chug 12 ounces of coconut water to deliver speedy carbohydrate, get some insulin action which will help shuttle those protein grams where they need to go, replenish glycogen, etc. Then one hour after that I still have what i consider my post-workout meal: 12 ounces lean protein meat and 12 ounces starch from sweet potatoes.

Whey is simply a tool for a goal, it does not replace real food. It is a supplement. It supplements real food.

In The Paleo Diet for Athletes, Dr. Cordain talks about "non-Paleo" foods having a place in a Paleo Diet for Athletes in the recovery window.

So, I would worry more about the quality of the protein powder more than it's "Paleo-ness". But, I would also just use the protein powder in the Pre-, Peri-, and Post-Workout windows.

Also, I would track how you feel after adding in whatever protein powder/recovery drink that you do choose.

For instance, if you go with a Vegan (hemp, pea, rice, etc.) protein powder, how does that make you feel?

The same goes for a whey or casein protein powder.

As far as manufacturers go, http://allproscience.com/ has 100% Grass Fed Whey and Veggie blends, along with a Recovery specific drink, as well.

Too many paleo fans support crossfit.

I think it is too random and promotes overexertion.

For me the strongman tradition of frequent practice , curbing the enthusiasm and being consistent with a slow boiling routine is better.

3 powerlifts, kbell swings/snatches, a bit of stretching, walk if you want, that sounds good to me.

I always end up deferring to something Robb Wolf says in these questions, and I'll do it here too. Don't drink your calories. There's probably a better way to get what you want with whole foods. Also Progenix is a case study in brilliant marketing. It's just really expensive whey protein marketed to crossfitters. Nothing special about it - Robb Wolf has a podcast about that too.

You could do what Bruce Lee did, and put raw beef and raw eggs in the blender. YUM! (Seriously, I love raw beef, and raw eggs...like a steak tartare PWO drink!)

or this:

Hardcore Diet

which is CRAZY.

Do a search on Hemp Protein, might be what you are looking for. I've been taking it for awhile once I stopped doing dairy. Whey protein made me feel just too full and bloated. Hemp protein is easy to find in almost all vitamin/supplement shops, minus gnc, but they're overpriced anyway. Might be hard to swallow the first week or so b/c it taste completely different then whey, but after that it def grows on you. I mix it with some coconut milk and fruit, for a post workout smoothie.

I've been basically off powders since last fall, I but do have BCAA which I take only if I workout fasted. I thought about implementing hemp protein at one point, but I realized that I like to eat my calories rather than drink, and according to what I have READ, hemp protein might not be the best of protein powders (even though it might be paleo).

If I would go for a protein powder, it would have to be for good reasons such as recovery or performance issues - possibly resulting from an increase in training volume and/or intensity. I also think that if one chooses to take powders, on should definately opt for high quality powder and see if it a) helps performance & recovery issues and b) does not cause any problems with digestion, stomach etc.

Before going paleo, I had very positive experiences with a combo of Peptopro + Leucine. They aren't the cheapest options, but pepto & leucine (and the combination) seem to get props also on bodybuilding forums. If you want to add carbs to a postworkout drink (not touching the subject whether immediate PWO carbs are beneficial or not), you could go for Coconut Water, at least its paleo, instead of waxy maize starch (also popular among bb:ers) or maltodextrin.

Just to make sure, I'm not saying that pepto+leucine or any other powders are superior to whole foods. I just wanted to give my 2 cents on protein supplements that I think actually have been beneficial for me before.

I'm pretty sure this is going to be an unpopular answer but to hell with it :)

I love my protein powder and as a person who finds it difficult to eat all my calories, I feel I benefit from drinking them. I say this because I tracked carefully and found that taking away my protein smoothy had a negative impact on me.

SO - my favorite is Wellements that I get at Costco. Yes, there is a bit of soy pretty far down the ingredients list. Yes, it is a processed food. Yes, it has Whey in it. However, this is the only PWO drink/food that does not hurt my tummy. It is also inexpensive. It allows me to get some good calories in my body when I find it very, very difficult to get them in solid food form. To me, the benefits outweigh the non-paleo-ness of the product.

Here is the link to the ingredients. Like James said, track how it makes you feel and decide for yourself.

What about 100% egg protein powder such as the product by Healthy N Fit? That seems to be more paleo than most other protein powders.

truenutrition.com sells a 100% paleo protein powder made with egg white protein, whole egg protein, and beef protein...there is a website for the company that makes it but it doesn't look like you can buy directly through them? (www.paleoproproducts.com) no whey, no soy and only flavored with cocoa/stevia - i normally just do it whole foods but this stuff is as close as i could find to real food in a powder....they just dry the ingredients and grind them up, so no soy which is hard to find. most protein powder companies 'instantize' their powders with soy lecithin which apart from having soy is also usually gmo soy. highly recommend...

SFH makes grass-fed whey protein powder. Good stuff.

www.simplypurenutrients.com Sweet Potato Recovery - 1st True Paleo Recovery - Tastes GREAT