I drop pure BCAA powder into my mouth and chase it with water, I eat baker's unsweetened chocolate bars straight, I ate a fish eye, a whole baby octopus, and chew the cartilage off of bones. I am not a picky eater or really squeamish by any definition.

Last year at Whole Foods they were giving away packets of pea powder so I picked up a couple for a road trip I was taking. I mixed it with water, took a sip, and gagged. I poured the rest out the window.

I have never heard of pea protein but it sounds horrendous. I would stick with JERF. Just eat real foods. Just my 2 cents.

Jamie

Isn't a pea a legume? Aren't legumes one of the most non paleo items?

I have heard of it. It's used by Vegan bodybuilders as a sort of PWO drink. No opinion, just wouldn't want to get stuck in an elevator with somebody who was drinking this stuff. Sounds Uber Nasty.

I have no scientific data, just anecdotal -- but my sister (her cred: Crossfit trainer, exercise science grad student, biology/nutrition background, in the military, keeps a pretty clean Paleo diet, so not a vegan) relies on pea/hemp powder when she needs a quick hit of protein. I have tried a pea/hemp/rice powder by Lifetime - one of the few protein powders I have found without sweeteners, gums or other questionable ingredients in it - and it was tolerable.

Is there a specific reason you're going with a plant protein vs whey? ie. vegetarian or money? This will control your options.

In terms of protein, not all protein is the same. There's something called bioavailability that is a big factor. Just because they have the same protein doesn't mean that your body processes/uses all of that protein. Pea protein is in the 60% range. Whey is in the 90% range. This means even though the overall protein is comparible between a scoop of either. You have to eat more pea protein to get the same benefit as Whey.

So monetary and performancewise, I don't think any single plant protein compares with Whey overall. However, if you're a vegetarian and don't want to take any animal based product, you'll have to either revisit your beliefs or take the plant protein and adjust to deal with the differences.

Say you go pea protein and want to meet your 50gram protein goal in the morning. Pea protein is around 84% protein. So at a base, you need around 65 grams of pea powder to meet the overall goal of 50 grams protein (roughly same as Whey). However, Add on another 30% (to cover the 30% difference in bioavailability) and you're at 84 grams of pea powder to meet your goal in the morning.

Pretty big chunk of powder in the morning (might want to break in half doses). Monetarily speaking, you're spending more for the pea protein because you have to use more (even if the jar is cheaper). Vegetarian speaking, you'll meet your beliefs, just realize they're not totally compatible with how your body actually works.

Incidentally, neither Whey or Pea powders would be considered Paleo.

Of course pea protein is not paleo, nor is any protein POWDER, since all are highly processed; but the goal for most of us is to be close to paleo, not perfect, and if a protein powder, occasionally,helps in our very non-paleo lives, and it keeps you off junk, go for it.

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i believe pea protein tends to be low in cysteine and methionine, but high in lysine, so it needs the addition of another protein to become complete. and its probably as irritating as any other legume.

I've tried two brands with "acceptable" ingredients. Both tasted like rust. If you must have protein powder, try Jarrow Brown Rice protein. It's low carb and has a mild, nutty flavor.

Eat more liver - it's the best source of protein.

Try it and see what happends

WOW, I wish someone would give a simple answer as to if pea protein is Paleo approved or not. I guess I will go with hemp. I do smoothies sometimes to try to get more veggies and fruit (like berries) in I also don't always want eggs for breakfast...I don't eat chicken (had salmonella one too many times from other ppl's cooking so hate the flesh of birds now) and I don't eat pork for both heath & spiritual reasons... so its nice to have a protein powder of some sort to fall back on in a crunch for some of us. I also like to have a smoothie before I work out and I don't like it when my blood sugar is off so I like to add protein powder for that reason as well. If anyone has any real advice on Paleo approved protein powders please post them. I'm new to this. Thanks.

I have the same question as I just started my 30 day -- Guess I'll stay off it for now until I can try it clean and see how it goes. BTW -- My power is Love and Peas and it's delicious!!