Protein Works Vegan Extreme Review

I’m probably not the most…discerning person when it comes to choosing a protein powder. I’m just after something to add to my daily oats that keeps me fuller for longer. If it tastes good, doesn’t break the bank and isn’t full of weird ingredients, all the better. 

I also have chronic FOMO, so I tend not to stick to one brand for very long. 

I bought the Protein Works Vegan Protein Extreme a couple of weeks ago and so far I’m impressed. It tastes good, mixes well with my oats without tasting grainy/chalky, and keeps me full enough that I don’t race home after work and demolish the entire contents of the fridge.

Here’s a quick summary of the Vegan Protein Extreme properties:

• 29g of protein per serving
• Tastes nice in oats, but surprisingly delicious when mixed with just water
• Texture – smooth AF

The Claims

The Protein Works website is a bit… much when it comes to their claims. They throw around words like ‘obsessed’ and ‘insane’ far more than is necessary.

There’s a lot of gumph about not compromising on flavour and quality etc etc that’s par for the course with pretty much all protein brands. 

HOWEVER

The claims on the packaging are nice and clear. There’s no hyperbole or anything outlandish. It just says:

• High in Protein
• Low in Sugar
• 100% Vegan
• Premium Grade

It’s nice and to the point – I appreciate that.

What I also like is that the packaging covers its arse when it comes to the graininess of the product:

***SPOILERS***

This turned out to be the LEAST grainy vegan protein powder I’ve ever tasted. 

Undersell/overdeliver is a marketing strategy I really enjoy.

ANYWAY

Is it high in protein?

I mean…sure. 

29g of protein per 35g of powder. 

It’s a decent amount, but extreme? Nah.

As for being low sugar, it’s got 0.1g of sugar per 35g. That seems pretty low. Huel, for comparison, packs 1.2g per serving. Sure, the Huel serving is 100g rather than 35g BUT they contain the same amount of protein.

It is 100% vegan. Awesome.

Premium grade is self-explanatory. I don’t know if that means the ingredients have to meet certain criteria or if it’s something baseless but it sounds good.

What Was Great About The Protein Works Vegan Protein Extreme

The Taste

I buy protein powder to make my lunchtime overnight oats more filling. I’m not really in it for the gains, so taste is a pretty important factor for me.

I have the Vanilla Creme flavour which was a mistake because…I don’t really like vanilla (I bought it to bake with, despite not having baked ANYTHING in about seven years). 

Luckily, this is 100% the best-flavoured vanilla protein powder I’ve tried because it’s considerably less sweet than all the other ones (the Shreddy French Vanilla is by FAR the sweetest if you have a sweet tooth) which suits me fine.

For the interests of this review, I made myself a ‘proper’ protein shake made up of just protein powder and water and it tastes quite different to how it tastes in oats. Less vanilla-y and very much like drinking liquidised custard creams (complimentary).

The Texture

I’ve already mentioned this, but it’s worth saying again – the Protein Works Vegan Protein Extreme is not grainy AT ALL. I’ve never had whey protein (I was vegan well before I started on the protein oats) so I can’t honestly say that it’s as smooth as whey because I don’t know but it is SMOOTH.

AND I just shook it manually for 10 seconds. No need to get out the blender.

I’m well impressed.

Whey protein dissolves, but vegan protein is usually non-soluble so it’s much more difficult for protein powder companies to mill the protein fine enough that it’s not grainy. Protein Works succeeded. Well done guys.

The Added Nutrients

This is a neutral point for me, but I’m sure many people would appreciate their protein powder being supplemented with vitamins. The Vegan Protein Extreme has added:

• Vitamin C
• Vitamins B5, B6 and B12
• Folic acid
• Calcium

(I’ve included a picture of the nutritional info below – pantothenic acid is vitamin B5).

I would be more excited about this if they had more than 15% of your RDA per serving but they don’t so I’m really not swayed one way or the other by this.

Should you be the type of person who struggles to eat a lot of nutrient-dense food or just worries a lot about getting the right vitamins etc then this is a great option.

The Ingredients

The ingredients list is pretty short:

• Protein blend
• Flavouring
• Flaxseed powder
• Vitamin & mineral blend
• Sweetener (sucralose)
• DigeZyme (which I believe helps with vitamin/mineral absorption)

The Lack Of Post-Protein Shake Gurgly Tummy

I don’t usually drink protein shakes as god intended because they make me feel full in a hollow way – the same way that coffee does. 

It’s like my brain knows I’m full so it stops sending the ‘I’m hungry’ signals but my belly is like ‘What was that?! Was that it? No potato or bread??’ and makes its displeasure known in the form of whale song.

I tried the powder as a shake with just water and I felt full! And whilst my belly was still sad about the lack of bread and potatoes, it was very quiet and respectful of my choices. 

What Was Neutral About The Protein Works Vegan Protein Extreme

The Price

The price was fine. At the time of writing this article, a 2kg bag of Vegan Protein Extreme worked out at 59p per shake, which makes for a pretty cheap lunch.

HOWEVER

(And this isn’t exclusive to Protein Works – all the supplement-type websites do this)

The prices are NEVER consistent. There’s always some sort of sale on, and usually an additional discount code somewhere. This is lovely, of course, but it also means that it’s quite difficult to work out how much anything would usually cost. 

The Protein

Vegan protein powder is usually made from soya or peas, or a mixture of both.

The Protein Works Vegan Protein Extreme has:

• Soy protein isolate
• Pea protein isolate
• Pumpkin seed protein
• Sunflower protein
• Brown rice protein

Pretty great, yes?

I mean… maybe?

They don’t actually tell you how much of those other proteins are in there. Which makes the multiple protein thing definitely a neutral point rather than a positive or negative one.

The Buying Experience (Up To A Point)

Delivery was fine, the website was easy to navigate. One issue is the frankly bizarre comparison chart. 

For context, Protein Works make several different types of vegan protein powder. There’s the normal one, the Extreme and the Wondershake. A table comparing and contrasting them would be super useful, yes?

Potentially, absolutely. 

But it was executed, er, badly:

Look at that awesome comparison chart! OF ALL THE STUFF NO ONE CARES ABOUT.

Compare price! Amount of protein! Added vitamins! No one cares which protein won an award! 

Also, potentially unpopular opinion here but eight flavours of protein powder is plenty. Seventeen is superfluous.

What Was Awful About The Protein Works Vegan Protein Extreme

The Incessant Emails

Do not email me the day after I’ve bought FOUR KILOGRAMS of protein powder and ask me if I want to buy any protein powder. 

Of course I don’t, I already have FOUR KILOGRAMS.

By all means offer me other stuff – supplements, greens powder etc, but not more protein powder, and not practically constantly for a fortnight following the order.

It’s just a bit much. Have a little dignity. Your product is good, you don’t need to be clingy.

It Does NOT Look Appetising

Top tip: drink it from an opaque receptacle.

I don’t think the flavour is helping here because it wouldn’t really be an issue with e.g. a chocolate one, but the vanilla creme flavour looks like the dishwater after you’ve finished cleaning out the empty mayo bottle.

Vegan Protein Extreme Vs. Vegan Protein

I bought 2kg of the Vegan Protein Extreme in Vanilla Creme and 2kg of the Vegan Protein in Chocolate Bueno.

If you told me they were the same product in different flavours I would have believed you – they’re not startlingly different. The Vegan Protein Extreme keeps me full for about half an hour longer than the Vegan Protein but that’s probably psychological.

Here are the main differences between the two products:

Protein Content

I’m not saying that the Vegan Protein Extreme is a bit of a scam when it comes to protein content but I’m not not saying that.

The Vegan Protein Extreme has 29g of protein per 35g serving. If my maths is correct that means that the Vegan Protein Extreme is 82.86% protein. 

The Vegan Protein has 25g of protein per 30g serving. 83.33% protein.

Hmm. It would seem that the regular protein is slightly higher in protein than the Extreme.

Protein Works don’t SAY it’s higher in protein but it’s kind of implied. Not cool.

Price

The Vegan Extreme is quite a bit more expensive than the Vegan Protein. 

The prices vary a LOT depending on what deal you get and how much you’re buying, but at the time of writing it was 59p per shake for the Vegan Protein Extreme and 39p per shake for the Vegan protein.

You may think that it’s actually a fairly cut and dry case of the Vegan protein being the best option in terms of protein and cost BUT we have another category…

Taste

The Vegan Protein Extreme is definitely superior in terms of taste and texture. Both are really smooth but the Vegan Protein Extreme blends more easily and has way more depth of flavour.

Interestingly, this is only the case when you’re drinking them in shake form. When mixed with oats, the Vegan Protein Extreme is less flavourful. I have no idea why that’s the case but…it is.

Actually, it’s maybe just the fact that chocolate simply has more depth of flavour than vanilla. That would make sense. Now I feel silly.

It’s worth mentioning that the Vegan Protein also doesn’t have the additional vitamins. 

I take a multivitamin so that’s a total non-issue for me, but if that’s the kind of thing you’re into, stick with the Protein Extreme.

Would I buy the Protein Works Vegan Protein Extreme Again?

Yes. And as someone who usually doesn’t practice brand loyalty when it comes to protein powder that says a lot. It tastes nice and mixes well with my oats – the bar might seem low but so many vegan protein powders are grim in oats. 

Sure, I’ll continue trying new brands because I do get protein powder FOMO, but I’ll definitely keep some Vegan Protein Extreme on hand.

Probably not custard cream Vanilla Creme flavour – it’s nice enough, but still a little too sweet for my savoury-leaning palate (they should do savoury protein powder – I’d love a leek and potato protein shake). 

I’m excited to try the Chocolate Bueno one though – it’s lush in the regular Vegan Protein form so I bet the Extreme will be exceptional.

They just need to change the name. The Vegan Protein Extreme just… isn’t extreme.

Related Posts:

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• 6 Easy Ways to Get More Protein on a Vegan Diet
• The 26 Biggest Mistakes Vegans Make with Protein