Costco protein powders - online and in-store

Cookie and Creme taste awful sweet and artificial. Kaizen taste good and don’t find it sweet at all. I’ll just wait for Kaizen

Also cases of 24s of Boost protein vanilla on sale for $25. I picked up 3 cases as meal replacement when on the go. Taste really good. Expiry Oct 2022. Might get another case or two later.

Leanfit tastes terrible, I've got a barely touched bottle sitting around. I bought the Vanilla as chocolate flavor has become so over done I can't really enjoy it anymore.

Cookies n creme goes amazing with cereal. Pancakes. Fruit shakes. Just about everything for me
+1 no doubt best flavour

Waiting for Kaizen!!!

the kaizen naturals chocolate is my go to. Taste just like chocolate milk when mix with milk. I tried the lean fit vanilla and chocolate. I would say taste wise Kaizen is better. I don't find it too sweet. Just add more milk I guess

Bah which flavour?!? Everyone has different preferences

sooksook wrote: ↑ Waiting for Kaizen!!!

yes so weird it's not on sale at Costco... they had it for so many years around this time?!?

Comparing this to Kaizen one that everyone praises,

Reading, 25g protein vs. 35g protein and that seems misleading due to scoup size.
Regardless, I still have LeanFit Chocolate taste from 2020 or 2021, I don’t mind the taste at all, what's good for bulk up, muscle build-up?
I am underweight, started lifting from last week, doing bench press, deadlift, squat starting from 60lbs.

markj wrote: ↑ yes so weird it's not on sale at Costco... they had it for so many years around this time?!?

xxxibgdrgn wrote: ↑ Comparing this to Kaizen one that everyone praises,

Reading, 25g protein vs. 35g protein and that seems misleading due to scoup size.
Regardless, I still have LeanFit Chocolate taste from 2020 or 2021, I don’t mind the taste at all, what's good for bulk up, muscle build-up?
I am underweight, started lifting from last week, doing bench press, deadlift, squat starting from 60lbs.

Wondering if Kaizen has supply issues as some people are saying some stores have little stock. I do agree it is odd to not see their normal sales, and I miss them.

Kaizen is all whey protein isolate (WPI), so a bit higher % of protein (83% iirc vs 77.5% for LF). Leanfit is a mix of whey protein isolate (WPI) and whey protein concentrate (WPC)
WPI > WPC in terms of protein % as WPI is further refined to remove more non-protein, hence lower fat, chorlestoral, lactose.
For some people who are lactose intolerant, WPI is ok and WPC may cause issues (ymmv between people and brands).

WPI usually costs more than WPC. Sometimes it is worth it, sometimes it is not.

ThatGuy1121 wrote: ↑ I bought a tub of the chocolate Kaizen this past month. I can barely handle the taste because it's really sweet. Would it be wrong to return it? I feel pretty bad returning food items when nothing is really wrong with it, lol.

Maybe you’re not used to artificial sugars but kaizen is the brand people here like to complain about tasting like cardboard because it’s not sweet like other brands. I always add more water than recommended to reduce the sweetness.

do you guys mix this with milk or water or juice? i've only been using milk never tried with water. Both Leanfit Vanilla and CombatX Cookies/cream are acceptable tasting for me. You can add a frozen banana to kind of hide the artificial sweetness.

matrixfwd wrote: ↑ do you guys mix this with milk or water or juice? i've only been using milk never tried with water. Both Leanfit Vanilla and CombatX Cookies/cream are acceptable tasting for me. You can add a frozen banana to kind of hide the artificial sweetness.

I tried water, milk. I find milk tastes better but mixing with water didn't bother me. To me, it tastes quite sugary.

I work for a sports nutrition company. Crazy global supply chain issues with creatine right now. I doubt costco will able to get their hands on it let alone offer it for a really good deal.

Kaizen usually goes on sale twice a year, if I recall correctly (you should be able find other posts talking about it) it goes on sale in Feb and in Sept.

If you find the Kaizen too sweet you probably don't have a sweet tooth or don't eat too many sweets. I find it very neutral with a slight hint of sweetness but I find it to be the better product overall compared to the ones mentioned above (yes I've even tried those). I also been told by nutritionists to stick with Kaizen vs. MP

I like revolution nutritions Whey protein just for the fact of the different flavours and I normally don't use the protein on it's own and mix it with other things to change it up. You just need to learn to change it up and try new things with it.

karlb wrote: ↑ Wondering if Kaizen has supply issues as some people are saying some stores have little stock. I do agree it is odd to not see their normal sales, and I miss them.

Kaizen is all whey protein isolate (WPI), so a bit higher % of protein (83% iirc vs 77.5% for LF). Leanfit is a mix of whey protein isolate (WPI) and whey protein concentrate (WPC)
WPI > WPC in terms of protein % as WPI is further refined to remove more non-protein, hence lower fat, chorlestoral, lactose.
For some people who are lactose intolerant, WPI is ok and WPC may cause issues (ymmv between people and brands).

WPI usually costs more than WPC. Sometimes it is worth it, sometimes it is not.

Very good points - I only use WPI as I am lactose intolerant. It’s not perfect and still bothers my stomach at times but much less than a WPC.
I mix with water (sometimes almond milk) and Frozen bananas

I do find that different brand of WPI still react different for me

markj wrote: ↑ yes so weird it's not on sale at Costco... they had it for so many years around this time?!?

I was waiting for the Jan sale too!! I think maybe they’re not on sale this time around because Costco had Kaizen on sale a couple months ago during a buy more + save more sale.

One thing to note, that not many people mention, is the amount of Leucine per serving. Leucine is well understood to be the 'workhorse' that drives the process known as Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS), i.e. muscle building / muscle growth. In other words, while total protein per scoop is important, the amount of leucine is a good indicator of the quality of protein (I'd use an analogy of regular vs premium gas and the make up of the gasoline).

The generally recommended amount of leucine required to 'optimize' MPS is 3g, as shown by a few scientific studies (you can google this, won't cite all the references here). Certainly a lower amount of leucine will still stimulate MPS, but more in this case is better (key word is optimize).

LeanFit's amino acid profile shows that there is ~2.5g per 33g scoop (choco version, vanilla is slightly better)
Kaizen's amino acid profile shows that there is ~2.7g per 25g scoop (you can sum up all aminos in the label to verify that it's 25000mg = 25g)
MusclePharm doesn't even provide a breakdown of amino profile (shows how much they value transparency!)

All that is to say that price aside, and protein grams per scoop size value aside, Kaizen is a higher quality and more efficient protein by considering leucine amount.

Yes! Finally, MP cookies and cream is back

Buying 5

microwave wrote: ↑ Maybe you’re not used to artificial sugars but kaizen is the brand people here like to complain about tasting like cardboard because it’s not sweet like other brands. I always add more water than recommended to reduce the sweetness.

I like to mix with 2 spoonful of instant coffee powder and use the bitterness to neutralize the sweetness.

Sarahtheshopper0 wrote: ↑ I was waiting for the Jan sale too!! I think maybe they’re not on sale this time around because Costco had Kaizen on sale a couple months ago during a buy more + save more sale.

ya i remember seeing that deal but didn't need two at that time - guess i should have just stocked up then

i mix half water and half milk with the kaizen and don't find it too sweet (vanilla)