Monthly Archives: July 2017

MRM Veggie Protein Powder Review

MRM Veggie Protein Powders appear to be a good choice for clean eaters upon first glance.

But in this review, you’ll find out why appearances can be deceiving!

First, a disclaimer: in case you’re new around these parts, I sell a protein powder.

This obviously invites potential bias.

That’s why I review protein powders based on two objective criteria: 1. nutrition facts and 2. ingredients.

In this review, I’ll share some alarming things I discovered when I analyzed the nutrition facts and ingredients in MRM Veggie, Veggie Elite, and Meal Replacement Protein Powders. (Note: I didn’t review their whey protein powder because I, along with my customers, don’t use whey protein powders for many reasons.)

Let’s get to it …

About MRM

MRM sells a lot of different products …

mrm protein powder reviews

I actually like a bunch of them.

The organic whole food powders (red beet, baobab, and moringa) look like good, clean products according to their ingredient lists and nutrition panels. And I like the looks of their “Therapeutic Collection” products too.

But their vegan protein powders aren’t that great.

MRM sells three types:

  1. Veggie Protein
  2. Veggie Elite
  3. Veggie Meal Replacement

Let’s take a look at the nutrition facts information and ingredient labels for each …

MRM Veggie Protein Powders Nutrition Facts and Ingredients Analysis

Veggie Elite

mrm veggie elite protein powder review mrm veggie elite nutrition facts ingredients

Veggie Protein

mrm veggie protein veggie protein powder nutrition

Veggie Meal Replacement

Veggie Meal Replacement mrm vegan meal replacement powder

Did you spot the red flags?

If not, I’ll break it down for you. There are 4 things that concern me about MRM’s veggie protein powders:

  1. Gums: Gums are food additives that are commonly used as stabilizers, thickeners, or emulsifiers. MRM uses several different types of gums in its proteins, many of which can cause digestive distress.
  2. Non-organic ingredients: This one’s a bit puzzling. MRM uses some organic ingredients (brown rice and hemp protein powders, for example). But most of their ingredients aren’t organic. Their “High ORAC Antioxidant Blend” looks great at first glance. But many of those superfruits are on the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list of the most contaminated produce so they’re most likely sprayed with chemical pesticides.
  3. Monk Fruit Extract: Monk fruit extract is usually cut with maltodextrin or dextrose, which are derived from GMO corn and can cause spikes in blood sugar. This, of course, can lead to insulin resistance, which causes major issues (type 2 diabetes, obesity, etc.).
  4. Natural Flavors: Natural flavors are comprised of potentially hundreds of different chemical compounds, solvents, and preservatives. As long as the source of one of those is “natural”, food companies can call it a “natural flavor” and not disclose the other ingredient that go in it. Read more about natural flavors.

Bottom Line: Are MRM Vegetarian / Vegan Protein Powders Good for You?

MRM says this on its website:

We source quality ingredients to create innovative products that are a notch above the competition.

But when you peel back the curtain and look at the nutrition facts label and ingredients list, it’s clear that MRM is just another “me too” protein powder.

MRM Veggie Protein Powder has the same gums, flavors, fillers, and other crap in every other protein powder out there.

The facts are MRM a) is not organic; b) contains artificial “flavors” disguised as “all-natural,” and c) is loaded with gums and additives.

My advice: Stick with a protein powder that has all-natural, organic ingredients instead.

Introducing Pure Food 2.0!

new pure food protein powder

If you’ve read any of my emails or blog posts, you know that honesty, integrity, and improvement are the foundation upon which I built my small business.

I love the ingredients in Pure Food and I know my customers do too … but the taste left something to the imagination.

For Pure Food Cacao Protein, my biggest challenge was inconsistency. I realized this was due to oxidation of the coconut milk powder, which was reacting with the brown rice and changing the flavor over time. The product was never unsafe for consumption (my manufacturer has rigorous testing protocols before and after production). But it just didn’t taste that good after a few months on the shelf. This was unacceptable.

Pure Food Vanilla Protein wasn’t very “vanilla-y”. And many customers weren’t crazy about the smell and aftertaste. But vanilla bean powder is sooo expensive … like $200/lb expensive … so I couldn’t afford to use that much of it.

Long story short, I’ve spent the last year trying to figure out how to make both Pure Food flavors taste better without compromising the integrity of the ingredients.

I finally figured it out … 

The changes are subtle. In fact, the nutrition facts label and ingredient lists don’t look much different.

And that’s deliberate.

Obviously one of the most important things to me is I want the people who currently use and love my product to still love it.

So don’t panic … Pure Food is still real food!

I never have, and never will compromise on that promise.

But it tastes much better now, and that’s mainly because I found a small U.S. company that sells an amazing all-natural organic vanilla powder and it made a huge difference in the flavor. Such a difference, in fact, that I decided to put it in both Pure Food products.

Here’s a look at the updated ingredient lists, along with exactly what’s changing in each formula:

Old Pure Food Vanilla Ingredients List:

Organic brown rice protein, organic pea protein, organic hemp protein, organic mesquite, organic lucuma, organic vanilla, organic stevia leaf, GanedenBC30 probiotic

Old Pure Food Cacao Ingredients List:

Organic brown rice protein, organic pea protein, organic hemp protein, organic cacao, organic mesquite, organic coconut milk powder, organic stevia leaf, GanedenBC30 probiotic

New Pure Food Vanilla Ingredients List:

Organic pea protein, organic brown rice protein, organic hemp protein, organic vanilla, organic lucuma, organic mesquite, organic stevia leaf, GanedenBC30 probiotic

New Pure Food Cacao Ingredients List:

Organic pea protein, organic brown rice protein, organic hemp protein, organic cacao, organic mesquite, organic vanilla, organic stevia leaf, GanedenBC30 probiotic

What Changed and Why:

1. Improved protein blend so it’s more bioavailable + safer. More pea and less rice protein = lower in heavy metals w/ same nutritional benefits and a better BCAA profile.

2. Added new organic vanilla bean powder. Dramatically improved flavor. Increased magnesium levels.

 

What Changed and Why:

1. Improved protein blend so it’s more bioavailable + safer. More pea and less rice protein = lower in heavy metals w/ same nutritional benefits and a better BCAA profile.

2. Added new organic vanilla bean powder. Dramatically improved flavor. Increased magnesium levels.

3. Removed coconut milk. This ingredient was causing major flavor inconsistencies. Plus, I could no longer find a supplier that didn’t use corn-based maltodextrin.

New Pure Food Vanilla Nutrition Label: 

organic plant protein powder nutrition 

New Pure Food Cacao Nutrition Label: 

pure food cacao nutrition facts 

 

I’m confident you will love it. And if not, I offer a money-back guarantee. So give new Pure Food a whirl, because you have nothing to lose!

If you have questions, concerns, or comments, just leave a comment or email me at Scott@purefoodcompany.com.

Get Pure Food 2.0 Now