{"id":500248,"date":"2026-03-28T14:57:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T14:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/500248\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T14:57:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T14:57:22","slug":"the-best-protein-powders-tried-and-tested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/500248\/","title":{"rendered":"The best protein powders, tried and tested"},"content":{"rendered":"

To decide on the best protein powder for you, it helps to ask: what are protein powders<\/a> for? Protein is a nutrient needed all over the body to help build, repair and maintain tissue. It is made up of chains of amino acids, nine of which are termed \u201cessential\u201d since your body can\u2019t make them itself.<\/p>\n

For a healthy body, the recommended nutrient intake (RNI) is 0.75g of protein per kg of bodyweight per day. If you don\u2019t typically eat many animal-based sources, protein powders can help you hit that target.<\/p>\n

We tested 20 of the top protein powders on the market, including whey and vegan protein powders. You can read our full reviews below<\/a>, as well as answers to frequently asked questions<\/a> such as which is the healthiest, the best for weight loss and the best for building muscle. If you\u2019re looking for something to take before exercise, read our guide to the best pre-workout supplements<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The best protein powders: At a glanceHow to choose the best protein powder<\/p>\n

Whey concentrate is the most common form and often the cheapest, according to Rachel Butcher, head of nutrition at Third Space<\/a>. \u201cIt typically has low fat and cholesterol content but the protein levels can vary from 40 to 90 per cent depending on the brand,\u201d she says. \u201cIf your goal is to build muscle, a whey concentrate with a higher protein content is probably the best to go for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whey isolate is more refined and therefore more expensive. \u201cWhey isolate is refined in a process that will remove the fat and the lactose from the compound,\u201d says Butcher. \u201cThat makes it one of the leanest options, meaning it usually comprises of upwards of 90 per cent protein content.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whey hydrolysate is whey protein that\u2019s been put through hydrolysis. \u201cThat is, the addition of water to allow for the protein to be broken down into its smaller building blocks,\u201d Butcher explains. \u201cThis means it can be absorbed by the body much faster and at higher rates.\u201d Needless to say, it\u2019s on the costlier end of the scale.<\/p>\n

Vegan protein powders are the fourth option. Pea, hemp, tofu and soy are popular sources of plant protein but there are plenty of other types like rice protein. \u201cWhat\u2019s key here isn\u2019t just looking at the protein content, but the quality,\u201d says Butcher. \u201cYou can tell that by looking at its essential amino acids \u2013 it\u2019s \u2018complete\u2019 if it contains all nine. To achieve this, you\u2019ll want a blend of at least two protein sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

How we test protein powders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To decide on the best protein powder for you, it helps to ask: what are protein powders for?…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[27028,6647,102,6636,166689,175735,169376,5438,12375,175736,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-500248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-buying-guide","9":"tag-fitness","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-nutrition","12":"tag-recommended","13":"tag-recommended-health-and-fitness","14":"tag-special-exclusion","15":"tag-standard","16":"tag-supplements","17":"tag-telegraph-reviews","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}