Back in the dark days of 2021, I wrote a lot more about fitness, nutrition, physical and mental health. Although that was three years ago, this journey never stopped. While I’ve diverged off the path at times, I always seem to find a way to get at least a few toes back on it. Keeping both feet moving forward has forever been a challenge but I no longer attack myself for this and instead celebrate the ways I’m still on it. When I do get knocked off the path, generally due to mental health, I find that educating myself on the next step (and ensuring that I have a timeline to jump back in) is the thing that puts me back in motion.
The big thing I’ve learned since 2021 is how nutrition is much more important to my health than I ever believed. I say this having focused on nutrition for the better part of the last decade but through new scientific findings, I have realized how much I didn’t know and have taken steps to fill in these gaps. Back in 2014, I decided to stop consuming both alcohol and meat. The benefits of this decision became clear in a short amount of time, which made ‘being good’ easy. I haven’t touched either in almost a decade and to be honest, the number of times I’ve wanted to can be counted on one hand. As a vegetarian, what I’ve learned is that my intake of vital elements – protein, vitamins and fats – hasn’t been as focused or balanced as I assumed. Despite being a good cook with a sense of adventure, I don’t think I ever consumed as much protein as my body needed. Faced with the inevitability of aging and the decline it brings, I started to think about how I needed to enter my golden years with more consideration of my muscle mass and brain and gut health. This is when I started taking supplements seriously. Protein powders became the norm. I read about the importance of using creatine not just for muscle growth but to boost brain function and fight certain neurological diseases and started looking for a trusted source.
This led me to discover Naked Nutrition. Naked Nutrition has been producing high-quality supplements since 2014, that magical year! Founder Stephen Zieminski noticed many supplements included numerous ingredients of little nutritional value. He believed people trying to live a healthy lifestyle aided by supplements were being marketed health but sold something else. Starting with five single-ingredient supplements, including the best-selling Naked Whey from grass-fed California cows and Naked Pea from raw yellow peas grown in the USA and Canada, today, Naked Nutrition has grown to offer over 50 products, most containing 3 ingredients or less. When Naked asked if I would like to review some of their products, it was impossible to say no. Knowing the brand a bit and being a regular user, I was curious to see how some other products would suit my lifestyle and pursuit of nutrition. I gave Naked Nutrition a list of products I wanted to try and they generously sent them all to me. The list included the popular Pea Protein Powder, their Green Superfood Powder, a kilo of the Chocolate Coconut Almond Protein Shake, and the Multivitamin for Men.
I used to only use protein powder in smoothies, blended with frozen fruit and yogurt. As I learned more, I began adding additional supplements to my smoothies, especially as a way to get more nutrients into my kids in the morning. One complaint I often heard was how the protein powder, despite being unflavoured could always be detected. My youngest daughter also complained about the chalkiness that other powders left in the drink. I’m not much bothered by these things but for picky eaters (or drinkers), I had to find another way to jam goodness into my kids. I started using the Pea Protein Powder immediately and found that it blended well in my smoothies. One thing to note was how a serving that offered a whopping 27g of protein was two scoops instead of a single one other powders recommended. The difference here is that unlike other protein powders that can contain added sugars or flavours, Naked Nutrition Pea Protein Powder only contains yellow pea protein isolate. Something I’ve learned is that some protein powders can also not only contain additives and preservatives, but independent testing by the non-profit organization, The Clean Label Project found the presence of heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury in many popular protein supplement brands. Naked Nutrition uses third parties to test their products to ensure safety. Naked sources their yellow peas from Canadian and American farms and mechanically processes them without chemicals to retain a superior amino acid profile. One thing I noted about yellow peas is that they naturally contain sodium which I’ve found adds a bit of saltiness to my drinks. It doesn’t make a difference in smoothies but as I also like to use protein powders in yogurt bowls and in overnight oats, the slightly savoury taste is noticeable. As pea protein is heat stable, adding it to any cooked item doesn’t reduce its nutritional content. I’ll be using it this way in addition to smoothies. And next time I try an unflavoured protein powder for the whole family, I’ll probably look at Naked’s Grass Fed Whey Protein Powder.
Among the vitamins I take daily, or to be honest, as close to daily as my memory allows, are Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, iron and Vitamin D. B12 and iron supplement my vegetarian diet, while C and D are for immunity and deficiency. I’ve been wary of multivitamins in the past because they seem to contain vitamins I don’t believe I need. So, I’ve become used to eating a handful of pills after I’ve had my first meal of the day. I was attracted to Naked Nutrition’s Multivitamin for Men because it’s close to what I take. Each serving of two large green pills contains optimal prostate and immune support with antioxidants from Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, Carotenoids and Zinc. The full list is quite long and can be seen in the bolded link to the product above. What makes these pills very special is that on top of all the vitamins they provide, Naked Nutrition also jams 70mg of their Fruit Blend Powder, 60mg of their Saw Palmetto Powder and 60mg of their Veggie Blend Powder to cover me on the days I don’t get all my servings of fruit and veg. As well, the Multivitamin is engineered for absorption and bioavailability so I’m not just peeing out the nutrition. Now, I have effed around and found out by taking a bit too much of some things such as medium-chain triglyceride oil and paid a churning gastrointestinal price. Nothing I have consumed from Naked Nutrition has gurgled my tum-tum the least bit. However they do it, it is much appreciated.
Naked Nutrition’s Chocolate Coconut Almond Protein Shake uses the Pea Protein Powder as a base and adds almond flour, cocoa, MCT oil and fermented cane sugar (Reb-M) to create a delicious shake that contains 20g of protein with only 3g of sugar, 7g of carbs and 140 calories. I whipped up a shake with almond milk. It was far sweeter than I expected. My youngest daughter, whom I had in mind with this product reported the same. One thing to note is that fermented cane sugar (Reb-M) is a steviol glucoside from the stevia plant. Stevia is a sweetener many people do not like the taste of. I admit to being one of those people. After multiple ways of using it, blended with dairy milk and mixed with coffee, unfortunately, the stevia taste was overpowering for me. I’ll keep trying to find the right things to mix with this product because I do like the flavour of it, stevia aside.
At the time of writing, the Green Superfood Powder is one of the supplied supplements that I have used the least. This is mostly due to the fact that it has a very strong green vegetable taste. I used it in one of my mango protein smoothies and the flavour was overpowering. As it is heat-stable, I think it would work really well within savoury dishes such as soups and sauces. I don’t need everything I eat to hit all the flavour points. Many years ago, after realizing that despite not loving the taste of broccoli, I had to give in to the fact that its nutritional value was too strong to not eat. So, I started eating broccoli knowing that I wouldn’t be loving each bite. But knowing I was providing myself with more than the RDA of Vitamin C as well as Vitamin B6, Iron and Calcium, I knew I had to make an ‘adult choice’ that would be full of benefits. This is my approach with the Green Superfood Powder. It’s a bit of a nose-pinch and chug experience for me and I’ll start looking at ways to put it in savoury foods where it will blend with the flavours better. Much like the taste vs. nutrition dilemma, it’s pretty hard to beat a per-scoop infusion of fibre, potassium, calcium and iron along with a blend of organic green vegetables and grasses. Something I was happy to see is that this powder also contains ashwagandha and Panax ginseng adaptogens to support optimal cortisol levels and adrenal gland function to reduce stress. Fine, I’ll chug some back!
If my experience working with Naked Nutrition can be boiled down in one way it’s communication. They were always asking to see if I had questions or concerns and were always willing to talk to their nutritionists and offer options and advice. When I mentioned the slight saltiness of the Pea Protein Powder, they sent me the Grass Fed Whey Protein Powder. In the past, I always opted for vegan protein powders when the option existed. Using their Grass Fed Whey and despite being unflavoured, the creaminess and richness this dairy powder added took my morning shake over the top. It’s been a daily addition to yogurt bowls and smoothies and my youngest doesn’t even notice that I’m using it! It’s a perfect protein powder for picky eaters and it’ll likely become a staple in my household.
I know that I’ve written a lot about two basic uses for protein powders, smoothies and yogurt bowls. And I would argue that most people who supplement protein do so in these ways. But I’m also a cook and I look for ways to add protein into other foods as much as I can. One way that I recently used the Pea Protein Powder was by baking with it. I make gluten and refined sugar-free ‘healthy muffins’ regularly so I thought that I would see how the addition of protein powder would work with them. Spoiler, it worked great so below you’ll find my recipe. You can play around with the ingredients without ruining the muffins. I once forgot to add the baking powder and soda and had to scoop the batter out of the muffin tins to add it and they still worked great!
Protein Banana Date Oat Muffins
Ingredients
1 cup of pitted dates
4 scoops of Naked Nutrition Pea Protein Powder
3 ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
1-2 cups of rolled oats
EXTRA INGREDIENTS
1-2 tbsp of coconut oil (or any oil you like, or butter, to add fat and richness)
Chia seeds, hemp seeds, nuts, raisins, diced fruit, berries, but add and stir in by hand after the rest of the batter is done
Tools
Food processor (a blender will work but it’ll be harder to clean)
Muffin baking tray
Directions
- Boil a litre or so of water, and add dates to a bowl with the boiling water. Let them sit for at least 5 minutes to soften. Strain the water out.
- Add everything to the food processor except the oats. Puree until smooth but I’ve never minded a bit of a chunk of date.
- Slowly add the oats until you get a thick batter like cookie dough. The thicker the texture, the denser the end product. If you accidentally add too much oats, you can liquify the batter with water or a milk of your choosing. You can even set aside and use the boiled soaking liquid from the dates.
- Preheat oven to 350º
- Stir in extra ingredients if you’d like
- Spoon batter into muffin tins to the top of the tray. They will rise around 20-30% as they bake
- Bake for approximately 15 mins., checking for doneness by using a toothpick or a single strand of uncooked spaghetti. If it comes up with batter on it, give it a minute or two more.
- Remove from oven and let cool for an hour before removing from the tin
- Store after they’re fully cooled. They’ll last for around 3-4 days unrefrigerated in a sealed container but they freeze well
Each muffin provides approximately 5g of protein and is great with a smoothie for a quick and healthy breakfast. I love to make these with walnuts and blueberries.
We’ve never known more about nutrition than we do now, and to match, the options for improving ours seem endless. With so many products on the market and with social media providing questionable sources of information, the choice can be very difficult. Trusted sources can be hard to find. However, Naked Nutrition a nutritional supplement company, with a decade of development and transparency is where I have found a place to put my trust.
From their ethos to the myriad products they offer for all ages and all purposes, I don’t have to search for answers anymore.
Aron Harris
Latest posts by Aron Harris (see all)
- TESTED: Naked Nutrition’s line of protein and supplements - September 24, 2024
- Eggy’s Long-Awaited Waiting Game - September 11, 2024
- WILCO: 30 YEARS YOUNG AT MASSEY HALL - July 3, 2024