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I have been taking the pre-made Muscle Milk shakes--i dont have time for the powder. What are people's thoughts on the pros and cons of Muscle Milk. The Chocolate is my favorite flavor.

The biggest con for me is the aftertaste of sucralose, which with Muscle Milk seems to linger far longer than with other pre-mixed shakes. I can taste it even hours later, even after eating, drinking, brushing, etc.

Sucralose seems almost inescapable in protein shakes, especially the ready to drink varieties. I'd prefer unsweetened or lightly sweetened to artificially sweetened... but it's tough (or impossible) to find when you take the ready-to-drink route.

Yeah, there is an aftertaste but it isnt strong enough to bother me. I would prefer non-sweetened too, but then I guess it would taste bad. I love the conveniece of the pre-made shake to take with you in your gym bag to drink before and after workouts. take to the office, on the bus, on the subway, etc.

it's a good drink if you do the powder. the RTD muscle milk has artifical sweetners...yuck! just get a shaker cup and put the powder muscle milk in it...add water when you want to drink it. pretty simple and better for you.

The powder is far superior. It's really easy to use and tastes 10000x times better than the pre-made stuf. I also think it's cheaper to buy the powder and mix it with water.

Just don't mix it with milk or you'll have gas so bad that you won't get laid for weeks!

I admit im lazy and carrying around the shaker - then cleaning it out - and all that got annoying. I still have powder at home that I use in the morning. But after working out I grab a $4 Muscle Milk premade shake at the gym and drink it on my way out...It's easy, I can't tell much difference, and compared to how much a tub of the stuff costs - and how fast you go thru it, the price is close enough for me not to care.

Oh... and the best flavor is Root Beer Float - if you havent tried it you dont know what your missin'

norcalsf, i agree with you.
if you buy the muscle milk online, for example the vitamin shoppe, you can get it for less than $4 for a large serving.

MM powder is available in natural. just get a shaker cup to take on the go. sucralose and aspertame(nutrasweet) have a lot of negative side effects to them. ie. headeaches, nasua, nerve and supressed immune system.

One other perk of the powder is that you can tailor how much you are taking to your caloric needs for the day.

For example, on non-lifting days, I'll only have a scoop and a half in water, along with the rest of my breakfast (toast, scrambled eggs/egg whites, fruit, etc).

On days when I lift, I'll have 3 scoops in water and drink it as soon as possible after I finish working out.

One funny Muscle Milk powder story .... I always carry the shaker with MM in it in my gym bag. I got to the gym one morning and was taking my clothes out of my gym bag. I looked inside and saw that the top had come off the shaker. I had Peanut Butter Chocolate MM all over the bottom of my gym bag. It was starting to drip out of the sides.

So I grabbed one of the gym's towels and tried to mop it up as much as I could. Needless to say, the towel was chocolatey brown by the time I was done.

I tiptoed out to the front desk of the gym and attempted to slyly stick my brown towel in with the other dirty/sweaty towels. I got busted.

The woman behind the desk screeched, "What happened to that towel????"

I explained that it was protein powder and I think she believed me. The humiliation definitely got my heart racing for my workout.

Muscle MIlk chocolate milk flavor is the best tasting protein shake on the market, hands down

turthfully i enjoy somethign besides muscle milk, one of my more favorites is the 24 hour fitness brand potein drink, the apex protein drink, the vanilla one tastes absolutely amazing, it doesnt even taste like a protein drink. It almost tastes like a vanilla milk or vanilla milkshake. Just throwing it out there. However its in a powder format so it may not be what your looking for.

Muscle milk? does that come from the breasts of body builders????

Muscle Milk is the trade name of products made by Cytosport.

I am a huge fan as well! DPSNutrition.com is where I get mine.


Mint Chocolate is my favorite! YUMMMMMMM

I bought the oatmeal and muscle milk mix in the cups--instant, just add water. I wasn't so happy with the taste but oatmeal with 30g of protein is an amazing thing. I add dried blueberries, cranberries and nuts to make it taste better.

I'm a slender guy who started working out@ 5 weeks ago and started taking the MM. I like the stuff in the tub and I buy it on Ebay cheap usually 3 tubs. I think it's helping me as I've NEVER been able to gain a pound and now I can't get my hands around my biceps. YAY! The new stuff is good and the cookies and cream tastes great and after I have some I don't have an aftertaste at all after a few minutes or a glass of water.

MuscleMilk - I live by that product! Try the Strawberry Milk Shake and add some fresh strawberries ... it is the best!

New this year is the Muscle Milk lite -- another fine bodybuilding product!

I used 3 a day!

The MM powder with milk is the best tasting combo out there. The pre-made stuff has a bad aftertaste to it.

Word of warning though, if you aren't heavy lifting or burning a lot of calories, go light on the MM servings... I had a couple of slower weeks, but kept it up and gained some extra weight I didn't want.

And... if you REALLY want a GREAT taste, try MM with Rice Milk... EXTREMELY delicious, but the rice milk does add some extra calories.

So here's a question..are you supposed to use this for life? Is there a point where you can stop or use less? Is is used to get from point A to point B?

the MM is pretty high in saturated fats. . . even though they are MCTs, does anyone know if it would have any effect on high blood pressure or heart disease??

Anyone here tried other brands of whey protein before? I'm looking specifically for comments on Precision Engineered and Designer Whey.

My absolute favourite brand is Syntrax Nectar Whey. A 27g serving gives you 23g protein, from whey isolate, and only 90 calories with NO fat and only a smidge of cholesterol! Some flavours are sweetened with Aspartame, which I stay away from as I don't like the after taste, and others are sweetened with sucralose. As the flavours can be a little tart-tangy, I don't really notice the sucralose after taste.

Here's the thing with Muscle Milk....

Muscle Milk with water - tastes gross, but pretty much considerably less fatty than when you drink it with even 1% milk. As we all know Muscle Milk tastes better with milk - especially cookies and cream but you will gain some from it. The key is that you are not just taking the shake, but also eating correctly and working out REGULARLY. If you continue to use MM while not working out you will def gain some pounds. But heres the thing, you need SOME fat (collective gasp - i hope not) as a BMI of I believe under 4% body fat is not healthy at all.

There is also MM lite which you can get online which halves everything except the protien amount and still has a decent taste...so do what you will and see what works.

It tastes great, but you really have to watch out how much you take and if you are eating on top of that. The calories and calories from fat are huge- way more than any other protein drink. If you're going to take it, don't eat for at least three hours before/after- use it as a meal.
especially if you are someone who gains belly fat easily. I couldn't figure out why i kept getting fatter- then i read the label .

I use the Powder form. Get it sugar free because I am allergic to sugar. What are good vitamine shops on the web??? Need some good vitamines that are cheap.

sort of off topic but...whats the difference between cytogainer and muscle milk? does one just have creatine and the other doesn't? is it more refined? whats the deal

Good post SFTrainer. I tend to be really lean and fat has never been something I've had to worry about. Good point tho.

Hey Y'all - I have tried several other protein mixes and I have to say that MuscleMilk is by far the best. I can get past the aftertaste and to be quite honest - the results are phenominal. I use it 2-3x's a day - Chocolate is a favorite as is the strawberry banana smoothie. Has anyone tried the FastTwitch produced by Cytosport?

I had been doing a mixture of the Muscle Milk ready to drink and powder - but after reading this and other forums I think I'll stick with the powder.

I just got the Muscle Milk Lite and have to say I can't tell the difference in taste. Creme Brulee still tastes like cake batter when mixed with skim or 1% milk :)

After reading the posts about the fat content in M I went and read the label. WOW! 1 serving contains 40% of your daily fat intake. And that's mixed w/water not even low-fat milk which is higher. Wow! That's alot. I might have to consider a diff. supplement!

Owl1975, I have been taking CytoGainer for the past month (two shakes per day) and have managed to break through a plateau and start gaining a gain. Although I really like the taste of the Muscle Milk shakes, I went with Cytogainer because (if I remember correctly) it had less sugar/fat and was higher in protein (5 grams fat, 6 grams of sugar and 54 grams of protein). Each shake is 580 calories when mixed with water. According to the label, the 79 grams of carbs are all complex carbs and the shakes do not contain sucrose, fructose or aspertame. I am mixing the shakes with creatine/glutamine because Cytogainer values are pretty low on its own, but otherwise I think it's a pretty good supp.

hey guys, I just got a tub of the MM powder Vanilla Creme. I like to mix it with skim milk, ice, apples and/or bananas, dried cranberries or dried blueberries.

it is really delicious! a yummy shake!

of course you need a good blender.

-Michael

I use Isopure powder, but like the MM, it has sucralose in it. I think it's ironic -- and a sign of perception being more important than reality -- that post-workout protein shakes are going to such lengths to eliminate sugar, when in fact your digestive system can't integrate a meal of solid, carb-free protein anywhere near as well as when you throw some carbohydrates in. The whole "zero carb" crazy should be gone by now. I generally am drinking a protein shake after an extended workout where I'm also downing a glass of the Powerbar Recovery drink mix, which has plenty of carbs to rebuild that glycogen, so it's not a concern... but, man, it's a waste not to consume at least a few good old-fashioned carbohydrates when you drink a protein shake.

I work at a gym, and there are others out there that are better. Isopure is good, so is MASS. They are made by the same company: Natures Best. Unlike MM, there is no acidic aftertaste. Trust me I have tried all of the flavors we carry: Chocolate, Vanilla, RootBeer Float, Chocolate Mint(this is a big seller), Cookies and Cream, MochaJoe(has caffine so be careful), and Banana Cream.

Most leave you with the after taste. Isopure and Myoplex are good alternatives. Try them out. RTD is too strong for me and Pure Protein gives me gas, plus it tastes horrible.

There is one be Natures Best called Micellular Milk, I belive. They have less fat then Muscle Milk. Give it a whirl. Just remember to switch up your drinks, so your body does not get used to one specific type.

Sucralose is NOT good for you. The manufacturer can try to trick you by saying "it's made from sugar", but that doesn't make it good:

http://www.tuberose.com/Sucralose.html

Aspartame is pretty bad too. So is all this processed food we're eating. I don't believe for a moment that any of these protein drinks and powders are good for you. They might help you bulk up now, but what sort of long-term effects do all of these supplements have on the body, especially the kidneys and liver? I don't know. And neither do any of the supplement manufacturers. And heaven forbid they should have to go through any sort of testing/regulatory process (not that it matters much these days considering how many FDA-approved drugs are being yanked off the market).

And soy protein is not good either in large/regular doses:

http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Soy-Story-Americas-Favorite/dp/0967089751/

Everyone's on the "soy is great" bandwagon these days. The stuff is in EVERYTHING. And it's NOT good for us. But I'm sure that makes the drug companies happy...more drugs to cook up to ease symptoms, the root causes of which could be eliminated by simply eating better in the first place.

I am lactose-intolerant. I've been buying this super-filtered, lactose-free protein for years:

http://proteinfactory.com/shop/product.php?productid=47&cat=1&page=1

You get 30 grams per serving and it dissolves really easily in a small amount of water. It costs far less than stuff you buy at a shop. And you can choose its flavor, add other ingredients, etc.

Sucralose is a chlorinated suger, a chlorocarbon. It is not digestable for humans, but it is for some micribs in our guts (that is why it can cause gas for some.) Although it is not broken down by humans, it CAN be absorbed as a whole in small amounts in the IG track, and it is excreated by the kidneys. Long term studies of human consumption of chlorocarbons are not known, but chlorocarbons are generally toxic...

I think that MM is definitely the best tasting powder out there right now. Recently, however I've decided to switch back to Pro Complex by Optimum Nutrition. It seems to have more favorable protein to fat/carb ratio than MM as well as having 55g of protein per serving which helps out when you're trying to get to that 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight that helps lean muscle gains. It's a lot more expensive, but I think it's a better product for those that want the most protein they can get per serving.

Truly enjoy the Muscle Milk. Used CytoGainer for a few months, but thought I'd try MM for awhile. As a member of 24 Hour Fitness (their featured product brand), we get loads of discounts. Just last week, I bought 2 jugs of MM for $19.99 each.

I shop online at http://www.cheapvitamins.com. When I researched all the available online options at the time, they seemed to have the best deals - and this past weekend, they had free shipping!

Tried Cytogainer, and definitely noticed results with that too. If you're only going to drink MM once/day, when is the best time to drink it? Post-workout? They have a few suggestions...

i love that shit!! can u say 'i'm addicted i'm addicted' !! root beer is my favorite flavor. buy the powder form usually. but the premade shakes are good for when on the go. while running errands, quick break at work. within the past month my grocery store, Smith's, started carrying the premix ones. 2.99 a piece u cant beat it!!! woooo hooo

You must be busy.

yeah life has a habit of getting in the way.

For Citpolo:

From what my trainer has said, the best time, if just once a day, is within 30 minutes after working out. Think of your muscles as a dry sponge after your work out. Drink either MM or Cytogainer. Your muscles will simply "soak up" all the muscle-building amino acids, etc... & heal/build faster. It's the best time for the ultimate absorption.

Hey hey...just posted this to the other "muscle milk" topic so figured I'd cross-post:

Muscle milk is good. The science behind their product has to do with medium chain fatty acids, which in sum are more readily-available energy sources than LCFA (long chain fatty acids).

They're too short to require breakdown in the gut, and again too short to require cellular transport mechanisms to enter the mitochondria, a part of the cell where all fats are broken down for energy. Here's a great scientific article with the biochem behind this idea: http://www.lipidworld.com/content/2/1/10

All this really means is that MCFA's are less likely to be stored in fat stores, and more likely after consuming them to be utilised for energy.

I personally like muscle milk for a pre-workout shake for this very reason. I'm beginning a weight-gaining phase right now though so I will prob have to incorporate a more calorie-heavy shake post-workout!

PS: CAREFUL with the heavy fat content of this shake. Eat healthy meals inbetween these shakes! We can't have all us gay guys dying of MI's and clogged arteries. The world would be a whole lot uglier. ;)

Hope this helped someone. Good luck guys.

-Jake

hey guys,

is cytogainer good for people who just want to get bodybuilder huge or can it be for people who want to lose fat and gain muscle to be cut/ripped?


in my case, i'm 5-7 163 lbs, looking to lose bod fat but at the same time get muscle (goal is to be cut/ripped but not huge...does that even make any sense? =[ )

thanks guys

Hey jake,

Thanx for the post ... helped me understand this whole protein shake thing a bit better.

I've tried MM but have been somewhat worried about the fat content. I've also tried IsoPure (the clear protein liquid ... looks like a bottle flavoured water?) and haven't been sure which to drink. Also, still not sure if its better before a work out or after. Spoke to my trainer but don't think he knew the gory details of this protein supplement things. Being a vegetarian, Im certain, though, that i do need additional protein in my diet.

Based on what I've read here, think I'll try either MM or Isopure and take half before my work out and the remaining after. Comments?

~ Samir

Has anyone found a protein powder with more that 60g of protein per serving? So far GNC is the only one I've found with their Whey Isolate 60.