Gaga for SunWarrior!

Well, it's official. I'm obsessed/in love/can-no-longer-live-without SunWarrior Protein Powders. Yup, you heard me; this discerning consumer has fallen hopelessly for good old chocolate, vanilla, and a very delicious stevia and mint-infused Ormus Green.

Last week, the lovely Madison (Thank you Madison! You're the bomb!) of SunWarrior was kind enough to send me a ginormous pile of samples to try including: Ormus Greens, Vanilla Protein, Chocolate Protein, and Activated Barley Powders.



OK, let's be honest --we've all had a fair share of protein powders, bars, and shakes before and after going raw. You know, the ones that taste like you're eating a handful of pennies and have to hold your nose so you can swallow without gagging? And then of course there's the powders that are so chalky and gritty that no matter how many frozen strawberries or bananas or greens you put in that smoothie it's still going to taste...like crap...

I've tried my best to avoid raw protein powders for this very reason choosing to get my protein through lots of fruits, hemp seeds, and dark leafy greens. Though, I will admit, sometimes I've bitten the bullet and caved, only to be seriously disappointed.

My internal monologue while drinking said protein shake goes something like this:

"What? ....This doesn't taste like [insert flavor - vanilla/chocolate/fruity-tutty berry/etc]. This tastes like sand...or gravel...ugh, well, guess you better keep drinking since you've wasted all those other perfectly good ingredients...::gulp:: gulp:: lots of wincing must...finish...one...last....sip!"

And sometimes, I really just can't finish because my mouth is almost numb thanks to the intense chalky feeling coating my taste buds. When that happens I try and pawn my grit-tastic smoothie off on Kev...I'm horrible, I know..

Fortunately, SunWarrior has established a pretty good reputation for themselves as being one of the best protein powders on the market. Their products are organic, completely raw (not heated over 90 degrees), and one of the most easily absorbed, assimilated, and digested powders. This is really important to me since I usually have my smoothies after a Bikram sweat-fest where I've burned anywhere from 800 to 900 calories a session. Needless to say, when I leave the studio I'm starving and need to refuel ASAP.

I'm also pretty busy during the day and on my feet a lot (I’m a total slave (willingly) to my kitchen) so I need something to keep my energy up as well as keep me focused. SunWarrior is just overflowing with antioxidants, tocopherols, and a host of vitamins like riboflavin, thiamine, niacin. And, of course, can't forget the protein at an extraordinary 15 grams per scoop! That's above and beyond your necessary daily dose for sure!

(Upon reading their website, I found this astonishing little fact: SunWarrior has a 98% correlation rate to Mother's Milk!!! How cool, right?? It even says that it is acceptable for infants to drink, so this would be really great for moms who are in a pinch or who don't/can't breastfeed but who also don't want to subject their little ones to Enfamil ::shudder:: Have you ever looked at the ingredients in that junk? No wonder why babies are sick all the time and spitting up! The first ingredient is corn syrup solids! Now, someone, please tell me how that can be healthy for a growing baby?? Especially since it's not organic which undoubtedly means GMO corn. Yum.)

So, I got down to business testing all sorts of Green Smoothie combinations using the various SunWarrior protein flavors. These two combinations were my favorites. They are thick, creamy, nutrient-packed and absolutely amazing. (All smoothie ingredients are Organic.)

Vanilla-Berry Crunch

• Bananas
• Frozen Strawberries
• Frozen Mango
• Cali. Oranges
• SunWarrior Vanilla Protein Powder
• Ormus Greens Powder
• Vanilla VivAgave Powder
• Spinach
• Topped with: Bee Pollen for an excellente crunchiness!

Chocolate-Mulberry Hemp Creamy Dreamy Shake

• Frozen Bananas

• Young Thai Coconut Meat

• Spinach

• SunWarrior Chocolate Protein Powder

• Ormus Greens

• Topped with: Mulberries, Hemp Seeds, Cacao Nibs, Bee Pollen, Coconut Flakes, & Gojis

You will notice that I've added SunWarrior's new product Ormus Greens to both my smoothies. In my book, the more green goodness, the better! This stuff is the bomb. It's like Vitamineral Green, but it has a minty-stevia flavor instead of that slightly bitter taste that often accompanies Vitamineral Green. (Don't get me wrong, I love Vitamineral Green. They are a great company and I think their products are awesome, but on taste alone, Ormus wins this one.) After two days putting Ormus into my smoothies there was a noticeable difference in my skin. The few spots/blemishes I had (oye, Bikram) were virtually gone!! I love products that work from the inside out to help heal your body. It's like a double-duty product: green-love nourishing all of my organs!

Raw Food Nerd Overall Review:

As you can tell, I am utterly smitten by all that SunWarrior has to offer. Aside from the obvious high quality of their product, the taste is unlike any protein powder I've ever had. The vanilla is sweet and bold. The chocolate is reminiscent of a homemade almond butter cup with a drool-worthy nutty taste that I found utterly delicious. The Ormus Greens, wonderful and minty and packed with an impressive list of good-for-you greens. What other protein powders have merely attempted to do, SunWarrior has mastered. And as I mentioned above, while most protein powders are chalky and gritty and washing your mouth out with soap would be more appealing idea -- SunWarrior is so silky and smooth it's almost wrong! ...Well, the good kind of wrong, of course... I would say, that if you like Vega's products, then you will definitely like SunWarrior-- since that is the only other protein powder that's in the same league as SunWarrior.  

I don't really have any cons to offer. In normal circumstances I might say price, since a bag is about $50.00. However, when you consider quality of production, ingredients, taste and the fact that the average bag contains 2.2lbs -- the initial hit to the wallet, even for those on a budget, is negligible in my opinion.

Guess my only real con is that I've run out of samples!


Extra Benefits of SunWarrior:
• Gluten-Free
• Produced in Eco-Friendly Manner
• GMO-Free
• Cultured, so its rich in probiotics
• Helps control weight
• Non-mucous forming unlike Whey
• No animals were harmed in the process

I'm hooked...I mean, I've even added Vanilla SunWarrior to my clients batches of Oatmeal Cookies for that extra protein-punch!