Almased Nutritional Multi Protein Shake Powder, 17.6 oz, 1 Pack
CUSTOMER REVIEW
I rarely write reviews but feel that I really need to contribute. When I was debating whether or not to buy this product, I read all the reviews posted to help make my decision. Aside from a few, most of the reviews were not helpful because they were really vague. I've been using this product for 4 days now and I hope my review will be helpful to someone.
There are alot of complaints about the taste of Almased and I can see why but I was able to tweak my recipe so that it actually tastes good to me! The program tells you how many tablespoons of powder to use based on your height and it suggests using 10-12 ounces of liquid (preferably water) and 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil or other fatty acid. The first time I tried it, I used 6 tbs of the powder (I'm only 5 feet), 6oz of low fat original soy milk, 6oz of water and 2 ice cubes. I left out the olive oil because the idea of putting oil in my drink weirded me out. I blended it. The result tasted like regular unsweetened oatmeal that was microwaved with too much water. Seriously, this is what it tasted like. I was able to drink it all but I was not looking forward to drinking it again. The next time I made it, I used 6 tbs of powder, 6oz of low fat VANILLA soy milk, 6oz of water, 3 ice cubes and blended it twice as long. This time, the consistency was waaay better, like a milkshake and the taste was very much improved and I actually enjoyed it. The next day, I used 6 tbs of powder, 6oz low fat vanilla soy milk, 6oz water, 3 ice cubes and 2 tbs of vanilla extract, blended all together and it tasted really good. By this time, I was actually looking forward to drinking it! Now that I got the taste down, I was ready to add the olive oil. So using the last recipe, I just added a teaspoon of olive oil and blended everything. Suprisingly, I couldn't taste the olive oil at all in the drink and the oil actually improved the texture of the powder. The powder is grainy if you don't blend it well but I found that adding the olive oil made the texture a lot smoother. So my recipe is: 6 tbs of powder, 6oz of low fat vanilla soy milk, 6oz of water, 2 tbs of vanilla extract, 1 tps of olive oil, 3 ice cubes and blend, blend, blend. The result is kinda yummy actually and I look forward to drinking it. For variety, try it with coconut milk---that's really good too. I'm also thinking of trying it with chocolate soy milk...
I haven't been able to follow the program's regimen exactly because I just can't do an all liquid diet (I need solid food at least once a day) and the vegetable broth doesn't ring my bell so I tweaked the regimen also. I've been drinking the shake 3 times a day plus a green papaya, carrot and cucumber salad. The shake keeps me full for about 3 hours which is pretty good considering I'm starving after drinking other protein powder drinks because the sugar level is so high. When I need to last an extra hour before my next shake, I drink ice cold water or green/ooglong tea.
Hope this is helpful regarding taste and texture. I can't really comment on the weight loss yet because I started the regimen 2 days before my cycle and as all women know, your cycle messes with your weight. I can tell you however, that I weighed myself 3 days into the regimen and 2 days into my cycle and I had lost 2lbs. Normally, my weight goes up 3-4lbs when I'm on my cycle so it is possible that I lost 5lbs in 3 days. I will post another review regarding the weight loss part when I can give you better and more accurate results.
