Is Premier Protein Good for You? Here’s a Deep Dive Into the Popular Brand’s Ingredients

For athletes, fitness gurus, or those just looking to increase their protein intake, protein shakes, and powders can come in handy. Many brands, like Premier Protein, sell drinks that taste like milkshakes all while packing 30 grams of protein in a single 11oz bottle.

These convenient shakes get a lot of love from their customers and are marketed as healthy and a great way to build and maintain muscle. However, despite being great tasting and full of protein, is Premier Protein good for you? Here’s the breakdown.

Premier Protein Shakes are not considered to be good for you because of the artificial sweeteners, per Illuminate Labs.

The shakes contain sucralose and acesulfame potassium, which are calorie-free artificial sweeteners. According to WebMD, although these artificial sweeteners are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there is still more research being done on the effects of long-term consumption.

Besides the sweeteners, the drinks also contain additives such as artificial flavors that are approved by the FDA. However, there is also lots of mixed research and caution on the effects of artificial food additives, per Healthline. In 2018, the FDA declared seven previously approved food additives to be cancer-causing, so they were no longer approved for contact with food.

Another concern is Premier Protein’s parent company is facing a lawsuit for the high levels of lead in the protein shakes, per Forbes Health. BellRing Brands Inc, the owner of Premier Protein, has been accused in a class action lawsuit of falsely marketing their protein shakes as healthy while failing to acknowledge the lead contamination that could harm consumers, per Barrons.

However, Premier Protein is effective for muscle building. According to Illuminate Labs, 20 grams of protein is the minimum dose for effective muscle building. Premier Protein shakes contain 30 grams. So, if you want to build muscle or consume as much protein as possible, these shakes could be effective.

Most Premier Protein shakes are not vegan, however, the brand does have a line of plant-based protein powders, which come in both chocolate and vanilla. Made with pea and rice protein, in one scoop of the Premier Plant Protein Powders, there are 25 grams of protein,140-150 calories, and zero grams of sugar.

However, according to Illuminate Labs, similar to the non-vegan Premier Protein products, these plant-based powders contain artificial flavors and sweeteners, which are not the healthiest.

If you are still looking for a protein shake and want to avoid the additives, one brand to try is OWYN, which sells all plant-based protein shakes in various flavors. Each bottle contains 20 grams of protein while skipping on the artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols, per Forbes Health.

According to Verywell Fit, the best vegan protein shake is Evolve's Plant Based Protein Shake, with 20 grams of protein from pea protein isolate.