Review of EAS Recovery Protein Powder

Swim, bike, run and recover. Sounds like a simple plan for the average age grouper triathlete. Figure out your training plan, wake up at the crack of dawn if you have a job and family to get your workouts in, and execute. But, don’t forget about the most essential part of the plan, recovery.

We’re talking about what you put into your body immediately after you work out. Hopefully it’s not beer and pretzels, or worst yet, diet soda! In one study , evidence indicated that athletes in heavy training will maintain a higher level of health and performance if they consume a carbohydrate-protein liquid supplement immediately following each workout. That means less fatigue related injuries and issues if you refuel right after a workout.

If you have been reading "This Old Blog" for any length of time (I’m sure you check every day now that you found me, right?), you’ve seen us take a look at a couple of competitors in the recovery drink market. There was CORE POWER and FLUID RECOVERY to name a few. Recently EAS reached out to us to take a look at their goodies, their EAS Recovery Protein Powder to be specific.

Lets note that the afore mentioned recovery shakes are from smaller producers trying to get their foot into the door. EAS is produced by Abbott Nutrition, which is a Goliath in the liquid nutrition arena. They have substantially more firepower to research, produce and distribute their products on a national level. But, we here at ITBIC don’t discriminate. Welcome to the review.

The EAS Recovery Protein Powder line only comes in chocolate and vanilla. If you are looking for alternative flavors from EAS, you will be waiting for a while. That’s not all bad, as chocolate recovery shakes have become the norm in the endurance market, either flavors surely serve a large population of their target audience. Instructions suggest using water, but for those that don’t like watered down chocolate mix, adding some fat free skim milk in substitution provides a solid base for a good tasting chocolate drink. It may not be the sugary chocolate milk you are looking for, but that’s the point. It’s not meant to substitute taste for nutritional content. Leave the sugar behind and embrace the drink mix.

You have options with individual serving pouches or a bucket-o-powder. If you are on the go, the packets work great and for those that think Sam’s Club Bulk buying is where it’s at, you have the canisters that should last you for days. Don’t miss out on saving a few bucks and training green by re-using a sandwich baggy to take your servings on the road if you are buying canisters. Just be careful at the security line at the airport. We’re not sure how they handle brown powders.

Plan ahead if you don’t like lumpy recovery drinks. With pre-mixed recovery shakes, having powder clumps floating around in your drink, stuck to the sides of the glass and powder pains in general aren’t an issue. EAS Recovery Protein Powder powder will stick to the glass and clump like most powders. But, it’s not all Debbie downers. Just grab a shaker cup with a build in whisk-ball and it works just fine. We never had an issue when using the powder with the shaker cup. Meatheads at the gym shaking their protein shakes up were on to something. You just have to plan ahead if you’re not at home with your shake utensils in reach.

Ingredients wise, EAS Recovery Protein Powder it right in the mix with competitors. Calories from fat, cholesterol, carbs and sugars swing to the high side and are more comparable with whole chocolate milk often used for recovery. Both tend to hedge higher than other recovery drinks and mixes in those categories. What you can like from EAS is the potassium and protein amounts are better than most other competitors. Pumping 180mg of potassium and 20 grams of protein right after a workout is just what the coach called for. The key nutrition your body needs to stave off cramping and rebuild tissue damage from your workout is provided with just enough carbs to help distribute those ingredients into your system. Those that tend to put more sugars into their mix boast better flavor, while those with less may not taste as well. It’s up to athlete to ultimately decide if you want to choke down a watery protein mix or feel like you’re taking in some sweet chocolate milk. Heck, if taste is no issue, you could just go back to inhaling raw eggs for protein, yuck.

Before shipping, athletes can snag a 1.8 pound canister or EAS Recovery Protein Powder for $19 using a handy Google search. That provides 25 servings if you go by their recommended mix. That does provide some decent savings over competitors. You may be looking at $40 to $50 for other recovery mix/shakes to get the same amount of servings. You get the same recovery benefits, but you will get a little more sugar at the same time.

Overall EAS Recovery Protein Powder was a good recovery drink mix. Throw in the powder with some fat free milk and you have a solid recovery drink that tastes great. You will get a little more sugar than you would with others, but you will be hard pressed to get the same quality for less cash. That way, you can put that cash towards your 2013 race entries or upgrading to that Garmin 910XT for the holidays.

* Writer’s note; EAS provided 3 packets for this review and in no way influenced this review.