Has anyone tried Vega health replacement optimizer?  Looking for a good protein shake after a workout!  Any other vegan protein shakes out there that you recommend?

I drink Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer shakes.  I don't necessarily use them post workout, but I am sure you could.  I drink them when I am feeling like I have not eating so well (vacation, sick, etc).  I like the chocolate and berry flavors the best.

Laura

I love love love LOVE Vega!!! I use the Whole Foods Heath Optimizer every morning in a smoothie with banana, almond milk, and ice - just to get all the wonderful goodness that Vega has in it into my body... and then after doing resistance training or lifting weights I will have the Vega protein shake... I love the Vanilla Chai whole foods optimizer... sooooo good!

I didn't like it. However I hate stevia.

What I drink is Nutivia's organic hemp protein powder and Nutribiotics organic rice protein powder. I add 3-5 grams of maca powder and water to it and drink it post workout.

Rice protein powder taste worlds better then hemp but I like to alternate the two to get variety. Pea protein is also good but I haven't found an organic source of it yet.

Vega is AWESOME! I'm with Ash-Lee the Vanilla Chai flavor is my favorite (chocolate was good, but still had kind of a  weird taste even when I "doctored" it up) and next I want to try the Berry flavor. I have a smoothie every morning for breakfast, and before or after workouts I'll sometimes have the energy bar.

Hmmm.  I will have to try it for sure!  Thanks for all the feedback!  Has anyone had the bars? 

I tried the plain Vega Whole Health optimizer powder, the one with the green label, a couple years ago and had a bad reaction to it. I started out with 1/4 scoop  daily for a week and only made it up to 1/2 half a scoop and couldn't go any further after 3 weeks of consuming it. Vega gave me awful heart palpitations and I felt jittery and light headed. When I called the company to complain they said they'd never heard of anyone having problems and wouldn't let me return the product to them. I know though I'm not alone with the issues though as I found a gal on another vegan board that had similar problems only worse. I'm just really wary of Vega products now and would caution anyone who uses them to pay attention to their bodies. It may work for some but not all. 

I have the Vega vanilla chai. I really like it. I think it tastes wonderful. I buy it from Amazon. I found it to be the best buy. I usually only need one scoop to be full for the morning.Hope that helps. :)

I have tried both the plain and vanilla chai Vega Health Optimizer.  The chai tasted great but they both wreak havoc on my intestines.  I get very gassy and bloated.  (sorry, gross I know)  I tried decreasing from the recommended 2 scoops to 1 scoop.  And I have tried mixing w/ rice milk, soy milk and in a smoothie w/ fruit.  It always does not sit well.  I can take the Vega Sport protein mix fine.  Has anyone else had issues like this w/ the Health Optimizer? 

Hi Audrey,

I've been using MLO Brown Rice Protein, I add half a banana, 1 cup of non dairy milk, 1 tbsp almond butter, and a cup of granola (love pecan sticky bun) for my post workout.  It's a little taste of heaven!!!  Yummy!

I love the Vega products and I can understand why at the beginning even a little could have an effect on the intestines...there is a good portion of fiber including both soluble and insoluable fiber - plus the cleansing effect of some of the ingredients could come on strong.

But for the vegan life, his products are so well done.  I enjoy his THRIVE in 30 Days free video series for excellent healthy vegan living.

Vega thrive is good and contains many other goodies than just protein. But i prefer sunwarrior raw vegan protein, not only is it more digestible, it has a better amino acid profile than vega thrive. It is also better tasting, smooth and not grainy.

The downside to vega thrive is that it contains the digestive enzyme cellulase which breaks down fibers into sugars. Which is something we dont want as fiber is essential for many health functions such as feeding the gut flora, bile formation, binds to toxins and prevents many degenerative diseases.

http://www.amlaberry.co.uk

Some of the Vega products (I forget which) have maca powder in them. I had a very bad reaction to maca: racing heart plus palpitations, followed by vomiting. By process of elimination I figured it was the maca. I love the Thrive diet book and have made several recipes but am staying away from anything with maca (you're supposed to be able to build up your tolerance to it but my reaction was so bad it's not worth it to me).

Thats a shame you have such an adverse reaction to the maca, it is contained in vega thrive/whole food optimizer. But are you sure it is not the chlorella. Chlorella is often makes a small amount of individuals vomit mostly due to heavy metal toxicity.

Although it could be the maca too. If your heart is racing it sounds like your allerigc, anti- histamine epinepehrine is released to deal with the allergen which speeds up the heart and constricts blood vessels.

Sunwarrior doesnt contain either of the above.

http://www.amlaberry.co.uk