Naked Nutrition Vegan Protein & BCAAs Review

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The benefits of protein consumption

Before we dive into a review of Naked Nutrition, let’s get one thing straight: high protein consumption is NOT your health problem.

In fact, I’d argue that the majority of Americans are not eating enough protein for proper muscular support and bodily repair.

Granted, not many of us are hitting the gym like we’re supposed to, so our protein needs aren’t as high if we’re not causing that intentional muscle damage. 

But even for basic cellular repair and bone health, most of us can consume a lot more protein than we currently are.

And while a fat-loss diet without exercise isn’t as effective as one that includes exercise, making sure that the protein intake is high enough is an important way to prevent your body from consuming its own muscles in the weight loss process. 

And, according to Precision Nutrition, there is no evidence that a higher intake of protein results in damage to important organs like the kidneys.

This is often the first argument brought up by low-protein advocates, but there’s really no clinical proof of higher protein intake causing kidney or other organ problems if there isn’t an underlying issue in those organs before you increase your protein consumption.

Long story short: healthy kidneys stay healthy, even in the instance of higher protein intake.

Amino acids & how they differ from protein

Quick science lesson: amino acids are the building blocks of protein. 

That means it takes multiple amino acids combined in a certain way to form different protein structures.

That also means that amino acids contain 0 calories.

On a nutritional level, we actually look at different proteins based on their amino acid profiles.

Since different amino acids have different functions and requirements in the body, we need to ensure that we’re consuming all of the essential amino acids from our diet.

As a reminder from my nutrient breakdown blog, an essential nutrient is one that your body cannot produce for itself and therefore must be obtained by diet.

The 10 essential amino acids are:

  • Leucine

  • Isoleucine

  • Lysine

  • Valine

  • Tryptophan

  • Threonine

  • Arginine

  • Methionine

  • Histidine

  • Phenylalanine

And, for a little more context, something is called a “complete protein” when it contains significant amounts of all of these amino acids.

If a product is sold as “BCAAs,” like the one I’m going to discuss in this review, then that stands for “branched chain amino acids” and this phrase refers to 3 of the essential amino acids that are converted to energy in the muscles. 

The 3 amino acids that are “branched chain” are valine, leucine, and isoleucine.

These not only serve as direct muscle fuel, they prevent the muscles from breaking down.

With all of that in mind, let’s take a closer look at Naked Nutrition’s nutrient profile breakdown and how it stacks up to other protein options.

Nutrient label breakdown

I’m impressed through & through with Naked Nutrition’s ingredients label and nutrient profile.

Image from the naked nutrition website

Image from the naked nutrition website

Whenever a health-conscious company decides to include more information about their product than the FDA requires, I know they really don’t have anything to hide.

In fact, it probably means they’re looking to impress you further by showing you just how much they care about their product’s quality and makeup. 

When you look at the back of a Naked Nutrition protein label, not only do they include the FDA-standard ingredients and nutrition table, they also add an extra amino acid profile table:

image from the naked nutrition website

image from the naked nutrition website

And this is really cool, because on the Pea Protein, we can see how much of all of the amino acids included there are.

Some of the amino acids on this table aren’t even “essential!” 

(PS - It’s totally safe to consume non-essential amino acids. It gives your body a break from having to synthesize them itself.)

And when we scan this list to compare it to the essential amino acids list I shared above, you can see that there’s a significant amount of each of them included in the Pea Protein we’re talking about in this article.

That means this pea protein counts as a complete protein, which is rare for something plant based.

One of the key benefits of supplementing with animal-derived proteins like whey is the fact that it’s innately a complete protein.

But, unlike whey protein, pea protein is inflammatory for far fewer people and adheres to vegan standards, if that’s your lifestyle choice.

So, let’s get into the two products Naked Nutrition asked me to try out in more detail.

Naked Nutrition Pea Protein

This product has ONE ingredient: pea protein isolate.

That’s important to remember here, because when I say it tastes good… I mean it.

And that’s pretty awesome for something that is purely protein.

It’s got a slightly sweet flavoring to it, which is interesting since there isn’t any added sweetener – even a 0 calorie one. 

And there’s no flavors added, although I’d say it resembles a vanilla taste.

Maybe that’s where the term “sweet pea” came from? ;)

Anyway… this stuff is legit.

The texture is the finest I’ve seen in any protein powder ever, and it mixes right into whatever liquid you add to it.

I’ve used it in a variety of smoothie mixes as well as on its own and either way, it’s one of the best products I’ve ever tried.

I HIGHLY recommend using this as your protein supplement – whether you’re vegan or not! 

But especially if you’re vegan, getting all of those amino acids is extra-important and you can rest assured that this Naked Nutrition Pea Protein will serve you in all the right ways. 

Naked Nutrition Unflavored BCAAs

I’ve never tried an unflavored BCAA supplement before, but I’m glad these exist.

Most other powdered BCAA supplements are flavored, and therefore sweetened. Usually this means they include a 0-calorie sweetener, like sucralose, to keep the total calorie load of the supplement at 0.

For me, I choose to avoid the manmade 0-calorie sweeteners, so I typically just choose capsule-based BCAA supplements. 

All that being said, I was excited that Naked Nutrition offers this product as a powdered option.

Like most “unflavored” supplements, this one does have a slightly unpleasant flavor. 

It’s not nearly as bad as most other supplements I’ve tried, but it’s worth noting.

For me, I’d recommend mixing this with your favorite electrolyte blend (or even the Naked Nutrition Pea Protein) to make the drinking experience more enjoyable.

The benefits of BCAA consumption before, during, or after a workout are something best saved for another blog. 

But let’s just say I love the faster recovery time I experience when I supplement with BCAAs after a workout and this product definitely has that effect. 

Soreness goes away quicker and I’m able to hit the gym again faster than when I don’t use them.

All in all, the need to add this to something that tastes better is a small inconvenience to how effective this supplement is in helping gym performance.

If you’re looking for a clean, powdered BCAA option, the Naked Nutrition Unflavored BCAAs are the way to go.

Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

Should you try Naked Nutrition?

The tl;dr of this whole article is: YES!

Naked Nutrition is a shining example of what a supplement company could be.

So many of them are ridden with secrets and additives, and this company refuses to do that.

Their products work great and the ingredients exceed my high standards.

If you’d like to try out Naked Nutrition, click here - and use the code NAKED10 for 10% off!

And if you want some awesome smoothie recipes to use their products in, download my free 7-smoothie ebook here.