Sunwarrior has many health conscious products including protein powders, collagen, meal replacement bars, and snack bars. Many of their products are vegan but some are not. One of their most popular products is the Warrior Blend Organic Plant-Based Organic Protein Powder. The Warrior Blend Protein Powder is available in five flavors including mocha, natural, vanilla, chocolate, and berry. Warrior Blend Plant-Based Protein provides a full amino acid profile (some vegan protein powders are missing a few amino acids) and includes fermented pea and hemp seed protein. Warrior protein claims to be easy to digest and absorb for optimized utilization of the nutrients and can be used pre-workout, post-workout, or if you’re just needing to eat a bit more protein in the day. The Warrior Blend Plant-Based Protein is soy-free, and gluten-free without added sugars (stevia is added though).
Today we’re going to be reviewing the vanilla flavored Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Organic Plant-Based Organic Protein Powder and see if it’s all that it’s cracked up to be! Keep reading to see how it tastes and how the nutrition stacks up or head over to Amazon and see what other plant-based eaters are saying about Sunwarrior’s Warrior Blend Organic Plant-Based Organic Protein Powder.
Taste Experience
Sunwarrior Warrior Blend is one of the original plant-based protein powders to have hit the market years ago and while I’ve tasted some of the flavors, I hadn’t actually tried the vanilla organic plant-based vegan protein powder until now. Immediately when I opened the package, I thought it smelt a bit earthly and had that beige/off white color that many protein powders have.
I first just tried a dash of the protein powder on my finger and I honestly couldn’t taste much other than a subtle vanilla flavor but it did have quite the powder feel – but then again, I was just trying it as is.
I first mixed half the packet into almond milk and it didn’t blend very easily – or at least not very quickly and took quite a few stirs. Once it was all stirred up, I gave it a try and I would say that in general, the protein powder was slightly vanilla flavored, not very sweet, and definitely felt like I was just drinking protein powder – there wasn’t anything great or particually horrid about the experience. Drinking the protein powder in milk would be a quick and easy way to get in additional protein but maybe not the most enjoyable experience.
I mixed that concoction with the rest of the packet, additional almond milk, 1/2 frozen banana, frozen pineapple, and frozen mango with a handful of fresh spinach. This tropical flavor explosion cut through the vanilla flavor and I think because of the banana and mango, it made it creamy and it didn’t have such a noticeable protein powder texture.
Overall, I think this is a pretty good protein powder – it’s a pretty “middle of the road” option in terms of taste and doesn’t feel particularly heavy or like it has a lot added to it but yet gets the job done. If you mix the protein powder in a smoothie with strong flavors, you won’t notice it but if you mix it with almond milk or in a less flavorful smoothie, you’ll definitely notice more of the protein powder taste. Try Sunwarrior’s Warrior Blend out for yourself and see what you think!
Nutrition
Each serving of Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Organic Plant-Based Organic Protein Powder has 100 calories with only 15 calories from fat. Interestingly, whole ground coconut is the last ingredient but because there are such few calories from fat, this tells me that there is actually very little coconut in the protein powder. This isn’t necessarily a deal breaker but I do think it can be a bit misleading when they claim to have MCTs (medium chain triglycerides) from coconut oil but in reality there are very, very few of them given the overall nutrition composition. Additionally, there’s only 1.5 grams of total fat in each protein powder serving. So while Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Organic Plant-Based Organic Protein Powder is a good option if you are following a low fat vegan or plant-based diet, it’s not going to be the best option if you’re on the keto train.
Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Organic Plant-Based Organic Protein Powder does have quite a bit of sodium per serving with 350mg sodium per serving. This amount is about a fourth of the amount of sodium that you need all day and depending on your lifestyle and other food choices, this may be more sodium than what you truly need. Sodium is added into plant-based protein powders to help them taste better in general but most plant-based protein powders have around 200mg sodium per serving – so you can see that 350mg is quite a bit more!
With only four grams of carbohydrate per serving and only 1 gram of fiber, it’s the protein that will keep you full in the SunwarrionWarrior Blend Organic Plant-Based Organic Protein Powder instead of the fiber content. However, if you’re consuming a mostly plant-based or vegan diet, I hope that your diet includes a bunch of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds and in that case you would be consuming a lot of fiber on a regular basis. If this isn’t you or isn’t the case, I would blend the protein powder into a smoothie with additional fruit and a huge handful of spinach to help increase the fiber content (and overall satiety) while increasing the nutrition profile as there are no vitamins or minerals added to the Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Organic Plant-Based Organic Protein Powders.
There are 22 grams of plant-based organic protein in each serving of Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Organic Plant-Based Organic Protein Powder. The protein sources include organic pea protein, organic hemp protein, and organic goji berry. In general I will say that hemp is a very bioavailable and easy to digest protein source. So while this protein powder doesn’t have digestive enzymes added, it should still be an easy to absorb organic plant-based protein powder until perhaps one that contains soy or gluten protein sources.
There are only a few other ingredients including stevia (although the protein powder is not very sweet), guar gum (so the vegan protein powder blends easier into liquids), and organic vanilla flavor. Interestingly, the organic vanilla flavor is the first other ingredient but overall it doesn’t taste very vanilla-y to me but maybe my taste buds are weakened to that taste or something!
Parting Thoughts
If you’re looking for a simple organic plant-based protein powder without a laundry list of ingredients including vitamins, enzymes, and fillers, Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Organic Plant-Based Organic Protein Powder is a great option. With only eight ingredients, this vegan, gluten-free, dairy free, soy-free protein powder does not contain sugar and uses hemp protein and pea protein to make an easily digested, highly bioavailable vegan protein powder. The Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Organic Plant-Based Organic Protein Powder is definitely better blended up into a smoothie instead of on its own but if you’re a frequent smoothie maker, this protein packed powder will help boost your nutrition and elevate your smoothie. Find Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Organic Plant-Based Organic Protein Powder HERE and try it out for yourself.