Is Orgain protein powder good? That is, is it good for you and good tasting? Let’s explore the pros and cons of one of the most widely known protein powder brands on the market.
Orgain started with a simple line of organic, plant-based protein powders. Today, the brand makes a variety of products, including grass-fed whey, ready-to-drink shakes, and specialty blends like sport, keto, and stevia-free protein powders.
I like a lot of Orgain’s protein powders and consume them regularly. Some of them are great products, both nutritionally and taste-wise. But there are other Orgain protein powders that I won’t buy (and not just because they’re made from dairy).
Orgain Protein Powder That’s Good for You (and Tastes Good)
Orgain is among the few protein powder brands that ensures all of its products use organic, non-GMO ingredients. In addition to clean, nutritionally-minded products, Orgain offers a wide variety of flavor options for different taste buds.
In its plant-based protein powders, the ‘Orgain Organic Protein Blend’ is a simple yet effective combination of pea protein, brown rice protein, and chia seed.
This combination provides a complete amino acid profile that’s well-suited for all walks of life, including elite athletes and bodybuilders who rely on branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) for muscle recovery.
Orgain Organic Plant-Based Protein Powder: The OG
Orgain Organic Plant-Based Protein Powder is one of the brand’s original flagship products. Today, it comes in 15 creative flavor choices, including Horchata, Churro Caramel Swirl, Chia Latte, and Chocolate Peanut Butter.
All of the actual flavored options contain organic stevia leaf extract, which minimizes the need for sugar while ensuring a palatable, sweet-tasting protein powder. However, many consumers are sensitive to stevia, often finding it too sweet or weird tasting.
This is where Orgain’s Natural Unsweetened option (ingredients shown above) shines through. It’s free of stevia and sugar alcohols, and offers a neutral-tasting option that won’t overpower whatever you’re mixing it with.
Orgain Simple Protein: As Good as Orgain Gets
Orgain’s response to the demand for stevia-free protein powder doesn’t stop with its Natural Unsweetened options. One of its latest product lines, Orgain Simple Protein, uses organic coconut sugar instead of stevia, sugar alcohols, or artificial sweeteners.
In my opinion, this ‘simple’ line is as good as Orgain’s protein powders get. While it does have 6g of sugar per serving, it’s one of the best-tasting protein powders that’s naturally sweet and contains minimal ingredients, particularly gums and additives that don’t provide much nutrition.
Compared to cane sugar and other sweeteners, coconut sugar provides higher nutritional value and significantly lower glycemic index.[1] It’s a welcomed ingredient in a zero-sugar world that’s dominated by artificial sweeteners.
See my review of Orgain Simple Protein for more input about this product.
Orgain Organic Oat Milk Protein Powder: Clean Ingredients
If you can tolerate stevia leaf extract, Orgain’s Oat Milk Protein powder is a tasty option that provides a perfect medium between Orgain Simple and its original flagship products.
It’s simple in that it contains fewer additives and no sugar alcohols. In addition to stevia, it contains monk fruit sweetener, giving it a nicely balanced flavor that’s creamy and delicious. I like to mix it with coffee, smoothies, and oatmeal.
This product uses the same Orgain Organic Protein Blend, with the addition of hydrolyzed oat powder. Not only does this diversify the amino acid profile, but it eliminates the need for added gums and fillers to preserve its texture.
Orgain Sport and Orgain Keto: Specialized Protein Powders
To accommodate the specialized nutritional needs of athletes and individuals consuming a ketogenic diet, Orgain has rolled out protein powders specifically for these consumers.
Orgain Sport protein powder is a level-up that contains 30g of protein per serving. More protein means more amino acids, including 5g BCAAs for enhanced athletic recovery. It’s a worthy rival next to Vega Sport and Garden of Life Sport.
In addition to amino-rich protein, Orgain Sport includes an organic fruit and vegetable blend that packs apple, acai, beet, kale, raspberry, spinach, tomato, banana, blueberry, and carrot.
Orgain Keto Plant Protein is a unique product that’s made with the brand’s ‘Keto Plant Creamer’ blend, which contains coconut oil, acacia, avocado oil, and cocoa butter.
Although it’s high in fat (13g) and has no sugar, it does have 16g of carbohydrates which is questionably keto-friendly. It also only has 10g of protein per serving.
While Orgain Keto Plant Protein provides a host of healthy fats, other keto protein powders provide stronger nutrition properties and significantly fewer carbs.
The Bad News About Orgain Protein Powder
Although there are a lot of good qualities about Orgain protein powder–especially in terms of taste and nutrition–there’s reasonable cause for concern with some of its products.
Orgain Uses the Sugar Alcohol Erythritol
Many of Orgain’s flavored protein powders (which is most of them aside from Orgain Simple Protein, Oat Milk Protein, and Natural Unsweetened flavors) contain erythritol, a zero-calorie/sugar-free sugar alcohol.
For the longest time, sugar alcohols were viewed as harmless sweetening agents and healthier alternatives to artificial sweeteners. But in 2023, a study published in the journal Nature Medicine found individuals with higher erythritol levels in their blood to be at elevated risk of cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death.[2]
This study was funded by the NIH and observed over 4,000 people. In addition to human analyses, researchers found that feeding erythritol to animal subjects enhanced the formation of blood clots. As a separate test in the study, they also added erythritol to blood outside of the body, which activated platelets and caused immediate clotting.
Although erythritol is used in very small amounts with certain Orgain protein powders, its presence does warrant reasonable concern, especially for everyday consumption or among people at risk of cardiovascular diseases.
To avoid this sugar alcohol, stick with protein powders without erythritol like Orgain Simple Protein, Oat Milk Protein, and the varieties without this sweetener.
Some Orgain Protein Powders Use Gums and Fillers
Most of Orgain’s protein powder products use gums like guar gum and xanthan gum, as well as fillers like sunflower lecithin and rice dextrin.
These gums, lecithins, and emulsifiers are used to preserve the integrity and consistency of protein powder. They also help the powder mix well into liquids and other uses.
These additives are not considered to be harmful to your health and they’re relatively common in protein powder products, even the healthy kinds.
The downside is that these additives don’t provide any nutritional value. In some people with sensitive digestion systems, gums and lecithins can also cause bloating and gas.
This is not a deal breaker for Orgain protein powder. But it’s worth pointing out that some products contain quite a few of these gums, dextrins, and fillers.
If you’re sensitive to these ingredients, you may be better suited with protein powders with minimal ingredients; those that don’t cause bloating and gas. Again, this is where Orgain Simple Protein and Oat Milk Protein rise above the rest.
Orgain Protein Powder Is Not Third-Party Tested
A growing concern in the protein powder and supplement space is testing for heavy metals and other contaminants like BPA. The most transparent way brands can go about this is through third-party testing (read more on this topic).
While Orgain claims to test its products for arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead and meets all applicable federal and state food regulations, Orgain conducts its heavy metal testing internally and does not disclose the actual parts per million (or how much) heavy metals are found in its protein powder.
If you read this article on Orgain’s website with scrutiny, it sounds a bit like a justification statement to convince uninformed readers that its products are all good and clean. Other reports question Orgain’s transparency on this subject, stating “What’s NOT on the label is sometimes what’s the most important.”
Bottom Line
So, is Orgain protein powder good for you and good tasting? The latter part of the question is an overwhelming ‘yes,’ Orgain protein powders are some of the best-tasting money can buy.
But are Orgain protein powders good for your health? Some products, like Orgain Simple Protein and Orgain Oat Milk Protein, are much cleaner and better for you than others.
These options do not contain potentially harmful sugar alcohols like erythritol or added gums and texturizers that lack any sort of nutritional value. However, many of Orgain’s products do contain these ingredients, in which case, I’d argue are not good for your health.
The bottom line is that Orgain protein powder is still some of the best and most nutritionally-sound out there. It’s not easy to find a mainstream brand that produces perfectly pure products across the board.
Orgain does a solid job of producing what the market wants. They continue to innovate and release new protein powders that accommodate specific nutritional and dietary needs and I give them high praise for leading the charge as one of the more dependable, organic brands out there.
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About The Author
This article was written by Tyler Tafelsky, the lead editor here at VeganProteinPowder.reviews. Tyler is an experienced writer in the health, nutrition, and athletic space. Over his lifetime, he’s tried hundreds of plant-based nutritional products and writes about his favorites here on this blog. Learn more about Tyler by viewing his full author bio or by following him on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.
Scientific References:
- Saraiva A, Carrascosa C, Ramos F, Raheem D, Lopes M, Raposo A. Coconut Sugar: Chemical Analysis and Nutritional Profile; Health Impacts; Safety and Quality Control; Food Industry Applications. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 19;20(4):3671. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20043671. PMID: 36834366; PMCID: PMC9964017.
- Witkowski, M., Nemet, I., Alamri, H. et al. The artificial sweetener erythritol and cardiovascular event risk. Nat Med 29, 710–718 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02223-9
Ben
Thursday 4th of April 2024
Have you tried the "50 superfoods" Orgain (blue label and top)? To me that is the best tasting one by far and usually a couple dollars more than the OG one.
Tyler Tafelsky
Thursday 4th of April 2024
Hey Ben, no I haven't tried that one. I've been using the OG version's chocolate and peanut butter flavor, which definitely tastes good. But like the Orgain Superfood Protein Powder you mention, it has Erythritol in it which gives me really bad gas. I'll take your word for it!
Dakota
Sunday 31st of March 2024
I notice at Costco they have a kids organic protein. Do you think it’s a good idea to give my child this? I’m thinking no but just wanted your opinion.
Tyler Tafelsky
Monday 1st of April 2024
Orgain protein powder wouldn't be my first choice for my child, mostly because I haven't found any heavy metal test results from the company. Just a blanket statement of reassurance. However, Orgain's kid's protein powders don't look too bad from a general ingredients standpoint. I would just moderate consumption to a serving per day at the most.
Melissa
Friday 8th of March 2024
So is there a better option if you plan to drink a protein powder every day for nutritional purposes?
Tyler Tafelsky
Friday 8th of March 2024
Yes. See my post on the cleanest protein powders for better options.
anonymous
Monday 19th of February 2024
so... it kinda sounds bad for you with all that sugar alchohol imma be honest my guy
Tyler Tafelsky
Monday 19th of February 2024
You're not wrong. Though, some of Orgain's protein powders do not contain sugar alcohols. Just gotta read the labels and know what you're in for.