Snack Review: Kellogg’s Special K Protein Shakes - Milk Chocolate

I consider myself a connoisseur of all things protein, whether they are shakes, bars, or supplements. For the last five years, I personally blended my own protein shakes using a variety of proteins (whey, casein, soy) and liquids (milk, almond milk, water).

Through trial and error, I like to think I know how a good protein shake should taste and what should (or should not) be in it. So when I was offered a chance to review Special K’s latest line of protein shakes, I thought my background as a proteinoholic would serve me well.

Though there are a few flavors on the market, I was sent their milk chocolate flavor. Glancing over the nutritional breakdown on the back, I first noticed this thing wasn’t for me. 190 calories for 10 grams of protein? To put that into perspective, a gram of protein is 4 calories, so that means this thing has 40 calories derived from protein, or almost only 20 percent. Is that bad? Well, that depends.

You see, the average body consumes roughly 50 grams of protein a day, which means this shake provides 20 percent of the daily allotment, which works well with the caloric ratio since a person should consume 2,000 calories and therefore this is less than 10 percent of the daily caloric intake, but twice that amount for protein.

The thing is, those numbers are based on males who weigh 150 pound without any serious physical activity. And well… that’s not the majority of us. I weigh 185 pounds and work out eight hours a day, thus consuming 5,000 calories and between 100 and 200 grams of protein a day. So yeah, I’m not exactly the target for this shake.

Some other things to note about the nutritional label are that there is a large amount of sugar in here… 18 grams worth. How much is that? About half the amount of a soda. It’s not an egregious amount, but bear in mind carbohydrates operate at four calories apiece too, so I’m not sure why a protein shake has roughly twice as many calories derived from sugar than protein.

Also, there’s a lot of junk in this. The ingredient list is ridiculous, but to be fair, a large part of that is just scientific names for the fortifications in this shake; however, this does not excuse the use of corn syrup or artificial sweeteners.

On some positive notes, this shake does provide you with five grams of fiber (one-sixth of your daily intake) and is pretty well fortified without having to cause any serious overdosing of any vitamin or mineral that might occur from consuming any other fortified product.

As for the taste, my first response was that it tastes “chocolaty.” The is the equivalent to the mockolate form of liquids. This doesn’t surprise me since the only thing chocolate-related in the ingredients list is cocoa.

The texture of this drink didn’t sit well with me. It was kind gritty, with a froth at the start of every sip. Despite it being incredibly runny (I like my shakes viscous), it leaves a thick taste and residue on the palate. This reminded me of drinking a Slim-Fast, a product I know many people adore, but simply tastes bad in my book.

The premise of these, like most Special K products, is to promote healthy weight loss. Well, for all you Special K dieters out there… I hate to break it to you, but there is nothing special about this diet.

A pound is constructed of 3,500 calories, meaning, if you burn 3,500 calories, you lose a pound. When Special K asks you to replace a meal with a bowl of cereal or a protein shake, you’re not losing weight because you’re eating a Special K product, but because this shake at 190 calories has fewer calories than that 800 calories meal you were going to eat. By consuming fewer calories, you lose weight.

For the same amount of calories, you’d get more out of an egg-white omelet loaded with fresh vegetables, fruit on the side, and all the unsweetened homebrewed iced-tea you want, but you’ll be consuming more protein, fiber, and healthier carbs. But not all of us have the time for meals like this, and shakes are handy for the go. I think you can find better ones out there on the market, but these are definitely better for you than that soda.

Editor’s Note: I actually really liked this. I thought the chocolate flavor was pretty good - like chocolate milk you might make yourself, but even more chocolate-flavored. Since I’m not particularly concerned with its nutritional makeup, if I saw this at the store and wanted something that tasted good but wasn’t terrible for me, I’d definitely go for it. In fact, I’d love to try their other flavors. It tastes a hell of a lot better than something like a Yoo-Hoo!

• Kellogg’s Special K Protein Shake Website

Buy Special K Products Online:

• at Amazon.com

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