I'm a long-time fan of No Meat Athlete (the podcast, the website, the cookbooks, all of it), so when NMA launched Complement —their vegan supplement company — a few years back, I signed up right away! I subscribe to Complement Plus (daily supplement pills with B12, DHA/EPA, vitamin D, zinc, iodine, vitamin K2, selenium, and magnesium) and Complement Protein (an unflavored protein powder that's free of heavy metals and fillers). I'm such a big fan that I was recently asked to become a Complement Ambassador! Each month, I'll be posting new recipes using Complement Protein, and I'll also be sharing an occasional post about Complement Plus supplements.
Tonight, I want to focus on the protein powder and share a link one of my Complement recipes that was recently published on the Complement website. I made this Acai Coconut & Berry Protein Bowl for breakfast one day last week, and it was both gorgeous and delicious. You can find the recipe here!
The base has bananas, berries, acai powder, and Complement Protein (of course!), and it's topped with chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, goji berries, walnuts, coconut macaroons, and roasted pumpkin seed butter. The recipe is super-versatile, so you can really use whatever toppings you want!
I'd like to talk just a little about why I love Complement Protein. For YEARS before this new protein powder was developed, I'd been rotating through other vegan protein powder brands. I had some favorites for sure, but none really checked all the boxes for me. My biggest complaint was that so many powders were stevia-sweetened and left a weird after-taste in my mouth. But I wasn't crazy about the ones that were sweetened with real sugar either. Who wants real sugar in their health drink?
Complement Protein is unflavored and unsweetened, so you can add it to any smoothie without altering the flavor. It doesn't taste chalky or protein powder-y (you know what I'm talking about!). It's also made with a combination of REAL food protein sources, like almond, chia, pumpkin seed, watermelon seed, and yellow pea protein. No rice protein or hemp protein.
Each scoop has 15 grams of protein, which is really just perfect for my needs. Some powders have up to 30 grams per serving, and I feel like that's just too much, considering that I'm getting plenty of protein from other whole food sources (and let's be honest — Beyond Burgers) throughout the day.
It comes in a compostable bag that you can literally bury in your backyard (so no plastic tubs!) and it's free of heavy metals. You wouldn't think heavy metals would be something you'd need to worry about in a protein powder, but you'd be wrong. Check out this list of common vegan protein powders with high levels of heavy metals.
If you're interested in Complement Plus or Complement Protein, use this link, and I'll make a couple bucks from your order! I'm so excited to be helping spread the message about whole food, plant-based nutrition and supplementation.
The two things that bother me the most about protein powder is the stevia taste and the chalky protein-y taste.
ReplyDeleteI never realized watermelon seeds even had protein!
I might have to save up and try this powder sometime because I like to have protein powder once in awhile, and I might have it more often if it isn't so gross!