I am just starting my journey and have to go through the 6 month dr. assisted diet and tests. I know I will have to use liquid Protein shakes and I am very picky so have been doing some research already. I sent for a sample of one which is sprouted brown rice and hemp (wonder if i'll feel good after drinking it....).

Biggest issue I am finding is they almost all have some artificial sweetener. I cannot have artificial sweeteners such as aspartame (Equal) or Sucralose (Splenda) as they give me a severe headache. I have found that Sucralose is in most of these drinks! I use organic cocoanut palm sugar in my coffee now which is fine. I can use cane sugar but that's what we are trying to eat less of and no drinks I have found use it anyway. Although natural, agave has a higher glycemic index than sugar and honey is no better either--but again they don't use these either in the shakes I have found.

I tend to eat organic, natural food and find too many chemical sweeteners taste bad to me. I must be super sensitive because even Stevia (which is natural) has a bad aftertaste to me which makes me nauseous so and I cannot use it. (Did find one with stevia). I imagine dealing with nausea after surgery will not be helped by drinking something that makes you even more nauseous!

My hope here is someone out there has had a similar problem and found the answer. Anyone? Ideas???

I am worried before I even start!

I found this one at my local health food store and on Amazon.

It has a nutty flavor and although it does contain stevia, it is not really sweet. It's been a nice break from all the sweet, artificial, whey isolate shakes....

You may end up making your own shakes with unflavored protein powder to avoid all the artificial sweeteners.

I love the Jay Robb protein powders, especially the chocolate and dreamsicle flavors. They are all natural and the milk for the whey comes from grass fed, non-rGBH cows. They are all non GMO ingredients. They are sweetened with stevia, but if you haven't tried them, you might give them a shot. I also tried About Time and Tera's Whey protein powders but didn't care for them.

GNC has a natural line in their Pro Performance series. It is sweetened with both stevia and sugar, so maybe less stevia would work for you? I know it seems like the numbers (calories, carbs) wouldn't work with sugar sweetening but the numbers are fine. I haven't tried it but it gets good reviews.

I found this one at my local health food store and on Amazon.

It has a nutty flavor and although it does contain stevia, it is not really sweet. It's been a nice break from all the sweet, artificial, whey isolate shakes.... image.jpg image.jpg

Garden of Life Raw Fit is one I ordered! I'll see how it goes.

Garden of Life Raw Fit is one I ordered! I'll see how it goes.

Thank you all much. At least a couple to try and if I have to make my own, well I have time to experiment.

I also wanted to avoid artificial sweeteners. I just completed 6 weeks of liquid diet and used Protein powder by Vega. They are Vegan, plant based Proteins. I used chocolate and vanilla Performance Protein. I taste tested a bunch of different brands and these to me were the best tasting and not super sweet. There Vega One product is good too and has more flavors. I found the Stevia taste to be minimal in the Vega products.

A couple of other brands that I thought were pretty good are About Time and Plant fusion.

http://myvega.com/

http://tryabouttime.com/

http://www.plantfusion.net/products/plantfusion

I used to not like stevia until I found out that the taste varies tremendously by brand. I currently use Sweet Leaf liquid drops. Much better than Truvia or other big brands. You may find that stevia works for you after all.

Amazing Meal has some good hemp and pea Protein shakes. Also try unjury chicken broth flavor, it is not sweet.

@@NMJG I love the sweet leaf liquid drops! I put just a couple of drops of the raspberry flavor in my protein hot chocolate for raspberry hot chocolate and it is soooo good.

Garden of Life isn't bad (love the ingredients in it), but I have a rough time with the chalkiness. My trainers suggested Nitro-Pro (I like the Chocolate). It's whey Protein sweetened with stevia, and it mixes smooth. Amazing how many choices of protein power there are, yes?

Be well…

Edited April 21, 201412 yr by DeniseNCC1701

Yes, be forewarned about the Raw Fit...it does not dissolve completely. It's whole food ingredients, not a processed isolate, so it's more of a suspension. I mix and drink it straight from my blender bottle, and keeping shaking and swirling it as I go. It would settle out if just left in a glass of water. I don't mind the texture, though.

I also really liked the ingredients in Garden of Life Raw. whey Protein may not be good for people who have problems with dairy and Iprefer the more natural products. Sprouted seeds are incredibly nutritious and healthy--much more than dairy. I just hope I can deal with chalkiness of Raw if indeed it is.

I appreciate everyone telling me the things you did or did not like--it is so helpful! I ordered a sample of About Time.

I also notice those mixing bottles will be important to have to remix the shakes while sipping them. I will also take a closer look at the liquid stevia drops! That would be so wonderful if I could use those without issues!

Thank you, thank you and keep your experiences coming as it is immeasurably helpful to not only me, but I bet lots of others as well

I am also trying to avoid GMO and going organic, I will have my surgery towards end of may.

I ordered Source Organic and Robs whey to try, and tried TaraWhey which was ok. the raw vegan powders are terrible, chalky. I have been using a natural flavor whey concentrate organic powedr from Whole Foods, which I like and basically tastes like milk when in Water, I ve used orange juice and flavored Vitamin water with it, both were good. I think I will be going with unflavored natural whey Protein concentrate 80% whichever one tastes best. It seems that the whey isolate is 90% or above by weight but involves heat that denatures the protein some, so though the numbers are better, it may not actually be better.

Thorne makes a decent hemp/pea Protein combo Protein powder thats pretty tasty. As above I think going with a powder may be easiest.

you can make your own protein shake with silken tofu and stevia. just dont use fruit to sweeten in the beginning. its too much sugar. use cocoa powder (unsweetened), powdered PB, flavor extracts, fresh mint etc for flavoring.

I love Arbonne protein shake mix, it uses Stevia. available at amazon or arbonne.com