Product Review: Cytosport Muscle Milk
Product Type: Designer Protein Blend
Cost on Allstarhealth.com: $24.00 for 2.47 lbs.
Opinion: One of the most well-known protein drinks on the market today, Muscle Milk was one of the first supplements I ever tried, back years ago when I was but a lowly gym rat with not a lot of know-how. Firstly, the best thing anyone will tell you about Muscle Milk is the taste. I first started takin’ this at the gym in the individual little juice box things and the taste is probably the best I’ve ever found in a supplement (though I did recently buy one of the plastic bottles the other day from 7-11 and it was chemical awfulness). Out of the tub the powder is no different – very easy to mix and extremely tasty, especially with milk.
But as to its effectiveness? Meh. I’d say try it for yourself and see what happens. To me Muscle Milk is a delicious milk shake that happens to have some protein in it. From what I’ve experienced (I’ve gone thru two tubs), I’d probably actually recommend it for hardgainers with high metabolism who just can’t seem to put on weight very easily. One of my friends swears by it, but he’s been a stick ever since high school so go figure. Otherwise I’d recommend finding a different protein supplement with less carbs and fat content.
(+)s: Aside from the taste and mixability, I really didn’t notice much in the way of progress while on Muscle Milk. It’s a protein blend with the usual caseins and whey, but from what I could tell the label never actually says what kind of ratio this is. I take Cytosport at their word though when they say it’s good for sustained protein release, but again who knows?
(-)s: One of the main selling points in Muscle Milk is its content of “Lean Lipids,” which are supposedly fast digesting, fast burning fats which are designed to help get you leaner. To me this translates as “you’d better work your ass off all day while you take this stuff or you’ll get fat.” And at 300 calories for just a 32g serving of protein, working hard (and then harder and harder) is what you’ll have to do to make this work without adding to your midsection. For a mesomorph like me this isn’t a very good prescription. But again I say, try it for yourself if you think it’ll work. For my money nowadays I just stick with a lean and cheap whey like Dymatize Elite and then get my slow-acting proteins from food sources like cottage cheese and milk.
