Pankaj Singh buys supplements with his own money and uses them long enough to have an opinion worth reading. He drank Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey almost daily for three years while training in India, across several tubs and flavours, which is the kind of exposure a one-week trial cannot produce. What he contributes is narrow and specific: how a powder mixes, how it tastes by the fiftieth shake rather than the first, how a scoop and a tub behave in a humid kitchen, and how his own digestion handled it. He is not a clinician, his experience is one person’s, and the tubs he used were bought in India rather than the United Kingdom — all three limits are stated on any page carrying his name.
How a page is produced
The UK’s value-brand creatine, reviewed against what creatine research actually shows. One ingredient, the right 3 g dose, a serving that adds up, and a banned-substance testing claim — at around half the price of the big-name tubs when it is on offer. The small high-street packs are the exception.
The other big UK value creatine, reviewed against what creatine research actually shows. One ingredient and one of the lowest prices per 100 g we have seen — but the serving on the pack is bigger than the 3 g the evidence and the label claim are based on, so you can make it last longer than it says.
The UK’s value-brand vegan protein, reviewed against what the plant-protein research actually shows. About 24 g of pea and fava bean protein per 30 g scoop, little salt and a short ingredient list — at roughly half the price per gram of Optimum Nutrition’s plant protein. The one caution is fava bean, for anyone with G6PD deficiency.
The most completely labelled whey we have looked at, and the one that makes the banned-substance claim the big brands only half-make. It publishes every macro and all nineteen amino acids per scoop — and charges about what the value brands do.
The UK price benchmark for whey, and the number every other tub should be measured against. A three-item label, £1.10 a serving on the brand’s own page, and a protein-content certification most rivals do not carry — set against a headline figure that flatters the range.
The UK’s value-brand casein, reviewed against what the protein research actually shows. About 23 g of slow-digesting milk protein in a 30 g scoop, a short ingredient list and a price per gram of protein well below the big brands — but the bedtime benefit it is sold on is mostly just extra protein.
