USN Blue Lab Whey vs Gold Standard Whey, a question often asked by customers looking to know which really is the best protein powder. We have reviewed USN Blue Lab Whey in the past and might review Gold Standard in the future, but for now we shall let the facts speak for themselves in the tale of the tape! Welcome to Versus.
To make things as fair as possible I shall be comparing the vanilla flavours of both USN Blue Lab Whey and ON Gold Standard Whey.
Ingredients
USN Blue Lab Whey: Premium Protein Blend (Whey Protein Isolate (Milk), Whey Protein Hydrolysate (Milk), Whey Protein Concentrate (Milk)), Flavouring, Stabilisers (Guar Gum and Xanthan Gum), Sodium Chloride, Sweetener (Sucralose), Tolerase L (pH-Stable Lactase).
ON Gold Standard Whey: Protein Blend (Whey Protein Isolate [contains Emulsifier: Soy Lecithin], Whey Protein Concentrate, Hydrolysed Whey Protein Isolate), Flavouring, Sweeteners (Acesulfame K, Sucralose), Enzyme Complex (Amylase, Protease, Cellulase, Beta-D-Galactosidase, Lipase).
In USN Blue Lab Whey vs Gold Standard, both products contain milk allergens but Blue Lab Whey contains no soy derived ingredients. Both products contain added ingredients to help the breakdown of lactose. Ingredient wise USN Blue Lab Whey is the more expensive of the two to manufacturer since it contains more Whey Protein Hydrolysate than Whey Protein Concentrate, since by law ingredients are listed in order of predominance, with the ingredients used in the greatest amount first, followed in descending order by those in smaller amounts. As you can see in Gold Standard Whey the Whey Protein Concentrate is listed before the Hydrolysed Whey Protein Isolate.
The Details
| Blue Lab Whey | Gold Standard Whey | |
| Calories | 127 | 111 |
| Fat | 1.9g | 1g |
| Carbohydrates | 1.8g | 1.6g |
| Sugars | 1.4g | 1.2g |
| Fibre | 0.3 g | 0g |
| Protein | 26g | 24g |
| Protein % | 76.47% | 81.63% |
| Price Per Large Tub | £44.95 | £49.95 |
| Servings Per Large Tub | 60 | 77 |
| Protein Per Large Tub | 1,560 | 1,848 |
| Price Per G of Protein | 0.028p | 0.027p |
As you can see if you break them down, Gold Standard Whey wins.
Taste & Texture
Ah, this I can't really score since flavour and mouth feel all comes down to personal preference. I will note however that USN Blue Lab Whey is a thicker shake when used as per the directions on the label. This at times can make or break a purchase. I myself prefer a thicker shake.
Gold Standard Whey does come in more flavours such as Gold Standard Whey White Chocolate Raspberry and Gold Standard Whey Chocolate Mint. Blue Lab Whey has its own unique flavours such as USN Blue Lab Whey Raspberry Ripple and USN Blue Lab Wheytella.
USN Blue Lab Whey vs Gold Standard. Who Wins?
I can't call it. Why? Because our protein intake goes from day to day, meaning our requirements need to be met daily and muscle protein synthesis doesn't amount to per month. Let me clear this up more, say week 1 to 3 we eat below our protein intake and week 4 we eat enough to make up for the protein we missed the first 3 weeks, that will not build the same amount of muscle than eating at least the minimum protein required every day.
Taking that into account, is the total per month more valuable than the total per serving? Then it pretty much is cost (which both are near 3p per gram) and protein per serving, which Blue Lab Whey is 2g more than Gold Standard.