GNC Pro Performance 100% Whey Review

I had bought GNC Pro Performance 100% Whey during a stock clearance sale on Healthkart, for a fantastic price of Rs. 4,257 for 4.84lb jar. That price was the initial thing, which swayed me from reordering ON 100% whey (which I regularly use) and instead order a GNC product for the first time.

I got the Cookie and Cream flavor of GNC 100% Whey, right after using ON’s Cookie and Cream flavor, which I had somewhat liked. So I was not only able to compare both the whey proteins from specification and mix ability point, but also from flavor point of view (more on this later.)

Important fact!

With the purchase of Cookie and Cream flavors from both ON and GNC, I have come to realize that such flavors actually end up costing you a little more than usual chocolate flavors. Because they are heavier and thus the servings tend to contain more powder and with that, more carbs! So please keep this in mind and compare nutritional facts, before choosing any flavor!

Nutritional Facts

You can find the basic nutritional value of GNC Pro Performance 100% Whey, along with that of ON Gold Standard 100% Whey in the table below. Table also contains the flavor of protein powders, hence there are two entries for Gold Standard for reference.

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GNC Pro Performance also contains around 4.3gm of Glutamic amino acid and 5.5gms of BCAA per serving, which is similar to what ON Gold Standard Whey contains.

Mixability

This is one point, where ON Gold Standard generally scores ahead of rest of the competition and sadly, result is somewhat same in case of GNC Pro Performance as well. While the mixablity in normal water and room temperature milk is great, the moment you use cold milk (I didn’t use cold water, since I used it in winters), GNC 100% Whey doesn’t mixes as well as I would have liked for it to mix. This results in few lumps remaining at the bottom of the shaker, even after using the shaker for longer duration than normal.

Taste

Despite the fact that it doesn’t mixes as well in cold milk as well as ON Gold Standard, GNC Pro Performance tastes actually better than ON’s offering! Add to that, Cookie and Cream flavor is a little more fulfilling and thicker than ON’s Double Chocolate flavor, which feels rather watery.

Value

Considering I only paid around 4.2k for it, I would say GNC Pro Performance is fantastic value for money. However it is no longer available on Health Kart and on Amazon India, it retails for close to 7k i.e. more expensive than ON Gold Standard. In which case, I wouldn’t believe it is worth spending extra money on it, when you can buy ON Gold Standard for around 1k less! Of course if the prices come down to less than 5k, then it would once again be value for money in my view.

Conclusion

While I loved and hated GNC Pro Performance 100% Whey at the same time due to its less price, great taste and somewhat bad mixability, high price and less availability meant that I couldn’t reorder it, even though I wanted to! Overall it is a fine product and tastes quite good; in fact I was tempted to try out its other flavors as well, until I saw it go out of stock :(.