An organic plant-protein blend with cacao and lion's mane mushroom — chocolate-flavoured, with no added sugar and only the sugars naturally present in the ingredients.
What a protein powder is actually for
Convenience, and nothing more mysterious than that. Protein powder is a concentrated food, useful when you need to raise your protein intake and do not want to eat another meal — after training, on a long day, or on a plant-based diet where hitting a target takes more planning.
It is not superior to food. Lentils, tofu, beans, tempeh, nuts and seeds do the same job with fibre and micronutrients attached. A powder is faster, and speed is a legitimate reason to buy something.
How to read the protein figures
Two claims are permitted on food in Europe, and both are defined precisely by proportion of energy rather than by grams:
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“Source of protein” — at least 12% of the energy comes from protein.
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“High in protein” — at least 20% of the energy comes from protein.
Anything a manufacturer says beyond that about muscle or recovery is generally hanging off one authorised claim — protein contributes to the growth and maintenance of muscle mass and to the maintenance of normal bones — which applies to protein in general, from any source. Check the nutrition panel on your pack for the grams per serving; that is the only figure that tells you what you are buying.
A practical note on plant protein: individual plant sources are limiting in different amino acids — pulses in methionine, cereals in lysine — so a blend of several plant proteins gives a better amino acid profile than any one of them alone. That is the real argument for a blended plant powder over a single-source one.
Lion's mane — an honest account
Hericium erinaceus, a striking white mushroom that grows in cascading spines on hardwood. It is genuinely delicious cooked — the texture is often compared to crab — and it has a real place in Chinese and Japanese food and medicine.
It also has an enormous amount written about it that is not established. EFSA has authorised no health claim for lion's mane, and it is commonly sold as supporting the immune and digestive systems — which is not something a shop in Europe may say, so it does not appear here.
What is honest: there is early laboratory and animal work on lion's mane compounds and nerve growth factor, and a small number of small human trials. It is interesting. It is not settled, and the amount in a scoop of protein powder is in any case modest. Buy this for the protein; treat the mushroom as an interesting ingredient rather than the reason.
Two practical cautions. Allergic reactions to lion's mane, including skin rash and breathing difficulty, have been reported — uncommon, but they exist. And as with several medicinal mushrooms, some antiplatelet activity has been described, so mention it to your doctor if you take a blood thinner or have surgery coming up.
How to use it
A scoop in water, plant milk or a smoothie. Shake it in a bottle or blend it — stirring with a spoon leaves lumps, as it does with any protein powder.
It is not sweet. With no added sugar and real cacao in it, the flavour is closer to unsweetened dark chocolate than to a chocolate milkshake. Banana, dates, a little maple or a spoon of nut butter fix that if you want it sweeter, and improve the texture as well.
It also works stirred into porridge, blended into overnight oats, or baked into flapjack and energy balls.
If you have kidney disease, discuss any concentrated protein supplement with your doctor before using it.
Storage
Cool, dry, airtight. Keep the scoop dry — a wet scoop returned to the tub sets the powder into a lump.
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