Pea Protein Powder Is Trendy Right Now—But Should You Buy It?

With all of the protein powder options—whey, casein, soy, rice, hemp—lining health foods shelves, why would you ever reach for peas?

What’s the Difference?

For starters, pea protein is free of dairy. That’s important to both vegans and people with lactose intolerance or sensitivity.

But for the rest of the population, pea protein can also help deliver the quality of the protein you need to help your muscles recover after exercise.

Pea protein is a complete protein, which means it contains all nine of the essential amino acids—including branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs)—that you need to consume to effectively build muscle. That’s not true of many other plant-based options like rice.

How Does Pea Protein Compare to Whey?

Side-by-side, here’s how pea protein stacks up against whey, the gold standard of protein powders.

But Does Pea Protein Work?

Looking at the numbers, you would assume pea protein may not be as effective at building muscle as whey. After all, pea protein contains nowhere near the amount of BCAAs as whey.

But pea protein does have one advantage not captured in the information above—and that’s the fact that it houses about three times more of the amino acid arginine than whey.

Arginine may not be a BCAA, but it’s essential to building muscle and may explain why pea protein does such a good job at boosting men’s muscle gains.

In a 2015 Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition study of men ages 18 to 35, those who paired their lifting sessions with pea protein enjoyed the same increases in biceps size as did those who opted for whey protein.

So Which Kind Of Protein Powder Should You Buy?

If you’re trying to avoid both dairy and soy, there’s no real downside to giving pea protein a try.

You can compensate for pea protein’s “slightly dirt-like” flavour by adding other ingredients like fruit, veggies, and nut butters to your protein shake. Bonus: Mixing multiple protein sources into your pea-based protein shake affords you an even better amino acid profile than sipping on peas alone.

To make sure that your pea protein does not contain any hormones or unnecessary additives, it is recommended to opt for organic and unflavored tubs.

Also Read: High Protein Vegan Foods You Can Easily Include In Daily Diet