Sunwarrior Product Review – Vegan Protein Powder & Activated Barley

Now that I’ve been putting more focus on strength training, I’ve been looking to supplement a bit of my flexitarian (ie mostly vegetarian with little dairy) diet with more protein. Although I mostly get my protein in whole foods such as lentils, beans, quinoa, tempeh, nuts and veggies, sometimes its hard to get it all in, especially on weekends when I’m less likely to chose these protein filled items and more likely to eat veggie pizza.

Sunwarrior reached out to me to try some of their products and I gladly accepted. I was familiar with the brand but had only tried one of their products before, the Warrior Blend Protein Powder in Chocolate, which I purchased at Whole Foods. Mike and I were originally drawn to the product because of the fact that it’s vegan AND affordable, which is not always easy to find.

Warrior Blend Protein Powder

Sunwarrior sent me a sampler pack with a bunch of goodies. By far my favorite is the vanilla protein powder (in either the Warrior Blend recipe or the Classic Protein), which I use to make smoothies. I like the taste and it’s not super chalky so it has a good consistency. I like to make it with a smoothie but you could easily drink it with water straight up! This all vegan protein powder is made up mostly of pea protein, raw cranberry protein, and raw hemp protein. 1 scoop has about 100 calories and 19 grams of protein. It also has 32% of your daily Iron needs which is super important for vegans who may not easily pick up iron in their diets.

My go-to smoothie recipe:

• 1 Scoop Vanilla Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Protein Powder
• 1/2 banana (frozen preferably)
• Handful of frozen organic berries
• 1 cup almond milk (more if needed)
• 1 tbsp chia seeds

Activated Barley

The other product that I wanted to highlight is the Activated Barley. I had never heard of it and was intrigued because the only ingredient is barley. According to the website, the barley is taken to the brink of germination before being powdered. This suspends it at the highest point of bio-energy where it contains the best mix of fiber, enzymes, and the ultimate slow burning carbohydrate. The result is that it helps boost performance and enhance endurance.

I took the barley right before a run this weekend and I had one of the best and fastest runs I’ve had in months. I instantly felt a little buzz after drinking it (I drank it with water -it’s not tasty at all but you can get it down) and as soon as I was running I was floating! I ended up running a mile longer than expected because I felt so good.

Some of the other interesting products that they sent included:

• Supergreens – includes potent nutrition from alfalfa, barley grass, wheat grass, spinach, oat grass, parsley, moringa, and ginger.
• Liquid Light – raw, plant-based fulvic acid and liquid mineral complex created by nature.
• Immune Shield – natural fulvic acid and mineral complex that is fortified with silver ions.

If you want to try Sunwarrior for yourself, use this discount code at their website here for 20% off their already reasonable prices: SW20

Do you use protein powders or other supplements? Do you use them daily or on occasion?