Chocolate milk. You're just gonna crap out most of the powder, its too much too be absorbed at once. Save your pennies for more milk!

I use Nectar. It comes in fruit juice flavors and you mix it with water so it doesn't sit so heavy in your stomach. It is by far the best I've EVER had! I can't stand the milk based ones...and I have tried many! I believe Nectar has no carbs and like 23g of protein. You can make a great fruit smoothie with it I'm sure.

I use the one that is sold at Vitamin Shoppe, the blue bucket....
To avoid the funky taste, I mix it with bananas, berries, and a half of spoon of Gatorade powder, some ice....and bang!!!! tasty meal to recover and recharge after my workouts. Some times after a long ride....endurance swim or long run I may add a half of spoon of PBJ....
During the week, during regular workouts, I just relay my recovery on chocolate milk, with no lactose....

Protein powder tastes like crap mixed with water. One glass of milk for recovery a day with a scoop of chocolate milk mix. If you are taking multiple protein shakes a day, you are $h!tt!ng away money.

So then it sounds like it's really a taste preference, and not so much the savings, which isn't what you said initially. I actually somewhat agree, but I like to call bullsh*t on the "supplements are more expensive than real food" crowd, because it usually isn't the case.

I am going to say something that will probably get me in trouble from the Dairy Farmers and some Trifuelers as well, but should adult humans really be drinking cow's milk? I mean Cows don't even drink it. Humans stop breast feeding at roughly a year, calves stop nursing after a period of time and you never see animals drinking another animals milk especailly as adults.

So, I would be willing to bet that adult humans crap out most of the protein in a glass of milk as well because milk is designed to provide the offspring of that species critical amounts of nutrients at a very young age. After they reach a certain age they stop. So why do humans continue to drink milk past a certain age? particularly from another animal?

You want protein after a workout, eat an egg and chase it with some water.

just sayin'

You have a point there my friend, but is not quite exactly as you pictured with the offspring and the crap afterwards.

Milk it is part of the food piramid that is design by profesional nutritionists and doctors and it is widely spread around the world.

I don´t think they do it just because the profits that diary industry yields every year.

Milk is a liquid source of nutrients, like protein, carb in form of sugars and even fat, also is a great source of calcium. So I think milk does your body good.

Now, it may be detrimental for some human beings, very true. With aging a good portion of the human population looses the ability to digest lactose, leaving the individual with a characteristic "syndrome" of lactose intolerance, and then....you´ll be pooping liquid and eliminating some foul smelling gas, plus some cramping, and at some point even feeling very sick.

Now, there is always a solution. Lactose free milk, that comes as whole milk, 2%, fat free, or even with a delicious taste of chocolate.

It is not like humans are not provided with enough digestive machinery to process milk. Science has not proven that to date. But Food science has provided with the alternative for the ones that can´t tolerate lactose.

Now, having an egg, and chase it with water, might be an option, personally I think, very nasty taste of an option, no matter you have the egg hard boiled, scrambled, sunny side up or even raw; particulary this last option leaving you at risk someday to catch salmonella, only good old Rocky Balboa is capable of having five raw eggs, chug them down and then go for a very long, fast and spectacular run. Ok! you can washed the egg shell before eating it right? Well, you might wash the bacteria, but having eggs too many, comes with the risk of eating too much cholesterol. Most athletes do not have a problem with that, but might be a nutritional downside of having eggs chased with water after a workout.

Protein powders can be more expensive than the cheaper option of choc milk. Also protein powders often come loaded with calories in excess, some with fat, some with lactose, so here we go again.

So I think from a health care and nutritional point of view, a balanced diet with some eggs during the week, some milk without the fat, and maybe some protein powder supplements during some periods of hard training are good for every athlete.

I promise you thou that if there is a case report of a dead patient because of having milk, I´ll change my statement right the way.

I try and get my nutrition thru food.
I am a big fan of skim milk, I don't even bother with the chocolate.
Lean chicken and fish, some eggs, nuts, and legumes give me more than enough protien in my diet. I get plenty of antioxidants thru fresh fruit, and veggies.
You don't really need protien powder if you eat right.

You're going to have to substantiate that claim for it to be taken seriously.

We looked at digestion and assimilation of proteins during my graduate work and found that quality powders are used as well or better than most whole food sources of protein.

You also don't "crap out" protein powder unless you're doing something crazy like consuming hundreds of grams worth at a time, which no one does.

As for the OP's question, I've found that casein/whey blends work best for me. I've just started using Metabolic Drive and have to say I'm impressed with the taste. Straight whey powders cause my insulin to spike and crash.

Chocolate milk is fine for a treat as long as you don't have a problem with dairy, like I do, and don't mind the sugars. It doesn't provide that much protein, however.

Check out All the Whey, there stuff is high quality and not very expensive. I've been using it for years and love the orange flavor but there is alot of good ones to choose.

Individuals who are not lactose intolerant have a gene(edit: i believe its actually a gene that does not turn off) that allows their bodies to continue processing lactose past infancy. That is why we keep drinking it after a certain age.

Really, any organism obtains nutrients from outside their body so I don't really see what difference it makes whether its milk, veggies, etc aside from personal preference or moral choice. Comparing humans to cows is not a valid argument. Even comparing between like species, there are wasps that lay eggs inside other insects and there are wasps that don't. Doesn't make one of them right or more "healthy"

Just as long as there not free range chickens.....then i'm in trouble. Unless its part of my training, i hear if you chase chickens around a yard you get a statue in philly.

Actually I have a couple of chicken observations or at least a couple of things that I think chicken may be involved in. Again, no scientific proof rather my general musings about things, so before you get all worked up and send the FDA or the dairy farmers after me….

I will start with this: Having a daughter and watching here grow and develop I couldn't help but wonder when at 10 or 11 years old, she was starting develop a chest. Could it just be my daughter? Going to some of her functions at the elementary school that she went to quickly made me realize that the answer was NO. She was only one of many elementary aged school girls that were developing a chest. I realize that I'm getting old, but there was no way in hell that I remember any girls in elementary school having boobs - Trust me, I would have remembered that! And moreover, I'm pretty sure that only a handful of girls had any real noticeable boobs in middle school and the ones that I do remember were a little on the heavy side.

So I got to thinking that the food we ate may be a contributor. I mean, everything is different today than it was when I was growing up - oranges are perfect, apples are perfect, carrots are all about the same size, celery is damn perfect. I mean all the foods you buy in most stores are literally perfect. Having grown up in Kentucky around farms and with my parents being very active in the Farmer's market today, I know food isn't always perfect from an appearance standpoint. But we have been conditioned to think that it is through TV and in our stores that every day fruits and vegetables are supposed to be perfect. An orange should be perfectly round and evenly orange and seedless, etc... This same conditioning is another reason why I think milk is so acceptable to people - but I digress. The real thing that got me wondering was the use of hormones and steroids in beef. I'm not sure about the chickens, but I do know that in this country farmers are allowed to provide beef with steroids for growth, so do they do the same things with chickens? I was once told (again no proof) that today chickens are ready for processing in three months when a free range chicken takes about 9 to go from chick to chicken. Are our children and even we adults being subjected to involuntary levels of hormones or steroids through our food supply? Are our children developing differently thanks to our genetically altered or enhanced foods?

The other thing that I noticed about chickens and its really just Wal-mart chicken is that have you ever wondered how they get exactly 1 1/2 pounds of chicken in every single damn pack? I mean every pack! You go to a Piggly Wiggly, or Bi-Lo, Giant, Kroger, etc... that Chicken is mixed weight - but not at Wal-mart! Has Wal-mart genetically perfected the size of chicken breasts so that every package weighs the same or are their other forces involved?

Again, I’m just saying….

+1 on going organic. We try to eat as organic and local as possible Our meat, milk, and eggs all come from local sources. Meat is organic, grass-fed, and hand-butchered. Milk is raw & organic, and eggs are from our own chickens (incidentally, having "backyard" chickens in urban settings is easier than you might think!) We know the farmers where our milk and meat come from and can see first-hand how the animals are being raised. It can take awhile to track down local sources of produce, meat, milk, and eggs, but putting these in place is well worth it from a health standpoint. I also harvested over 100 pounds of produce from our veggie garden this year. And believe me when I say that I'm not much of a green thumb, so if I can grow that much in my 2nd year of gardening, it's something that many more people could do. You can garden in plots, raised beds, and even containers on decks or rooftops.

Farmer's markets have also made a huge comeback, and are a great place to seek out local fruits, veggies, and even eggs, honey, meat, etc. if you're not the type to grow your own.