Bulk Powders Pure Whey vs Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey Protein

It’s that time of year again. After the Christmas binge we are all looking to get back into shape in the New Year. Starting the year as we aim to go on can be a great time to reconsider our supplement stack. I always like to kick the year off experimenting with some new proteins and pre-workout supplements.

When it comes to purchasing Whey Protein online, theres a huge amount of choice available. There’s endless websites and flavours to chose from. Over the last year we have also seen an increase in brand names for added ingredients and proprietary blends. Making it even more difficult to sort through.

When it comes to Whey Protein, Bulk powders and Optimum Nutrition provide some of the most popular choices on the market. From Bulk Powders there is Pure Whey and from Optimum Nutrition there is Gold Standard Whey. Both of these may appear very similar at first, making the decision difficult.

Im actually a fan of both of these and have used them many times myself. There are are few areas where they vary slightly. Let’s take a look into both Bulk Powders & Optimum Nutrition to see how their whey compares.

The Protein

The first thing to note between these two is that they use slightly different protein formulations. when it comes to whey protein there is two key types: Whey protein concentrate & whey protein isolate.

Whey Protein concentrate is the go to choice for the majority of use cases. It is quick acting after a workout which means its ideal to take post workout and gets to your muscles to aid in repair as soon as possible. Whey Concentrate is also great value and a low cost option, hence why it makes it into most whey supplements. Per serving it also contains roughly 80% protein. Far more than you can get from the same volume of food.

Whey Protein Isolate is often considered as a more premium version of whey concentrate. Whey isolate and concentrate are both obtained from a similar process when milk is processed for different use cases and the proteins are left over.

However, whey isolate goes through a slightly different process which allows it to achieve approximately 90% protein content (compared to concentrates 80). Therefore there is less carbohydrates etc as well and a higher amount of protein. But this higher purity of protein often comes at a cost and isolate supplements are more expensive.

Bulk Powders Pure Whey uses exclusively Whey Concentrate. therefore making it 80% protein and great value. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard uses a blend of mainly Whey Isolates with some Whey concentrates. For most of us, Whey concentrate is perfectly fine. For some on very controlled diets, Isolates are preferred.

For this comparison we compared chocolate flavours of both supplements.

Overall, they both offer leading whey proteins. For most of us who only need whey concentrate, Pure whey is great value.

Choice of Flavours

with many whey proteins there is often a limited choice of flavours. However, both of these have a great selection available to pick from. This is great to see and means even those that are fussy should be able to find a flavour they like. Both have all the key flavours i’d expect to see, plus some additional ones that are pretty outside the box.

Bulk Powders has a huge choice available for their Pure Whey. On my last count there was a massive 26 flavours available! A selection of these include: White Chocolate, Rocky Road, Raspberry and Birthday Cake. My favourite flavour is chocolate Mint, which has constantly become my go-to flavour for whey proteins. The taste itself is enjoyable and easy to drink. I do tend to find Bulk Powers tastes slightly more grainy compared with some other brands but the taste is still nice.

Gold Standard from Optimum Nutrition does not have as many flavours available as Bulk Powders but still a very good selection. There are roughly 17 flavours but this can vary widely with which retailer you purchase from. I tend to find a lot of retailers only have a limited stock of flavours. Some of the flavours include: Chocolate Hazelnut, French Vanilla and Strawberry.

The taste of Gold Standard is actually my favourite from the whey supplements I have tried. again I purchase the Chocolate Mint flavour. The taste is like real chocolate with none of that chemical taste you find with some whey proteins. There is also no issue with mixability which is easy.

Overall, they both have a great selection of flavours. The taste is good on both. If I had to pick a flavour it would be Gold Standard.

The Brands

Optimum Nutrition is a UK based supplement brand founded in 1986. Way before many of the supplement brands we see today and they have stood the test of time. The range from ON is wide with a selection of proteins and pre-workout supplements.

There are several products in their Gold Standard collection including Gold Standard Pre-Workout. The reputation of Optimum Nutrition is high quality and this often commands a premium price. Optimum Nutrition is stocked in a lot of different retailers which makes it easy to purchase both online and in store.

Bulk Powders launched in 2006 and has grown to one of the largest online supplement suppliers. Bulk Powers now operates in multiple countries and has a state of the art manufacturing facility. With Bulk Powders, everything is sold from their website. theres a huge choice available with everything from protein powers & foods to supplement bottles and clothing. Bulk Powders makes a great choice if you wish to order everything at the same time and from the same place.

Price & value

The price and value of these whey proteins is one of the more notable differences.

While Bulk Powers Pure Whey is your mainstream protein choice, I see Gold Standard as the slightly more premium option. Justifying its higher price.

From the Bulk Powders website you can get a 1kg Pouch of flavoured whey for £19.99. From the ON website you can get a 908g tub for £24.99. Pure Whey offers the lowest cost and makes a great choice for a protein that wont break the bank. Gold standard is good value for those willing to spend the extra to get a premium product with whey isolates.

Its worth noting that the prices for whey protein can often change regularly as there is always a lot of great offers to be had. This is particularly the case with Bulk Powders. Their website often has site wide discounts across the range. From my experience, the end of the month (pay day) is when you can find the best offers. Gold Standard tends to be on offer less. However, sites such as Amazon do usually stock it at a discount.

In Conclusion

Overall these are both great whey protein supplements and are aimed at slightly different audiences.

If you are looking for the best value and widest choice of flavours go with Bulk Powders Pure Whey. The great price for a whey from a big brand like Bulk Powders can’t be ignored. Furthermore the huge amount of flavours available allows for everyone to be able to find a flavour they like. Even if you cant find a flavour you like, theres an unflavoured version available.

If you are looking for a premium mainstream product & the ability to buy from multiple retailers online/in-store go with Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard. Whilst Gold Standard is not purely a whey isolate supplement, it still sits above most mainstream whey proteins by offering a blend of both. Optimum Nutrition products are also available widely and easy to purchase from a variety of stores.