HalleluYAH sent me two samples of MRM Meta-Meal (look it up in the bb.com store), in exchange for a review of it. And despite my internet at home being out for the last week... here goes! Not the prettiest of reviews (I don't spend much time trying to make them look beautiful).
Macronutrients
Protein: 42g
carbohydrates: 25g (3g fiber, 6g sugar)
Fat: 5g
Calories: 301
Breakdown!
Protein calories: 156
Carb calories: 100
Fat calories: 45
Ratio:
Protein: .5833 (58.33%)
Carb: .347 (34.7%)
Fat: .069 (6.94%)
Well, the ratios are a bit skewed to some diets, but decent overall! This is a fairly typical MRP - weighted heavily to protein. Personally, I would actually like to see an adjustment to lower the protein some, and increase the fat percentage somewhat. But hey, that's just me. Overall though, the ratios aren't of any real stressing concern. If you are consuming MRP's, you'll probably be needing to adjust your daily macros anyways to accomodate for it.
Components:
Protein: whey concentrate, instantized calcium caseinate, instantized egg albumin, l-glutamine, sodium caseinate
Carbohydrate: maltodextrin, fructose (primarily - additional for fiber)
Fat: MCT's, mono/di glycerides
Sweeteners: sucralose
From this, I would imagine that the 'instantized' is to make the powder flow and mix better, but I can't be sure of that - Hal, could you elucidate as to why an instantized version of these powders were used, as opposed to the 'standard' versions? As for the rest of it, I'd like to see calcium caseinate swapped out to either MPI/MPC or simply to micellear casein (since we have whey already). Bit higher quality of a protein, IMO. However, it is good to see that there is a blended formula for the protein, instead of a straight whey.
The carbohydrates in this formula are pretty standard - maltodextrin probably in the region of about 15-16g I would guess. Maltodextrin has the advantage that it mixes well, and doesn't significantly affect the texture or flavor to any great extent. However, the disadvantage of maltodextrin is that it does lack some of the micronutrients found in oatmeal/barley, and would have a bigger GL impact (
note: NOT GI index, as there is protein/carbohydrates present!). It's a definite tradeoff - lots of oatmeal ends tends to end with a gritty shake that doesn't market well, lots of maltodextrin loses on some of the 'basics' from the nutrition forum! I'd like to see either a complete or fractional replacement of carbohydrates though, to fit in with the other leading MRP's.
Fats: Good! Want more! And to those of you who doubted me, there are no trans fats
(for those of you who didn't read it, there was concern over the profile of MRM's product - that was an old label). Nothing more to discuss, so why am I still talking?
Enough bashing! How does it compare to similar products!?
NOTE: At this point, realize that I am currently a representative of SAN, which DOES PRODUCE A COMPETING PRODUCT. I am not a totally unbiased consumer, and both myself and HalleluYAH realize and accept this (he better have, he chose me to do this!).
I will compare against ISS Advantage Matrix Chocolate, and against SAN Infusion Chocolate Peanut Butter (our closest flavor). The flavor of MRM Meta-Meal is entitled 'Rich & Creamy Chocolate.'
Ok, the first thing you consider with a normal protein powder is the flavor (come on, is choosing whey that hard people?), so lets start there:
Meta-Meal is a very sweet shake (mixed w/ 12oz 2% milk). It has a strong chocolate taste to it, however to me it is overpoweringly sweet. This might be an effect of having malto, fructose, and sucralose in the shake. If you have a strong sweet tooth however, you're going to enjoy this one. The taste of this is actually fairly similar to MRM's Massive Muscle Gainer (no huge surprise), so if you've had that, expect it with this. Given that there are similar ingredients going on here, expect a similar consistancy and flavor...
Sub rank:
1. ISS Advantage Matrix
2. SAN Infusion
3. MRM Meta-Meal (this would be boosted to number 2 if it wasn't quite so sweet. I'm approaching the end of the shake, and this sweetness is just getting to me)
Consistency/Mixing:
Few clumps form on shaking. If you care to shake it enough, it will mix up. If you don't care like me, then just drink it down and don't notice it
. Not as thick as ISS's (VERY thick with milk) or a full serving of Infusion - this can be an advantage because it will tend not to fill you up for as long as the other two will. Meaning, it becomes a bit easier to get in all those calories you need. Meta-Meal definitely has the 'thin' factor going for it, although it just gets edged out for mixing (in a shaker, that's not going to matter). One of the good effects of maltodextrin, I guess you could say. Whether or not it makes up for it is up to the judgement of the buyer.
Profile:
I noted above what I'd like to see happen with Meta-Meal in a perfect world. Profile-wise I believe it is on par with Advantage Matrix. But we squash them like little bugs!!!
Ok, enough of the ego tripping. You know my thoughts on this.
Overall:
Of the MRP's I have tried, right now I cannot say that if it were to come to my next purchase (lets for a moment assume I'm NOT getting free MRP - and I don't mean cxm's), that I would purchase this product, knowing what I do now. While the profile is on par with Advantage, it gets beat by the consistency and taste. It's hard to beat an imitation of the McDonald's milkshake (how many people did I just convince to have a cheat meal?). On the other hand, I'd like to see some changes with the profile and macro ratio to go up against some of the other MRP's. At the moment of drinking this, I can only recommend this product to people with an extreme sweet tooth - it is too much for me. If you're like me and don't like your drinks this sweet, you may want to consider an alternative MRP.
Any questions, fire away. I, and probably HalleluYAH, will try to answer them as we can (time permitting).
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