The History of the Protein Shake
For nearly 20 years nutrition shakes have been a vital source of energy, strength and freedom in my life.
From their humble beginnings of the first protein shake (version 1.0) to the advanced nutritional integration that is Full Strength, I’ve been there every step of the way.
As a veteran fitness, nutrition, healthy lifestyle expert, I’ve been outspoken about my passion for this convenient, delicious and nutritious form of "fast-food" with friends, family, pro-athletes, A-list celebrities, and millions of people who’ve experienced the transformative power of nutrition shakes.
In fact, I am committed to a future where the nutrition shake is the most predominant form of fast-food in America. And this is a vision that I believe will change the world.
In the Beginning
Having spent the past two decades (and some) at the forefront of health and fitness, along with my brother, Bill, it’s possible you may know the story.
For those who haven’t followed the health and fitness lifestyle here’s the cliff notes version of my career…
It was the summer of 1990 when my brother, I and a few relatives unloaded an entire semi-truck full of the first “meal-replacement shake,” MET-Rx, into a basement office of a law building we occupied. With this, a new category in nutrition had begun. It was an innovative product that grew into the largest category in nutrition within a decade.
After a few years of propelling MET-Rx, it was time for a new challenge and opportunity. That would come in the name of a company called, EAS, the original creatine company.
In late 1995 EAS would launch the next evolution of the nutrition shake (aka MRP), called Myoplex, which would become the most dominant meal-replacement / nutrition shake in the world, helping EAS to become the most successful performance nutrition company in the world.
What an amazing number of people don’t know is that about a decade ago, EAS changed hands and Bill and I departed. It was an amazing run, much to take great pride in, with millions of lives transformed.
Shaking LIFE UP
I’d like to tell you that everyone “lived happily ever after,” but that’s for the story books. The truth is, while there’s been a lot of great things come from the change and growth, it seems that the fans of EAS have suffered.
The allure of the mass market creates a magnetic pull to mediocrity for many consumer goods, and nutrition shakes proved no exception. All the while more companies rushed in to produce me-too type products marketed in hype and draped in lipstick.
What followed is a general degradation of ingredients and formulation as nutrition shakes became a commodity found on bulk aisles of grocery chains and retail giants like Wal Mart, for a low, low price. Only to be matched by low quality and effectiveness.
As the quality declined so did my enjoyment and satisfaction; I found myself drinking fewer and fewer shakes unable to tolerate what had become a dull, lifeless experience.
I searched for months for another shake I could call my own. I tried everything. A few looked to be well built on paper but tasted like paper. Most were as empty of an experience as they looked to be nutritionally.
Ultimately it wasn’t the taste that drove me away; it was the way I felt after drinking them. Rather than clear and energized, I was actually hungrier and lower in energy. I didn’t feel bright and charged but dull and drained.
It seems that the nutrition shake category had gone the way of Detroit in the 70′s, adopting a "who cares, we can build anything we want and they’ll buy it" attitude. The only reasons anyone continued to buy anything was that the price kept dropping and the newer outlets exposed nutrition shakes to those who didn’t know any different.
But the real price was being paid in health, weight, energy and time. You and I, the real consumers, were the losers.
