Product Review: Syntrax Matrix Mint Cookie Protein

Product shot

Obligatory Legal Stuff: This post was sponsored by Syntrax products. The blogger was provided product for the purposes of this review. All opinions expressed are solely those of Bariatric Foodie and its representative. 

I’m not even going to insult your intelligence by acting like I’ve never tried this protein before this product review, because that would just be untrue.

Spoiler Alert: I. Love. This. Protein.

Which sort of brought about a bit of an ethical dilemma for me. Is it truly a product review if I already know I love it? I actually struggled with that one. But seeing as I have plenty of reviews on this site of products I do not love, that offensively wormed their way into my consciousness, and whose memory still give me the heebie-jeebies in random moments from time-to-time, I figure I’ve earned an easy review. Plus, I’m telling you up front that I love this protein so you’ve been warned!

Having solved that existential crisis, let me tell you how I first came to try this protein.

I have a friend named Heather. And in my memory my friend Heather is the one who told me about this protein. Whether or not this is true, I know not. It was a long time ago. But I do know that this was around the beginning of what I am calling the “protein powder renaissance.” Srsly! When I was a newbie, there were essentially four flavors of protein powder: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and cookies and cream. I remember where I was the day I first heard of unflavored protein (that’s a whole other blog post). But my point here is that if we wanted anything more complex, we had to go into the lab (kitchen) and Frankenstein it ourselves.

That world is no more. You guys have protein powder in every flavor imaginable. You have chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, cookies and cream, caramel, salted caramel, and on and on and even, yes, mint cookie.

I’m liking the future so far.

So with that…let’s explore.

Nutrition

This is the first thing I look at. Nothing has pissed me off more in my nearly 8 year post-op career as falling in love with a protein only to find out later it has bad stats. It’s my own fault really. Sometimes I jump into trying new things without doing my due diligence. I have a sort of “squirrel!” mentality sometimes. These days, though, I’m pretty good about looking first. Especially because of sugar and carb content. It is noteworthy, however, that some of the proteins I have absolutely loved on the basis of taste? Not so good for me. So I check the stats!

The stats on this are very good. (If you want to see the full stats, check them out on the Syntrax website!)

  • Serving size = 1 scoop
  • 140 calories
  • 3g fat
  • 6g carbs
  • 3g sugars
  • 23g protein

According to the Matrix website the protein blend used includes whey protein, micellar casein and egg albumin. Both whey and micellar casein are milk derived proteins, obviously egg albumin comes from eggs (I believe albumin is a less gross way of saying egg whites). In checking out the label, the whey is concentrate, not isolate, which means it does retain some of the fat and lactose. I know that some of you watch out for that.

The Aesthetics (smell, flavor, mouthfeel)

Blender cup with protein

Like I said, I’ve been around the block a few times with this protein and I really love it.

Opening the package you get the smell of a Thin Mint. And I don’t say that lightly. Thin Mints have a very distiinctive smell. It’s part chocolate, part mint, and part…cookie. I can’t exactly describe what that last means exactly but when you smell cookie you know you are smelling cookie!

Now you all know me. I’m all about playing with my food and all, but I only play when I feel like there’s something I can contribute to the product. For this protein, I actually don’t need to add a thing. Considering the fact that I’ve published an entire book instructing people on how to add stuff to their protein shakes, I think that alone is a pretty big deal. The flavor is what it says it is. It’s got a nice minty-ness (more of the Peppermint Patty variety as opposed to a peppermint candy), along with a light chocolate flavor and that “cookie-ness.”

The texture is also pretty nice in my honest opinion. It blends up fairly easily and it actually submits very well to the Triple X Method of making triple-thick protein shakes. So that’s all positive. For this review, however, I wanted to dust off another shake method I used to use alot that I affectionately call the “Super Chill Method for Making Protein Frosties.” It’s really easy. I used one cup of milk (almond), one serving of the protein, and about 10 ice cubes. Crushed in the blender until the blender wouldn’t move anymore and this is what I got.

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Now the remarkable thing about this is that even with all that ice, one serving of protein totally carries the flavor through to the other side. I’ve had instances where I made a protein frosty, only to find that the amount of ice I added rendered the final product virtually tasteless. Not this one. Nope, no siree!

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Value

A 2-lb. tub (of which I am currently in posession) will run you about $23-ish and has 26 servings. So our cost per protein serving works out to be $0.88, cost per gram of protein = almost $0.04 per protein gram. (You’ll notice in more recent reviews I’ve been calculating this number to give a sort of “unit price” that we can use to compare proteins).

Anecdotally, I will say that’s not a bad price for the protein and the flavor you get. Frankly, I’ve seen way more expensive proteins that taste (and smell) like butt.

And with that colorful reference the only thing left to say is…check out the full assortment of Syntrax Matrix products on their webite. They are also sold through Amazon and I’ve seen it in my local Vitamin Shoppes store. Shop around and make sure you get the best deal!

Verdict

Now this is the part you should probably take with a grain of salt considering I already told you that I knew and loved this stuff before I did this review. (Sorry Matrix, but I’m honest with my Foodies!) I personally feel like you all need this protein in your life. If you drank this protein you would know protein joy and would never feel rejected or marginalized by protein again. That’s how I feel. But I may be biased.

At any rate, it’s good protein. I love it. I buy it. I recommend it to you. Do what you want with that information!

Now…if I might draw your attention to another matter. You know we like to play with our food around these parts. Check out what I did with the Matrix Mint Cookie protein after I finished being a shake purist.

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Yeah…to find out more about that, hit the button below. But be warned: your life may never be the same.

Gimme that recipe!

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