Whether you’re just on the lookout for a quick, balanced breakfast, or you’re carefully monitoring your nutrient intake because of health and fitness goals, I’m going to go ahead and assume you’ve heard of and/or looked into protein powders and meal replacement mixes along the way. In this post, I’m going to go ahead and introduce you to a relatively new option you might not have come across – Purition!

When Purition got in touch and asked if I’d like to try out some of their vegan products in return for sharing my thoughts online, naturally I said yes! So this review is the result of me being gifted a free ‘discovery box’ to try by their lovely PR team – though as always, opinions are my own.

What’s Purition all about?

There are heaps of options these days when it comes to nutrition powders of varying styles – and having previously reviewed similar products by Nutribuddy (and having tried, and hated, the most well-known brand – Huel) I was interested to find out whether Purition was a winner or not.

A key selling point for Purition is that none of their flavours include anything artificial – there are no preservatives, colourings, emulsifiers, gums, added sugar, artificial sweeteners or synthetic vitamins and minerals, among other things. So if you’re after a proper wholefood, healthy meal replacer, it’s off to a good start.

Purition is also certified gluten-free, as well as having tonnes of options for vegans, which isn’t always the case with these types of products. Good news for coeliacs as well as herbivores!

With 14g-16g of protein per 40g serving, these are low carb, low sugar, high protein and high fibre, which is about all you could probably ask for in a product of this kind.

But of course, the real questions are: what can you do with it, and is it any good?

4 ways to use Purition vegan protein powders

I’m sure there are other ways to devour it too, but the top four ways to consume Purition (in my humble opinion) are:

1. Blended into a thick shake with fruit
2. Microwaved into an oat-free porridge
3. Stirred into yoghurts or smoothie bowls
4. Mixed with your favourite plant milk as a standard shake

The image just above this is what 40g of Purition’s pecan and cinnamon powder looks like once you’ve blended it up with 200ml of soy milk and a banana, and grated a bit of dark chocolate on top. From protein powder to lush dessert via 15 seconds in the blender!

If you’ve got two more minutes spare in the morning to make porridge, then blitzing this stuff in the microwave with a bit less milk and throwing nuts and chopped fruit on top is a pretty stellar way to serve it. But, if you’re in a hurry and both the microwave and the blender are a bit too much effort, you can also shake the powder into your favourite plant milk using a normal protein shaker and you’ll still wind up with an easy, healthy ‘meal’.

I’m very much the kind of person who intends to make a healthy breakfast every day but winds up either missing it entirely or shoving a slice of toast into my face as I start a morning of Zoom calls, so things like this where I can whizz up a balanced meal in literally seconds are a godsend (…provided they don’t just taste of sadness, grit and earth, which is how I feel about aforementioned well-known other brand…)

How does Purition compare to other meal replacers?

I’ve sampled six of Purition’s vegan range, including strawberry, beetroot and chocolate, pecan and cinnamon, blackcurrant, almond, and coconut. Compared to other similar products, my feeling is that they’re much less gritty and grainy than some mixes, but of course because there are no artificial nasties, they aren’t quite as sweet as others I’ve tried.

I don’t have a huge sweet tooth, but I did find that I enjoyed these more when I made them with sweetened soy milk instead of unsweetened, and when I blended the powder with banana, strawberries or other fruit instead of just milk on its own. That said, if you tend to use naturally-sweet coconut milk for cereals and suchlike anyway, you may find these wind up sweet enough right off the bat. Alternatively, a splash of maple or agave syrup make a great finishing touch,

That’s not to say they don’t still taste decent unadulterated, mixed with just other plant milks – but if you have a minute spare to blend Purition with fruit or yoghurt, you can get all the nutritional value without any compromise on flavour. Why not turn protein powder into pudding, really?

If you’re keen to try Purition for yourself, you might be reassured to know that they do have a 20-day refund or exchange policy, which means if you don’t get on with your order, you can contact them for a return or to try another flavour. I’d recommend ordering a sample box to begin with, as you might find that you absolutely love some flavours but aren’t as keen on others!

(Pecan and cinnamon was definitely my favourite, but you really can’t go wrong with strawberry, can you? They also have a chocolate orange vegan flavour now which I am absolutely going to try…)

A big thanks to Purition for giving me freebies to try out, and as always, if anyone reading this has any questions or comments then do let me know!