How to Evaluate the Ingredients in Protein Powder

📌 Overview and Key Takeaways

This is is a Dietitian’s guide on how to evaluate the ingredients in protein powder.

Discover which protein powder ingredients to avoid.

Last Updated
Jan 12, 2026

Author and Medical Reviewer

Written by Kayla Kamen, MS, RD

Kayla Kamen is a Registered Dietitian with a MS in Nutrition.

Medically reviewed by Jennifer Fossett, PA-C

Jennifer Fossett is a Physician Assistant with a BA in Nutritional Sciences.

Protein Powder Ingredients

What Are Real Ingredients?

Real ingredients are foods that can be found in nature.

In other words, they have undergone little to no processing.

Examples of real ingredients include fruits, meats, vegetables, etc.

Real ingredients are good for you and your diet should consist primarily, if not entirely, of real ingredients.

When it comes to protein powder, the more real ingredients on the ingredient list, the better.

Real ingredients are nutritionally balanced and allow nutrients to work together like they were meant to, which can help with everything from satiety to gut health.

Eating a diet composed primarily of real ingredients can also lower your risk of chronic disease and lead to better life outcomes.

What Are Fake Ingredients?

Fake ingredients are foods that cannot be found in nature.

They are either artificial, or derived from real foods by means of mechanical or chemical processing.

Common examples of fake ingredients include colors, flavors, and preservatives.

Fake ingredients are not good for you, and you should avoid eating them at all costs.

When it comes to protein powder, the fewer fake ingredients on the ingredient list, the better.

⚠️ Here is a list of the most common food additives in protein supplements:

• acacia fiber
• acacia gum
• acesulfame potassium
• artificial flavors
• ascorbic acid
• aspartame
• calcium carbonate
• carrageenan
• cellulose gum
• dextrin
• dicalcium phosphate
• dipotassium phosphate
• erythritol
• gellan gum
• guar gum
• gum arabic
• inulin
• locust bean gum
• maltitol
• maltodextrin
• mono- and diglycerides
• ‘natural’ flavors
• rice bran extract
• rice dextrin
• rice hulls
• rosemary extract
• silica
• silicon dioxide
• sodium alginate
• soluble corn fiber
• sorbitol
• soy lecithin
• sucralose
• sunflower lecithin
• tocopherols
• tricalcium phosphate
• xanthan gum
• xylitol
• zinc oxide

Because they look nothing like the foods that your body was built to digest, fake ingredients can cause painful side effects and long-term health problems.

For example, regularly eating certain fake ingredients can alter the composition and function of your gut microbiome – the collection of microorganisms living in your gut (North Clin Istanb, 2019).

This can lead to gut dysbiosis, or an imbalance in your gut microbiota, which is not only a leading driver of inflammation, but also linked to a wide range of chronic diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), obesity, type 1 diabetes, and colorectal cancer (Microorganisms, 2022; J Exp Med, 2019).

What Are Typical Protein Powder Ingredients?

I will now review BSN SYNTHA-6, one of the most popular protein powders and a great example of a typical protein powder.

I counted all the real ingredients and all the fake ones, and gave the protein powder a Wholesome Score, which is calculated on a scale from 1 (not wholesome) to 5 (wholesome).

The more real ingredients and the fewer fake ingredients a protein powder has, the higher its Wholesome Score is.

Now without further ado, here are the ingredients in BSN SYNTHA-6 Whey Protein Powder.

Protein Matrix Comprised of (Whey Protein Concentrate, Whey Protein Isolate, Calcium Caseinate, Micellar Casein, Milk Protein Isolate, Egg Albumen, Glutamine Peptides), Polydextrose, Sunflower Creamer (Sunflower Oil, Corn Syrup Solids, Sodium Caseinate, Mono- and Diglycerides, Dipotassium Phosphate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Soy Lecithin, Tocopherols), Natural and Artificial Flavor, MCT Powder (Medium Chain Triglycerides, Nonfat Dry Milk, Disodium Phosphate, Silicon Dioxide), Lecithin, Cellulose Gum, Salt, Yellow 5, Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium, Papain, Bromelain

Real Food Count: 4

Egg Albumen, Cocoa, Nonfat Dry Milk, Salt

Fake Food Count: 21

Glutamine Peptides, Polydextrose, Sunflower Oil, Corn Syrup Solids, Sodium Caseinate, Mono- and Diglycerides, Dipotassium Phosphate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Soy Lecithin, Tocopherols, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Medium Chain Triglycerides, Disodium Phosphate, Silicon Dioxide, Lecithin, Cellulose Gum, Yellow 5, Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium, Papain, Bromelain

Wholesome Score: 1

Of the 25 listed ingredients, 21 of them are fake, making BSN SYNTHA-6 Whey Protein Powder about as far from real food as you can get.

It is for this reason that I gave it a Wholesome Score of 1 (out of 5).

According to my criteria, BSN SYNTHA-6 Whey Protein Powder is not something you want to put in your body.

To be fair, 1 serving of BSN SYNTHA-6 Whey Protein Powder is not going to kill you, but regularly consuming so many fake ingredients is certainly not food for you.

This is why I recommend choosing a Protein Powder made from a short list of real foods.

Sources

1. Northern Clinics of Istanbul (North Clin Istanb). Food additives and microbiota. 2019.
2. Microorganisms (Microorganisms). Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis: Triggers, Consequences, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Options. 2022.
3. The Journal of Experimental Medicine (J Exp Med). The gut microbiome: Relationships with disease and opportunities for therapy. 2019.

Editorial Guidelines

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This article was written by a Registered Dietitian and reviewed by a Physician Assistant. We rely on peer-reviewed research and trusted medical sources, and regularly update our content to ensure accuracy and clarity.