Maximum Human Performance’s (MHP) flagship protein, Probolic Sr, recently came back to the market after a brief hiatus. The protein powder went through a slight reformulation, which is always a concern for consumers loyal to a product. All too often you see supplement brands come out with a new version of a product, claiming to be better, only for it to flop.
As someone who has worked for multiple supplement brands, changing an already popular product is rarely a coincidence.
The most common reason is sluggish sales. Popular products can fall behind as the supplement industry innovates. That coupled with new companies, sometimes with the backing of celebrity endorsement and financial investment, makes it hard to stay competitive.
Another reason could be problems sourcing an ingredient. Commodity ingredients can come from all over the world. Sometimes there is a shortage, pricing issues, or importing problems. Even if a company manufactures all of their products in their own facility, the ingredients themselves are likely coming from other locations.
The final, and most cynical reason, is that the product contained something illegal that wasn’t denoted on the label. Sometimes this is by accident, while other times it isn’t. When you consider that ingredients can come from other locations being produced by different companies, you as a supplement manufacturer are putting your trust into this ingredient provider. Sometimes what they say is not what you get.
For something like a protein powder, which doesn’t rely on commodity ingredients the way a pre workout or fat burner would, it’s likely for sales reasons.
In reality, who knows why Probolic left and came back, but it’s time to review the new version.
First of all, when looking at the labels below, it’s not a huge difference between the two. The macros and ingredients are only slightly altered from the old version to the new version.
Ingredient Profile 7/10
When reading an ingredients list on a supplement, the ingredients are listed in order from highest concentration to lowest concentration. So the first ingredient is the most potent while the last is the least. This is key when looking at a protein blend like MHP Probolic.
A protein blend is a supplement that has multiple sources of protein. Some proteins are 100% whey concentrate or 100% whey isolate, but Probolic is a blend of multiple proteins. With that in mind, you obviously want the highest quality protein source listed first when looking. This ensures you’re getting the most of the best quality.
The purpose of a blend is to have a sustained release of amino acids into the bloodstream as opposed to an immediate spike. Whether this is superior for muscle gain is debatable, but the theory is that a sustained release is better for anabolism. By the way, the “Sr” in Probolic Sr stands for sustained release.
Probolic is a four protein blend listed in the following order: soy protein isolate, whey protein concentrate, sodium caseinate, and calcium caseinate.
Ideally you want whey to be first, but it is second. Theoretically this protein blend could be 95% soy, 3% whey, and 2% of the two caseins. I highly doubt this is the case, but it could technically be true.
Soy protein gets a bad rep, particularly from males who supplement with protein, but it’s not as bad as it’s perceived to be. Soy is one of the rare complete vegan proteins, meaning it contains all the essential amino acids needed to build muscle. The problem is that its biological value (BV) score is somewhat low. BV is a measure of the body’s ability to absorb and use proteins. Soy is at 72 while whey is at 100.
With all that said, the protein blend in the new Probolic is superior to the old version, where the blend was in the order of: sodium caseinate, whey protein concentrate, and soy protein isolate. Sodium caseinate is not to be confused with the higher quality micellar casein.
Overall the macros are very good; 24g of protein, 5g of carbohydrates, and 3.5g of fat per serving. You can fit those macros into almost any diet.
Some people may have issue with some low quality ingredients in the formula, like hydrogenated oils and food additives. Personally I don’t have a major issue with any of them. The hydrogenated oils are extremely low and many of the additives are to keep the product shelf stable and prevent clumping.
7 out of 10 is 70%, which is an average score. It would be a C if this were a graded exam. The protein blend is in fact average, neither great nor horrible. The macros make up for it slightly, as the fat and carbohydrate content are pretty low.
Taste 10/10
Despite some minor changes in the formulation, the new Probolic tastes as good if not better than the old. Protein blends mix up slightly thicker than a whey isolate or hydrolyzed whey. To me this is a good thing as I don’t really like watery proteins. Protein blends are more satiating than the aforementioned whey isolate and hydrolyzed whey.
Probolic tastes great in a plain shake mixed with water, and even better if you spice it up with a banana and some unsweetened almond milk. But my favorite meal is a cup of oats, a scoop of chocolate Probolic, and 8 oz. of unsweetened almond milk mixed together and thrown in the microwave. It’s something I never get sick of.
If you like to get creative with protein powder and use it for baking, mug cakes, etc. I would highly recommend Probolic. It mixes very easily without any gritty texture. Thick proteins work much better than isolates for cooking.
Price 8/10
Probolic is a little over $1 per serving, par for the course among its competitors. Given the profile and quality, it’s a fair price. Probolic is only offered in 4lb containers. You can try Probolic for yourself here. An outline of competitor pricing is listed below. The table compares MHP with other protein blends.
| Protein Brand | Cost Per Serving |
| Jocko Molk | $1.45 |
| ProJym | $1.33 |
| Core Nutritionals Protein Blend | $1.25 |
| NutraBio Muscle Matrix | $1.14 |
| MHP Probolic-Sr | $1.05 |
| Syntha 6 | $1.03 |
| Dymatize Elite XT | $0.76 |