Review: MuscleMeds Carnivor—Where's the Beef?

"Using new advanced extraction, clarification, hydrolysis and isolation technologies CARNIVOR’s Bioengineered Beef Protein Isolate delivers the muscle building power of beef with higher amino acid levels than all other protein sources used in supplements including: whey, soy, milk and egg. CARNIVOR Beef Protein Isolate is even 350% more concentrated in anabolic muscle building aminos than a prime sirloin steak! And it has no fat or cholesterol!"

Whoever they are, the ad writers for MuscleMeds obviously understand spin. We're supposed to be impressed by that 350% figure, although there's less to it than meets the eye. A 100g piece of cooked steak contains nearly 60g of water, so of course a dehydrated product will be "more concentrated in anabolic muscle building aminos "... at least until you rehydrate it. Milk protein isolate is a lot more concentrated in "muscle building aminos" than a glass of milk, too.

So what?

Same deal with the claim that Carnivor delvers "higher amino acid levels than all other sources used in supplements..." Note that the term "sources" is used, not "proteins" or "protein powders." I would be extremely surprised if a dried, purified protein powder DIDN'T contain more aminos acids, on a weight basis, than whole foods with a relatively high water content.

In other words, the above claims are straight out of Ad Hype 101. :-D

Of course, none of this really tells us whether Carnivor is a good product or not. To make that call, we need to look at the label.

Ok there's creatine, BCAAs, glutamine, KIC and other ingredients we've seen before... except one: "hydrolyzed beef protein isolate."

It seems straightforward enough, although the term "beef" covers a lot of territory: from filet mignon to hooves and hides. Needless to state, the latter are used to make hydrolysed collagen (gelatin), which—while technically a "beef" protein—isn't what most people would want to use to build muscle.

Thus, it would be good to know exactly what part(s) of the animal that "beef protein isolate" is made from. Is it derived from premium lean red meat? Is it similar to the "meat by-products" normally added to pet food? Or is it mostly made from bones?

Unfortunately, MuscleMeds doesn't elaborate on this point. The processing and purity are discussed in detail—which is all very nice, but personally, I'm less concerned with purity than I am with quality. I'd like to see an amino acid profile and/or a standard measure of protein quality, such as PDCAAS, BV, etc., for this ingredient, so I can compare Carnivor to more conventional protein powders made from whey, casein and egg.

Competing products, such as True Protein's beef protein isolate and the Beef Protein from Olympian Labs both contain realtively high amounts of glycine and proline—an amino acid "signature" that suggests these supps contain collagen from bone and connective tissue—as many commercial "beef extracts" do.

What does this tell us about the beef protein isolate in Carnivor? In a direct sense, very little... but when you consider that MuscleMeds adds branched chain amino acids and creatine to the product in order to imply an equivalence to steak, it's reasonable to assume that the "beef protein isolate" in Carnivor probably isn't much different than the one(s) marketed lby its competitors.

So what does this mean for gym rats like me and thee?

It means that Carnivor is probably less like prime rib, and more like predigested, purified beef stock.

Thus, I tend to doubt "hydrolyzed beef protein isolate" has a better profile of essential amino acids than more conventional protein powders—if it did, I imagine this info would be front and center on Carnivor's label.

Nonetheless, it may offer advantages to people with dairy/egg allergies/intolerances or who experience digestive issues with conventional protein powders. Hydrolyzed proteins are certainly easier to digest, and allergies to beef are relatively rare.

For the record, I can think of another advantage. Supplemental glycine and proline can be used by the body to make its own collagen. Although they aren't essential amino acids, consuming them in the form of hydrolyzed (animal) colllagen may help support the growth and repair of collagen-containing tissues such as bone, cartilage, skin and ligaments.

So there may be a bit of a trade off with a supp like Carnivor: the protein quality—even with the added BCAAs—is probably not as high as dairy/egg-based supps, but it could also be better tolerated and more beneficial for joints and skin.

Naturally, I picked up a container of Carnivor for a trial run. Mixing it with a spoon, I managed to avoid a lot of the chunkiness and foaming some users have commented on. Overall, I thought it blended pretty well.

Flavor-wise, it wasn't great, although it wasn't terrible either. I trialed the fruit punch flavor, which—to be honest—gave me a moment's hesitation, as it smelled like stale bouillion cubes. But as long as I didn't breathe in while drinking, it was ok... like watered-down Hawaiian Punch spiked with Knox Gelatin.

I've tasted worse. And—like most lifters—I'll happily forgo taste for results.

Except that there really weren't any... my experience with Carnivor was completely neutral. but then again, my muscles are saturated with creatine already and—let's face it—given my "training age," I'm not likely to see major results merely by replacing one protein supp with another... so consider the source.

So whither Carnivor?

As noted above, I have some doubts about the overall quality of MuscleMed's beef protein isolate, but it may have its uses (if you're interested, Carnivore is available at BodyBuilding.com, one of our recommended online retailers).

In the absence of better information from MuscleMeds, however, I don't see a reason to prefer Carnivor over more conventional protein supps. Dairy and egg-based proteins have been used successfully by the majority of trainees for some time now, and their muscle-building benefits are well-known.

So for now, I'll be sticking with my usual blends... and if I want more collagen in my diet, I'll add some Nutrajoint or NeoCell.

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