Nutrition is an extremely important element of getting fit and building your ideal physique. No matter how hard you train, it’s impossible to burn fat, build lean muscle mass, and develop strength, without providing your body with the critical elements it needs to repair and recover from resistance training.
There are thousands of different sports supplements companies that supply a wide range of pre workouts, protein powders, power bars and performance supplements. While these supplements are integral to the bodybuilding and athletic development process, they can be bland and uninspired. A new nutrition philosophy has emerged from a market flooded with plain whey protein powders and boring mass gain supplements- functional food.
Sinister Labs is a new sports supplement manufacturer that take the concept of functional food and put a bodybuilding spin on it. Offering a range of spreadable protein powders and mass-boosting dietary aids that are both delicious and healthy, Sinister Labs aims to provide fitness enthusiasts with a unique, interesting, and tasty alternative to the plain supplements that are commonly available on the market.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the Sinister Labs story and examine their product range to help you decide whether Sinister products are right for you.
Who Are Sinister Labs?
Sinister Labs is the brainchild of Scott James, an industry pioneer responsible for some of the biggest sports nutrition companies in the world. In operation since 2016, Sinister Labs are a newcomer to the sports supplement market but have quickly forged an alliance with key industry players such as Flex Lewis.
The Sinister Labs brand doesn’t appear to play by the traditional rules of sports nutrition- instead of releasing a standardized range of BCAA’s, protein supplements, pre workouts, and energy bars, Sinister Labs have presented something entirely new to the world in the form of spreadable protein supplements. Consisting primarily of nut spreads, the Sinister Labs range offers unique and innovative mass gainers that even incorporate caffeine into their spreadable protein line.
The Sinister Labs mission statement describes the goal of the company as seeking to provide high quality, nutritious, protein-packed food in the form of delicious treats that don’t carry the negative health hit of their contemporary counterparts.
The Sinister Labs Range
The Sinister Labs range can be broken down into two separate components- spreads and powders. Both components of the range are rich in protein, and most of the products on offer contain added caffeine to deliver an energy boost. Sinister Labs have made it clear, however, that their range of sports supplements are not the squeaky-clean health-nut kind.
Offering flavors like Chocolate Chaos and Hella Honey, Sinister Labs seem to be aiming for a protein-rich sweet treat range of items. Are the Sinister Labs products healthy enough to be classified as “sports nutrition”? Or do they fall into the same category as nutella or milkshake powder? To find out, let’s assess the composition of each range of products.
Sinister Labs Spreads
Sinister Labs spreads come in three flavors- Chocolate Chaos, Killer Caramel, and Wicked White Chocolate. All three flavors are available in two forms- caffeinated, and non-caffeinated. Both the Killer Caramel and Wicked White Chocolate spreads are made with peanut butter, and contain a hefty dose of of low-GI energy in the form of ground peanut. Chocolate Chaos is milled from almonds, and is thus technically almond butter, not peanut butter.
The nutritional profile of the Sinister Labs spreads is both good and bad. One serving of any of the spreads, or about 34 grams, offers 12 grams of protein- which is pretty good, considering the recommended daily intake of protein for a sedentary male is around 60 grams of clean protein. If you’re working out with the intent of putting on muscle mass, however, it’s better to consume around 80-90 grams of protein daily to ensure you’re giving your body enough raw material to build new muscle tissue with.
The problem with the sinister labs spread formula is that one serving, or two teaspoons, of any of the spreads, contains a massive 11 grams of sugar. While the Sinister Labs spreads nutritional labelling may optimistically interpret this amount as “10%” of the daily recommended intake, in reality it’s about half the daily intake- the World Health Organization recommends consuming only 5% of the daily caloric intake should come from sugar, which works out to about 25 calories every day.
While the Sinister Labs spreads may be delicious and contain a higher-than-average amount of protein, it’s best to use them only on cheat days to gain a little extra protein while you’re getting cheat meals in- consuming these spreads in order to gain your RDI of protein will definitely result in fat gain.
Sinister Labs Powders
Sinister Labs powders also come in three different flavors- Chocolate Chaos, Hell’a Honey, and Vicious Vanilla. Be aware that Sinister Labs powders aren’t protein powders- they’re closer to nut flour than powder, and are mixed with sweetening agents to improve flavor. All three flavors are powdered peanut, so they contain a fair nutritional content, but, like the spread products offered by Sinister Labs, contain a high amount of sugar and fat.
One 20 gram scoop of Sinister Labs powder- in any of the three flavors- contains 20 calories, almost all of which are from cholesterol. An advantage offered by the Sinister Labs powders over the spreads is that they contain a pretty good ratio of protein to calories, at 10 grams of protein for every 20 grams of powder, but the health benefits of the supplement are offset by the high sugar content.
Sinister Labs Review Summary
Overall, Sinister Labs win points for creating something that’s not available on the health food market currently. While Sinister Labs products probably aren’t great as a replacement for clean protein supplements and natural nut spreads, they’re a great option as a delicious treat meal or cheat snack when you want to bump your caloric intake.
If you’re interested in trying out Sinister Labs products yourself, they currently offer a free sample set of their spreads for free, available from the product website.
