JOLIET JERRY'S DORM ROOM

I was very happy to have received my trial jug of the new ON product, Nitrocore 24 on Wednesday. I wanted to get started on it right away, so my first day using the product was yesterday, Thursday, April 17, 2008. I decided to use this twice a day...in the morning as my source of breakfast protein and before bed due to its' sustained release characteristic.

My first experience with Nitrocore 24 was for breakfast yesterday. I will honestly admit that the Cinnamon Roll flavor was not something I was terribly excited about at the onset. Normally I am not a big fan of most protein flavors. Since I mix all my protein drinks with water, they normally don't taste all that great...tolerable usually, but nothing to get excited about. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor of this product. Often what I find is that the main flavoring is overpowering, but the cinnamon flavor here is very subtle. I will say that the product is VERY sweet, which works fine for me because I have a huge sweet tooth, but those that are not particularly fond of sweets may find it unappealing.

The texture is very creamy which, again, is something that is usually lacking when protein powders are mixed with water. I was surprised to read the ingredients label and find that the first ingredient listed after the protein sources is "creamer". Upon reading the ingredients breakdown of the creamer I realized that this is just basic coffee creamer and that would explain the sweet and creamy texture.

One thing that surprised me with the product is how well it mixes. It has been my experience with blended proteins (especially those with micellar caseinates) that they tend to be clumpy and gritty when mixed. This product mixes very well in a shaker cup and left no powdery residue in the cup.

Like Jeremy mentioned in his initial posting, I was a little surprised to see the 13 grams of carbs present. Again, the presence of the creamer explains that. There is also a "fiber blend" listed in the ingredients and 5 grams of the total carbs are dietary fiber.

I found that using 2 scoops of this product at breakfast has kept me feeling full all the way through to my next meal. This is a good breakfast post-cardio, supplying 48 grams of protein and 26 grams of carbs. I also used one scoop before bed last night. I still woke up feeling hungry this morning, but I am also adjusting to being back on a normal eating plan after being on vacation last week and "letting loose".

So in summary, my initial reaction to this product is very positive. This will be my "twice a day" protein, used as breakfast and before bed while I will continue using 100% whey post workout and 4 solid food meals a day. I will report back regularly with my observations. Thanks again to the folks at ON for including me in this test!