Protein Works Nutrition Complete 360 Meal Strawberries & Cream

My Experience

Following the vanilla flavour one from TPW, I bought the strawberries & cream flavour when Amazon dynamic pricing knocked it down to £15 for 1kg, which is great pricing. Same as before, it has a great formula with premium ingredients.

Test 1: Baseline (400ml Filtered Water)

For the initial test, I followed the recommended serving of 100g of powder mixed with 400ml of filtered water.

The powder incorporates into the water very easily. The resulting shake, however, is quite thin and runny. Even with the noticeable bits of oat and flaxseed, it doesn't have much body, creating a texture that I am not a fan of.

The taste is that of an artificial strawberry milkshake. While not bad, it wasn't what I was expecting. It carries a surprising level of sweetness for a water-based mix, but it remains palatable rather than sickly sweet. In terms of performance, it was effective, keeping me full for about 3-4 hours.

Due to the thin and runny liquid, the water-based version gets a 3-star rating. It’s functional, but the experience is let down by the texture.

Test 2: Alpro No Sugars Soya (400ml)

For the second test, I swapped the water for 400ml of Alpro's No Sugars Soya milk, keeping the powder quantity the same.

The difference in texture was immediate and significant. The gellan gum in the soya milk gives the shake a thick, full-bodied consistency that was missing from the water-based version. It mixes mostly well, although it requires a bit more shaking to fully incorporate compared to water.

This change also had an interesting effect on the flavour. The natural taste of the soya softens the powder's sweetness, making it less in-your-face. While the artificial strawberry taste is still present, the added creaminess from the soya milk comes through in the swallow and aftertaste. The satiety also saw a boost, easily keeping me full for a solid 4 hours.

This version is a clear improvement, earning a 4-star rating. The enhanced body and more balanced flavour profile make for a much better experience.

Test 3: Califia Farms Oat Barista Blend (400ml)

Okay, for the third mix I used 400ml of the Califia Farms Oat Barista Blend.

Immediately, the difference was obvious: it was waay sweeter. It mixes as easily as water and results in a creamy, somewhat thick shake, but the main takeaway is the sweetness. The natural flavour of the oat milk transforms it into what feels more like a sweet milkshake. The artificial strawberry taste is still noticeable, but it takes a backseat to the overall sweet profile.

Satiety feels like it would be the usual 4 hours. For me, this is a 3-star mix. It’s decent, but it's just a bit too sweet.

Test 4: Arla Cravendale Whole Milk (400ml)

For the final test, I went with a classic: 400ml of Arla Cravendale whole milk.

Interestingly, this was the first mix to have some small clumps, requiring a bit more effort to get it mostly smooth. This gave it a texture that was less like a uniform shake and more like a smoothie than any of the other versions. All the goodness of full-fat milk is there; it makes the strawberry taste creamier, but without the heavy richness or intense sweetness of the oat barista blend. It’s still fairly sweet, but not overly so.

As expected, the satiety was excellent, easily lasting 4-5 hours. This version gets a solid 4 stars.