Arbonne Protein Powder Review (the Different Kinds & Which Tastes Best)

I’ve tried dozens of protein powders over the years but Arbonne Protein Powder is the one I always go back to. Here’s why I love it, with a breakdown of ingredients, taste, and cost.

Arbonne Protein Powder Review

Arbonne has been around for over 30 years, and I think they’re mostly known for their skincare. However, the main products I buy from them are supplements, including their protein powder and greens powders. As a fitness junkie (I originally started as a running blogger!), I feel like I’ve tried every kind of protein powder. Orgain, UCan, Vega, Truvani, Just Ingredients, Clean Simple Eats, you name it, I’ve probably tried it (I have another blog post about the best protein powders for runners here). The one I like best is Arbonne’s Protein Powder, since it tastes great and is easy to mix up after a workout. And as a busy mom with two young kids, a quick post workout drink is essential.

Different Types of Arbonne Protein Powders

Arbonne has a variety of protein powders, so you can choose which you like best for your needs. Their shakes are also gluten-free. My favorite is the Essential Meal, since it has more staying power with added fats and slightly higher calories and since I’m breastfeeding and trying to put on muscle, I don’t skimp on calories.

Essential Meal

If you want a protein shake to serve as a meal, Essential Meal Replacement Protein Shake is the one you want. It has 24 grams of vegan protein and avocado oil for a little healthy fats to help keep you full. It comes in chocolate, vanilla, and coffee. It’s sweetened with cane sugar and stevia.

The coffee flavor is seriously so good. I don’t use this as a meal replacement or for weight loss, but rather, just to tide me over after I workout; I then eat breakfast about 45 minutes later. If I do want it to be a full meal, I have to up the calories, so I blend it with frozen banana, non-dairy milk, spinach, flax and then the protein. And if I have any extra coffee in the pot, I throw that in there too.

This one doesn’t come with a scoop, so just measure out 1/3 cup to add to water. It says to add to 9 oz of water, but I find I need a lot more with this one and mix with 20 oz. This one also has to be shaken very well to get it to blend, so make sure you use a blender bottle.

Nutrition facts per serving

• Calories: 200
• Fat: 7g
• Carbs: 9g
• Sugar: 7g
• Fiber: 2g
• Protein: 24g

Feel Fit

Arbonne’s Feel Fit Protein Shake is their most basic protein powder. It has recently been revamped to include less than one gram of sugar (see the Feel Fit Simply1 section below), but this is the original version and is sweetened differently. The Feel Fit protein powder comes in three flavors: chocolate, vanilla, and coffee.

The main difference between Feel Fit and the Feel Fit Simply1 is that the Feel Fit is sweetened using cane sugar and stevia leaf extract, while the Simply1 is only sweetened by stevia leaf extract (I don’t like the taste of stevia, so I prefer the regular Feel Fit even though it contains more sugar).

This one comes with a scoop, so just add two scoops of protein to 9 fl. oz. of cold water and then shake well (I prefer to add a little more water so it’s not as thick but that’s just me).

Nutrition facts per serving

• Calories: 160
• Fat: 3.5g
• Carbs: 13g
• Sugar: 7g
• Fiber: 6g
• Protein: 20g

Feel Fit Simply1

Arbonne’s Feel Fit Simply1 pea protein shake is very similar to the Feel Fit above, but the Simply1 has less than 1 gram of sugar (hence the name Simply 1) and only 5 grams of carbs, along with 23 vitamins and minerals. It has 130 calories and 20 grams of vegan protein. 

However, this one uses Stevia Leaf Extract as the only sweetener, and I don’t like the taste of Stevia and it’s definitely prominent in this one. The flavor options are chocolate, vanilla, coffee, or strawberry. 

Nutrition facts per serving

• Calories: 130
• Fat: 4.5g
• Carbs: 5g
• Sugar: <1g
• Fiber: 4g
• Protein: 20g

Golden Renewal Protein

The Golden Renewal Protein is their newest protein powder and it does use monk fruit as the sweetener. I haven’t tried it yet but I’m not really inclined to. However, I do love that this one has a botanical blend to support live health and minimize inflammation. But, you can only buy this one as part of the 7-Day Fresh Start bundle. I haven’t bought that yet, but I’m dying to try their matcha so I may have to (I’m on the hunt to find the best matcha)!

Nutrition facts per serving

• Calories: 160
• Fat: 4.5g
• Carbs: 6g
• Sugar: 0g
• Fiber: 2g
• Protein: 24g

Which Tastes the Best?

From my experience, Feel Fit and Essential Meal are the best-tasting, since they don’t contain Stevia (well, Feel Fit does contain Stevia, but it also contains cane sugar which is the main sweetener). I like the coffee flavor the very best, followed by chocolate, mint, and vanilla. I haven’t tried the other flavors, but I know they offer some seasonal options, including cinnamon roll. The mint also seems to be seasonal, since I don’t currently see it on the website.

Arbonne Protein Pros and Cons

Pros

Best Tasting I’ve Found

Unlike most protein powders, Arbonne’s don’t taste chalky or fake. I don’t like monk fruit, which is why I don’t like the very-popular Truvani and almost all protein powders use Stevia these days, and I just hate that taste. While all of Arbonne’s protein powders contain Stevia, two of them also use cane sugar so they taste better. 

Essential Meal is Filling

So many protein powders claim they’re good meal replacements but leave me hungry. Arbonne’s Essential Meal actually satisfies your hunger and leaves you feeling full.

Cons

Can Only Buy Online

Their website isn’t the most intuitive, but once you figure out all the lingo, it’s easy enough to order. I actually keep mine on subscription so I don’t have to think about it. What I’ve always done is sign up as a “Preferred Client” to get a 20% discount and free shipping. It’s a $29 membership fee for a year and the savings you get on just one bag of protein powder almost covers that cost.

I’ve added the link to sign up as a “Preferred Client” to this recommended cart, which has every protein powder listed. Just delete anything you don’t want.

Don’t Like That They Position as a Meal Replacement for Weight Loss

I don’t think protein shakes are sustainable for weight loss or even the healthiest way to lose weight, so I don’t like that marketing language. But, I just ignore it and enjoy my protein shake for what it is – a tasty addition to my otherwise balanced diet, with fruits, vegetables, lots of bread, meat and dark chocolate. 

Uses Stevia 

Three of the four protein powders use Stevia. I don’t love the taste of Stevia so this is a con for me; however, their products still taste better to me than any other protein powder I’ve tried and I think it’s because of the type of stevia they use (more on that below) and that the protein powders I like best use both Stevia and cane sugar. 

The Essential Meal and Feel Fit use a blend of Stevia + cane sugar. The Feel Fit Simply1 only uses Stevia as the sweetener. And the Golden Renewal doesn’t use any Stevia or cane sugar, but instead uses monk fruit to sweeten. 

All the Stevia used in Arbonne products are highly purified extract powders of the Stevia Rebaudiana bertoni leaf vs. pulverized Stevia leaf powder, which is what you typically buy in the grocery store. Extract forms of Stevia allow for quality control of contaminants and a consistent standard of sweetness. They also source their Stevia based on seasonality and to adhere to ethical sourcing, given their ingredient standards to maintain B Corp status. 

Expensive

This protein powder runs more expensive than most. Just how much does Arbonne Protein Powder cost?  

They range from $94-$104 a bag, depending on which type of protein you choose. Essential Meal Replacement Protein Shake is $104 for 30 servings, the Feel Fit Pea Protein Shake comes in at $94 for 30 servings, and the Feel Fit Pea Protein Shake Simply1 is also $94 for 30 servings. So if you do the math, that’s about $3 per serving. That’s more than the average of the five other brands I reviewed in my blog post about the best protein powders for runners. 

The good news is you can get these products cheaper with the code ARBONNE10, and again, if you become a preferred client, they’re even cheaper. When you sign up as an Arbonne Preferred Client for $29/year, you get a 20% discount for a year. You can also earn perks when you order, such as free shipping, 40% off Arbonne Special Value Packs, ReplenishMe benefits, etc. It’s all kind of confusing at first, but the bottom line is that you essentially pay for your membership with one just purchase of protein given the extra savings, so for that alone, it’s worth being a Preferred Client to save 20% when you order protein (I keep my protein on ReplenishMe too). I added the “Preferred Client” option to the recommended cart below, so the best way to make sure you include that in your order is to delete anything you don’t want to buy from this recommended cart.

Conclusion + Bottom Line

I’ve tried dozens — literally dozens — over the years and still go back to Arbonne protein powder. When I was a running/health blogger, I had a lot of protein powders sent to me (and still get some sent to me!), but I still spend my own money on Arbonne since I like it best.