Are Quest Protein Powders Keto Friendly?

At the time of writing this post, I’ve been on the ketogenic diet for over five years and logged over 250 blood ketone tests in an effort to estimate the effects of food and ingredients on my ketosis, including those in Quest Protein Powders.

Like a lot of Quest Nutrition products, their protein powders are a bit hit or miss in terms of keto friendliness. There are a few decent options here, but you'll want to watch out for the others. In this post I'll evaluate Quest protein powders, give them keto friendly grades, and see how they stack up against similar keto friendly protein powders and treats.

 
Quest-Cookies-and-Cream-Protein-Powder.png
 

Savage Fuel Keto Friendly Grades:

  • A: Completely compatible, positive or no impact on ketosis.

  • B: Highly compatible, but don't go too crazy.

  • C: Moderately compatible, be mindful and limit intelligently.

  • D: Barely compatible, detrimental to ketosis and not recommended.

  • F: Not compatible, overdo it just a little and kiss your ketosis goodbye.

Keto Friendly Grading Factors:

  • Net Carbs per Serving: How many carbs are in this thing?

  • Net Carbs per 100 calories: Since serving sizes often vary significantly, a net carb per 100 calorie ratio is a more consistent measure of keto-friendliness than net carbs per serving. Lower ratios are also an indicator of higher fat content because fat has more calories per gram than protein and carbohydrates.

  • Sugar: Sugars have a higher glycemic index and larger negative impact on ketosis than other carbohydrates.

  • Hidden Carbs: Hidden carbohydrates are based on the caloric values and glycemic indexes of ingredients sometimes classified as fibers or sugar alcohols.

  • Easy to Overeat: Some foods are easy to over-eat and require extra willpower to limit overeating which is an important factor to consider.

  • Nutritional Density: Foods that are relatively high in net carbs per 100 calories but are high in nutrition per calorie can still be worth eating like broccoli and cauliflower.

RULE of thumb for net carbs per 100 calorie ratio: 0-1 great, 1-2 ok, 2-3 caution, 3+ red alert

RULE of thumb for net carbs per 100 calorie ratio:
0-1 great, 1-2 ok, 2-3 caution, 3+ red alert

Quest Protein Powder Keto Friendly Grades:

Overall factors: No hidden carbs, not hard to avoid over-consuming, and low nutritional density.

  • Cookies & Cream: B+
    1g Net carb per 100 calorie ~30g scoop
    1g Net carbs per 100 calories (Yellow)
    0g Sugar

  • Multi-Purpose Mix: B+
    1g Net carb per 100 calorie ~30g scoop
    1g Net carbs per 100 calories (Yellow)
    0g Sugar

  • Cold Brew Coffee Latte: D-
    3g Net carb per 110 calorie 32g scoop
    2.7g Net carbs per 100 calories (Orange)
    1g Sugar

  • Vanilla Milkshake: F+
    3g Net carb per 100 calorie ~30g scoop
    3g Net carbs per 100 calories (Red)
    0g Sugar

  • Cinnamon Crunch: B+
    1g Net carb per 100 calorie ~30g scoop
    1g Net carbs per 100 calories (Yellow)
    0g Sugar

  • Salted Caramel: F+
    3g Net carb per 100 calorie ~30g scoop
    3g Net carbs per 100 calories (Red)
    0g Sugar

  • Banana Cream: F
    3g Net carb per 100 calorie ~30g scoop
    3g Net carbs per 100 calories (Red)
    2g Sugar

  • Peanut Butter: B+
    1g Net carb per 110 calorie ~30g scoop
    0.9g Net carbs per 100 calories (Green)
    0g Sugar

  • Strawberries & Cream: F
    3g Net carb per 100 calorie ~30g scoop
    3g Net carbs per 100 calories (Red)
    2g Sugar

  • Chocolate Milkshake: C-
    2g Net carb per 110 calorie ~30g scoop
    1.8g Net carbs per 100 calories (Yellow)
    0g Sugar

Quest Protein Powder Keto Friendly Conclusion:

 
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Quest Nutrition doesn't design their products for keto dieters which makes their products a bit of a mixed bag for us. Quest's protein powders continue their keto friendly hit or miss pattern. With Keto Friendly grades ranging from B+ to F, picking a Quest protein powder is a bit like playing Minesweeper, if you don't know what to look for, your ketosis might get blown up.

To put it into perspective, let's compare Quest protein powders to other keto friendly snacks and treats:

 

Quest Protein Powders vs F-Bombs, ChocoPerfection, Nui Cookies, and Keto Bars

 

So overall Quest protein powders are higher in net carbs per 100 calories than similar keto friendly treats but not all flavors are so bad. There are a few winners in the bunch, if you want an affordable, tasty, and keto friendly whey protein powder stick with Quest's Cookies & Cream, Cinnamon Crunch, Peanut Butter, and Multi-Purpose Mix. All of those have a net carb per 100 calorie ratio of 1 or below which is ideal. I can't even recommend the next best Chocolate Milkshake which has twice as many net carbs per 100 calories.

In conclusion, there are other more keto friendly options out there like Perfect Keto’s Chocolate / Vanilla / Salted Caramel Keto Collagen and MCT Powders that have a fraction of the net carbs. Also, if you’re like me and you’re really just looking for a convenient keto friendly treat and not necessarily a protein shake, I my personal favorite is ChocoPerfection.

Also check out our Keto Shop for more expert selected keto friendly products or my first YouTube video “5 Tips to Get Back Into Ketosis Fast” below!

 

Want to get into ketosis fast? These 5 tips I've learned from over seven years on the keto diet will help you get back into ketosis quick and easy! My Favori...

 
Keto Friendly Product ReviewClay Owen