Transparent Labs Mass Gainer Review (Updated 2022)

Mass gainers are high-calorie, nutritional aids formulated to provide a sufficient amount of calories in liquid form to support weight gain. Now, some people have faster metabolisms which quite frankly makes it a little difficult to put on size, especially if you don’t always have much of an appetite (we feel your pain).

And others are just looking for an easier way to boost their caloric intake to remain in a surplus (important for gaining muscle mass). But either way, a “quality” mass gainer supplement has its place and can be very beneficial for helping you reach your goals in a timely manner.

Transparent Labs makes excellent products and their ‘ProteinSeries’ mass gainer is definitely in a league of its own. So, I decided to test their cookies and cream flavor to decide for myself, and here’s my unbiased review.

But let’s start with the pros and cons…

What We Like…

• Relatively good quality ingredients
• Great taste
• Mixes well

What We Don’t…

• Lacking many vitamins and minerals
• Stevia (although preference-based)
• A little pricey
• Maltodextrin not the best for people with blood sugar issues

Ingredients

The formula is made from quality ingredients which will supply your body with what it needs to fuel and support your training efforts.

The protein source is a grass-fed whey concentrate which is a common form of fast-digesting protein. Now, research is pretty conclusive regarding the benefits that whey protein has for promoting muscle protein synthesis (MPS); which results in muscle hypertrophy. (1)

And many studies have discovered that whey has a great initial effect on MPS after resistance training. Whey naturally contains essential amino acids (building blocks of the body) including leucine which is the branched-chain amino acid most responsible for muscle growth. (2, 3)

Organic tapioca maltodextrin (100g) is a fast-digesting carb source, which is beneficial for supplying and replenishing lost glycogen (glucose) stores. These stores are the energy in which we use to sustain our training which also helps the muscle growth process. (4)

Now, if you have blood sugar issues, then you’ll need to be careful with maltodextrin consumption because it will raise your blood sugar levels. Maltodextrin itself is generally higher on the glycemic index scale.

A serving also contains creatine monohydrate (3g) which is undoubtedly the most popular, effective, and studied ergogenic nutritional aid that we have available. Its benefits are proven for promoting fat-free muscle mass, plus strength and power performance improvements. (5)

Creatine converts into phosphocreatine which helps create adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to supply energy for muscle contractions. (6)

Additional ingredients include coconut milk powder (6.65g), natural chocolate flavor, cocoa, and medium-chain triglycerides (MCT’s) (5.71g) which is a certain type of fat (partially man-made) that is more easily absorbed and metabolized by the body. There’s also Vitafiber (3g) to promote better digestion, oat flour (1g) and sweet potato powder (1g) for complex carb sources (slower-digesting), and the natural sweeteners stevia (200mg) and monk fruit extract (200mg).

There are absolutely no artificial sweeteners, colors, or preservatives in this clean, mass-promoting formula.

Nutrition Facts

• 740 calories
• 12g fat (6g saturated)
• 110mg cholesterol (37%)
• 560mg sodium (24%)
• 109g carbs (40%)
• 8g fiber (29%)
• 15g sugar (0g added)
• 53g protein
• 15% calcium and iron

If you’re training hard, then your body should be able to effectively utilize most of the nutrients in one serving size, although there is a lot of carbs and protein per serving for the average person (unless you’re a real mass monster). So… a good idea is to split a recommended serving in half and plug in your numbers accordingly to meet your daily needs.

Try our calorie and macro calculator to make the nutritional aspect of gaining mass stress-free…

Now, there aren’t many vitamins and minerals besides a small amount of calcium and iron so be sure to get plenty micronutrients from your diet.

This product is intended for use as a nutritional supplement to increase your daily intake of calories and is not to replace all of your meals.

Benefits

So obviously, protein is essential for muscle growth (we all know this). And we touched on the benefits of consuming whey protein.

But when combined with sufficient carbs and fats (important sources of energy), we can effectively make progress towards achieving our fitness goals. So, this macronutrient-complete mass gainer formula is very conducive to supporting muscle growth, strength, and performance.

And with the addition of creatine, the effect is even more pronounced. In fact, research shows that consuming multi-ingredient supplements containing whey, carbs, and creatine together elicits a greater benefit than just consuming whey alone. (7)

Creatine can also increase strength rather quickly which is directly correlated with muscle gains as a result of progressive overload. But, of course, you don’t need creatine to make strength gains. However, maximizing the tools we have access too is definitely beneficial. (8)

Tip: Try Weight Gain Calculator.

Taste

I found the cookies and cream flavor to be very tasty and satisfying but since stevia is added for sweetness, some people may not be so thrilled. And that’s completely understandable but I didn’t find it to be overpowering (my opinion).

I also didn’t notice an unpleasant aftertaste either.

Now, I did use unsweetened, vanilla-flavored almond milk for the liquid but I doubt the flavoring would be significantly different with water although it’d be slightly less creamy. But if you use milk, the natural sugars will sweeten it up a little which should still make it pretty tasty and not overly sweet. However, you’d also be increasing the calories which if it’s ok with you, then go for it!

Mixability

In a blender, the powder mixes perfectly. But I did not mix it in a shaker bottle because I simply don’t use them (personal preference). So, I can’t speak on this.

Price

Mass gainers aren’t exactly the cheapest nutritional supplements on the market. But you generally get what you pay for and Transparent Labs is a better quality product than a lot of options out there. So I’d have to say that the price is certainly not the worst.

Although, you do only get 15 servings of which I’d recommended splitting in half but you’ll still get 370 calories per serving which is acceptable for a meal-sized portion. You could definitely stretch out the servings if you’re eating enough food throughout the day to fill in the remaining calories (it’s good to have options).

Here are the prices based on how many bags you purchase…

• 1 bag: $65
• 2 bags: $120 (you’ll save $10)
• 3 bags: $170 (you’ll save $25)

Overall Rating

• Ingredients: 8/10
• Taste: 8.25/10
• Mixability: 8.75/10
• Price: 7.5/10

Wrapping Up

Transparent Labs ‘ProteinSeries’ Mass Gainer is a viable option if you’re looking to supplement additional calories in your diet.

Putting on muscle is not the easiest process if you have a faster metabolism and you need every advantage possible to ensure you’re not “spinning your wheels” in the gym. Now, that’s not an excuse to pack on slabs of fat; so strategy is definitely key.

But if you learn to utilize the nutritional weapons in your arsenal effectively, then you’ll be ahead of the game!

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