Kids’ Protein Powders: Reviewing the Options for Picky Eaters

The proliferation of protein powders aimed at children continues, with the news that supermodel Elle Macpherson has launched a product for fussy-eating youngsters. The kids’ protein powder – or the Kids Super Supplement to give it its proper name – is the newest supplement in Macpherson’s WelleCo range.

Kids' Protein Makes for a Healthy Chocolate Shake

Costing $34 (or £26) for a 500g tub, the hormone-free, organic plant protein has been designed with certain kids in mind. Fussy eaters are at the head of the queue, along with nippers who guzzle flavoured milks and energy drinks like there’s no tomorrow. Pitched as a healthy chocolate drink, the kids' protein drink is devoid of cocoa powder and gluten and is suitable for vegans. Like most protein powders, it can be blended into smoothies, mixed with water or even sprinkled into porridge.

Supplement War: Super Elixir vs Green Vibrance

The model’s foray into the supplement market isn’t a flash in the pan; you can buy everything from alkalising greens and calming teas on the WelleCo website, though the products are notable for their high price point. Compare their green Super Elixir supplement, for example, to Vibrant Health’s Green Vibrance. While a 300g tub of Super Elixir will last 15 days and set you back £96, Green Vibrance costs just £39.75 for a month’s supply (360g). What’s more, Green Vibrance utilises 70 nutrients compared to the Super Elixir’s 45 – though there are many ingredients (organic wheatgrass, goji berry, kelp) which show up in both formulas. In fairness, value for money may not be the unique selling point here: Macpherson is world-famous, and the supplement shifts plenty of volume on her name value alone. If you take price out of the equation, her new kids' protein powder seems like a good product, integrating natural whole foods, plants and herbs to provide a hit of nutritional goodness.

Introducing Super Kids Vibrance

From a nutritional standpoint, Macpherson’s Kids Super Supplement isn’t a million miles from a similarly-named product: Super Kids Vibrance. The winner of a 2016 Taste for Life Essentials Award, Super Kids Vibrance also eschews hormones, gluten and antibiotic residues in favour of nutrient-dense greens, essential trace minerals and a high dose of probiotics and digestive enzymes. While the Kids Super Supplement supplies five vitamins (B1, B3, B6, B12 and C), Super Kids Vibrance boasts no less than twelve (A, C, D3, E, K1, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9 and B12). The provision of vitamin D is encouraging; after all, just two years ago the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) increased the amount of vitamin D it recommends for children and adolescents. The importance of Vitamin D for children should not be understated: the nutrient is essential for building strong and healthy bones, and deficiencies can even lead to rickets, a bone-softening affliction that mostly occurs in toddlers. Incidentally, Super Kids Vibrance is formulated for children between the ages of two and 12 and provides 10g of protein per 19.8g scoop. In comparison, the Macpherson formula provides 11g per 30g scoop. If you're after a children's protein powder that's both cost-effective and nutritionally advanced, Super Kids Vibrance appears to be the best choice.

Only Alkaline for Elle

Of course, Macpherson is a new player in the increasingly congested supplement market – and she is to be applauded for marketing products that appear to be wholesome and healthy (albeit expensive!). Certainly the model practises what she preaches: a long-time advocate of the alkaline diet, she steers clear of red meat, wheat, dairy, sugar and processed food. Perhaps it’s one of the reasons she continues to look radiant into her fifties.