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Today’s article is all about one question: is Carnivor mass gainer good?
We’re looking at the most important factors in our Carnivor mass gainer review:
- What is Carnivor mass gainer?
- What are the Carnivor mass gainer ingredients?
- What are the macros – and how do they compare?
- The main pros and cons
- A final verdict: is it good? Is it worth your money?
Let’s start with the short version, then we can get into more detail once you know the basics..
The Short Version: Is Carnivor Mass Gainer Good?
Carnivor Mass Gainer is okay for muscle growth but poor value for money. It provides an effective and bioavailable form of protein and carbs, but the protein itself is not more effective than other sources – like whey protein.
The beef protein is a bit of a gimmick, since it’s not clear how it is more beneficial for muscle gain than a milk protein, e.g.
The purity of the protein is high, but that’s less of a concern in a mass gainer. Most of your calories aren’t coming from protein so the protein purity isn’t nearly as important.
Overall Score
Overall, Carnivor is a good choice if you want a highly effective product and have lactose intolerance. However, it’s more gimmick than results if your only concern is better recovery and growth. Simply too expensive for the benefits!
What Is Carnivor Mass Gainer?
Carnivor mass gainer is a weight gain supplement that combines beef protein with carbohydrates and fats. It replaces whey with beef protein, which is the major ‘unique selling point’.
Carnivor is definitely a premium mass gainer. With around 720 calories in a serving, it’s also a moderate mass gainer. The protein content is high, and the carbohydrates are in a good ratio of 2.5 to each gram of protein.
You get some good secondary ingredients in the vitamin and mineral complex, which is a bonus.
Carnivor Mass Gainer Ingredients: What is in It?
Carnivor Mass Gainer includes beef protein, ISPIKE carbohydrates, and a number of secondary ingredients.
Here’s the brief round-up of Carnivor Mass Gainer ingredients:
- ISPIKE carbohydrate blend: maize, maltodextrin, and digestive enzymes
- Beef protein
- Creatine
- BCAAs
- Gelatin
- Chromium (a conditionally-essential mineral)
- Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs)
- Nitrogen boosters: GKG, AKG, OKG, and KIC
These give us a profile of a mass gainer that has a relatively strong core of medium-digesting carbs, beef protein, and some performance enhancers. Creatine and Gelatin are particularly useful for recovery and joint health.
The “extras” – GKG, AKG, OKG, and KIC – aren’t listed by quantity and you’d typically be better off with citrulline malate anyway. These can be useful for nitric oxide for better pumps. However, they’re mostly useful as a buffer for fatigue and endurance.
Carnivor Mass Gainer Macronutrients
Carnivor macronutrients are 50g of protein per serving, 125g of carbohydrates, and 2.5 g of fat. These are very strong macronutrients for a post workout mass gainer – and you can see the ratio here:
The only problem with this is that beef protein is not a fast absorbing protein compared to whey. This means that Carnivor is stuck in an odd spot. It’s too carb-rich to be an everyday mass gainer (like NutraBio Extreme Mass) but too slow-digesting to be the best post-workout mass gainer.
Studies show that beef protein is powerful, but the protein and carb spread is just a little odd here. The use of maltodextrin and maize instead of oat or sweet potato starch is just a bit sub-optimal.
Figure 1 – Source: Valenzuela et al. (2019)
Pros
- Good secondary ingredients
- Beef protein is a viable and effective source
- Great choice for lactose intolerant people
- More complete and bio-available than plant proteins
- Creatine and BCAAs are good synergists
Cons
- Not necessarily better than whey
- More expensive than a normal milk protein mass gainer
- Doesn’t quite know what it wants to be: fast or slow digesting
- Doesn’t quite justify the cost
Our Verdict: Is Carnivor Mass Gainer Good?
Carnivor mass gainer is good, but it’s not good enough to justify the price tag, in our expert opinion.
The cost of the product goes towards a more expensive form of protein that doesn’t offer extra muscle growth. It’s more expensive but not more effective.
Recommended: Checkout other great mass gainer reviews:
1) Transparent Labs Mass Gainer – Click here
2) AllMax Mass Gainer – Click here
3) NAKED Mass Gainer – Click here
The main benefits are good macronutrient ratios and the secondary ingredients.However, other products on the market offer those benefits at a lower price using milk proteins. These are some of the main problems with an otherwise good product.
| Boosts weight gain speed and amount? | Yes |
| Improves weight gain quality (more muscle, less fat)? | Yes |
| Better carbs than other mass gainers? | Decent |
| Reduces muscle damage and improves exercise performance? | Yes |
| Great protein per serving? | Yes |
| Great digestive profile for a happier gut? | Decent |
| Good value for money? | Not Great |
It works, it’s just not the best choice for the price.
Resources:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3407788/
- https://www.outsideonline.com/health/training-performance/gelatin-injury-prevention-recovery/
You Might Like:
- MyProtein Mass Gainer Review
- Inner Armour Hard Mass Gainer Review
- Muscle Juice Mass Gainer Review
- Iron Vegan Mass Gainer Review
- Is Mass Gainer Good For Bulking?
Rohan Arora is a Certified Personal Trainer and Sports Nutritionist and has been actively involved in sports and fitness for over 8 years. He now leads the team of fitness specialists and personal trainers who help people around the world with personalized workout and nutrition plans, along with providing the right information on sports supplements.
