Whole Food Based Mass Gainer

CORE Nutritionals has had some fun recently with their Fun Sweets collab, which yielded some delicious flavors with the brand that made cotton candy a festival staple. They released two flavors: Cherry Berry and Blue Raspberry. True to Core form, the end result was delicious.

Now it’s time for another chapter of what Core arguably does better than anyone in the business: formulation. The newest Core offering will be a mass-gainer, and it’s called – suitably – GROW.

Core GROW: A Mass-Gainer for Champions

For the majority of people, losing weight is priority number one – such is the state of the world. For some though – hard-gainers – they have the opposite problem: they can’t gain weight. In order to help them out during bulking season, Core GROW is here with a densely-packed formula delivering 880 calories and 50 grams of protein per serving, without being too dirty.

We’re going to dive into how Core GROW works, but first, let’s check the PricePlow for good Core deals, and check out our video review of the new formula:

Without further ado, let’s get into the meat.

Core GROW – Nutrition Facts

Each 4 scoop (231.9g) serving of GROW contains the following:

• Calories: 880

• Total Fat: 17g

  • Saturated Fat: 8g

  • Trans Fat: 0g

• Total Carbohydrate: 136g

  • Dietary Fiber: 17g

  • Total Sugars: 36g

• Protein: 50g

Now, that’s a mass-gainer.

Core GROW – Ingredients

Here’s a rundown on the ingredients in GROW:

• Oat Flour

  For the bulk of the carbs, Core has opted to utilize oat flour. It is one of the cleaner sources of carbohydrates, and provides a nutrient-dense and slower-digesting method of getting calories in. This slower digestion results in more sustained energy and insulin curves, helping to avoid spikes and crashes.

  In addition, oats are dense, nutritionally. They are replete with vitamins, minerals, and fiber that help smooth the digestive runway. They also help reduce LDL cholesterol due to the metabolism-charging β-glucans.^[1,2] This signifies oats’ health-protective effect, making them a far cry from empty calories.

• Whey Protein Concentrate (30g yielding 24g)

  Whey protein concentrate, the primary ingredient in many weight gainers worldwide, is a dairy-based protein filtered for higher protein content. It’s well-supported by studies for improving strength and body composition when combined with the right diet ^[3-6].

  We prefer whey concentrate for weight gainers because it retains more bioactive compounds, like immunoglobulins and lactoferrin, and tastes better. With standard protein powders, it is best practice to make it as close to pure protein as possible, for the sake of dieters and easy, clean protein intake. With mass gainers, we aren’t afraid of a few carbs and fat – the more, the merrier.

  

  In addition to its taste and profile, whey concentrate has an excellent amino acid spectrum, including high leucine levels that promote muscle protein synthesis ^[7-10].

• Milk Protein Isolate (9.44g yielding 8.5g)

  Milk protein isolate is produced before separating the whey and casein from cow’s milk, and is therefore a combination of both. Casein has actually been shown to be superior to whey protein for supplementation before sleep – in a 2018 study, randomized participants consumed either whey or casein prior to sleep. Researchers tracked each group’s resistance exercise (RE) volume and resting metabolic rate (RMR). In this study, only the high-dose casein group displayed an increase in RE and RMR.^[11]

  In addition, casein is slower-digesting^[12] than whey and spikes insulin less.^[13] This suggests that casein is an excellent addition to a mass gainer, which is best consumed after a workout or prior to sleep.

• Organic Cane Sugar

  Core chose to balance the slower energy and gradual insulin release from the oat flour with organic cane sugar to boost sweetness and taste. As a result, you’ll get a slightly quicker insulin spike,^[14] which helps boost protein absorption following a workout.

  When you’re not worried about weight gain, there’s not nearly as much risk to consuming sugar as long as it is balanced by other macronutrients.

• DigeSEB Enzymes

  

  Your body may need a bit of help digesting and utilizing all of these calories, carbs, and protein, and that’s where DigeSEB digestive enzymes come in. DigeSEB is a blend of the following enzymes, following by the purpose they serve:

  • Protease: helps break down protein
  • Lactase: helps break down lactose (milk sugar)
  • Amylase: helps break down carbs
  • Lipase: helps break down lipids / fats.
  • Cellulase: helps break down plant fiber

  Core is a big fan of DigeSEB, and it can be found in many of its formulas, like Core GUT. We tend to agree with their discernment, as digestive enzymes can help “grease the gears” for your digestive system.

The rest

Rounding out the Core GROW formula, we have the following ingredients:

• Sweet Potato Powder
• Coconut Oil
• Peanut Flour
• Sunflower Lecithin
• Sodium Chloride
• Sucralose

All told, we have a mass gainer shake packed with a hefty 880 calories and a respectable 50 grams of protein. That’s certainly a nice boost for all the hard-gainers out there.

All Core GROW flavors

GROW is launching in three flavors: Chocolate, Vanilla, and Cookies N Cream. Check out our up-to-date list of GROW flavors below:

Another hardcore tool in the box

Take your gains even further with the recently released BOLIC muscle builder.

If you’re having a difficult time shoving down enough calories to effectively put on muscle, standard protein powder is not going to cut it. You need to bring in the big guns.

Core GROW is a howitzer. With three rich flavors to choose from – chocolate, vanilla, and cookies n cream – you will be able to throw down calories like nobody’s business. As we head into the cold winter, there has never been a better time to start putting on muscle, even if it comes with a little bit of fat.

And since it’s Core, you can rest easy knowing that GROW contains the best, highest-quality ingredients that money can buy. Even though it’s bulking season, your body still deserves immaculate treatment.