I’m 30 weeks pregnant now and have been keeping fit with a pregnancy workout app, while trying to stay on track with my nutrition to give the baby the best possible start. Also pregnancy (especially the third trimester) really zaps your energy, so little healthy additions really help.

With this in mind I was kindly sent a discovery box from Purition to try. Purition is a natural protein brand famous for their range of processed-free wholefoods blends. I was already familiar with the brand from my time at Holland and Barrett, and they are renowned for being one of the best health brands in the UK.

Their discovery box gives you a range of their 40g single-serve samples to try, in any of their flavours. This in itself is a great idea, as there is nothing worse than buying a 500g or 1kg flavour, only to find out that you aren’t keen on the flavour.

I went for the 6 sample box which would cost £13.50 and chose the following flavours: (P.S they also have a vegan range)

• Pistachio
• Chocolate Orange
• Coconut
• Pecan & Cinnamon
• Beetroot & Chocolate
• Strawberry

As it’s a wholefoods blend, it’s packed full of nutritious ingredients such as:

• Golden Linseed
• Sunflower Kernels
• Macadamia
• Almonds
• Coconut
• Chia Seeds
• Sesame Seeds
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Whey or Plant Protein

You simply add 200-250ml of milk and your protein to a blender and blend for at least 30 seconds. Depending on the flavour I will sometimes add frozen fruit or ice cubes.

One flavour which I was looking forward to trying was the pistachio one. It is one of my favourite flavours ever, if you’ve ever been to Turkey you’ll have been blown away by the pistachio ice-cream over there! Anyway I decided to try the pistachio protein by making it into a shake with coconut milk , 1/2 a banana and ice cubes. Thankfully it didn’t disappoint and the pistachio flavour came through well. Adding the banana also gave it some natural sweetness. I would love to try and make my own pistachio ice-cream with it next time.

I also enjoy using protein in cooking and snack recipes, so I decided to try the strawberry flavour in my oats. This is the recipe which I put together:

Strawberry & Coconut Proats

40g oats

250ml coconut milk (Koko dairy free & Asda’s own brand are my favourites)

1 sachet Purition strawberry protein

2 tsp agave nectar

Method

Add oats, milk and protein powder to a pan and cook according to oats instructions (usually 5 minutes), making sure the protein powder is well stirred in. You might need to add more milk for a looser consistency.

Stir in the agave nectar

Topping Suggestions

Fresh strawberries and desiccated coconut

This another flavour that I was impressed with, mainly because it is so hard to find a strawberry flavoured protein which doesn’t taste artificial. This is why I very rarely, if ever buy strawberry flavour. It worked well in the oats and gave it a nice flavour. However next time I would use it simply in a smoothie to see how it compares to others that I’ve tried.

I still have a few more of the flavours to try, so I’ll come with another post to share my views on those, but on the whole the Purition range has been impressive and definitely value for money.