Today I’m reviewing “Purple Wraath” by Controlled Labs, which is labeled as an “Ergogenic Essential Amino Acid Matrix”.
What’s in it?
So are those ingredients any good?
I’ve conveniently highlighted the most important stuff for you, being the kind guy that I am.
BCAAs [Used during exercise to reduce fatigue, accelerate recovery, reduce muscle soreness, and improve the use of fat for energy. Of particular benefit when doing fasted training]
The BCAAs – Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine – are the most important for muscle growth. Of those, Leucine is considered the most important, and the recommended dose of Leucine would be around 3 or 3.5g. The recommended ratio of BCAAs (i.e. the only one supported by research) is 2:1:1.
Purple Wraath gives you L-Leucine: 2300mg + L-Valine: 1700mg + L-Isoleucine: 900mg per serve (apparently the “proprietary blend” was disclosed by GNC Australia – probably something to do with requirements for importing/selling a supplement under Australian law). Based on the above, the ideal serve might be something like 3.5g : 1.75g: 1.75g. So Purple Wraath is a little weak in terms of dosage, although 1.5 scoops would be pretty good.
Beta-Alanine [Aids muscular anaerobic endurance, might make you tingle a little bit].
The recommended dosage is 2-5g. In Purple Wraath you get 1.2g. So it’s a little underdosed here.
Citrulline malate [Decreases muscle fatigue. Also increases the amount of arginine in your blood, which leads to production of nitric oxide, which leads to fully siiiick pumps bro].
The recommended dosage is 6-8g. In Purple Wraath you only get 1g.
What did it cost me?
As a digital nomad, I use All Star Health and iHerb for supplement purchases while traveling. All Star Health tends to be slightly cheaper with most items but has more expensive postage, while the opposite applies for iHerb. Both offer fast, international shipping. Bodybuilding.com charges crazy amounts for postage, so I never order from them.
If you are in the US, I’d go for All Star Health. If you are in Asia, Australia or the like, then maybe iHerb will be cheaper depending on how much you are purchasing at once.
You can get Purple Wraath (2.44lbs / 90 servings) for $47.29 from All Star Health or $67.70 from iHerb.
Assuming you get from ASH (and not including postage costs), it works out to around 52 cents per serve.
How does it taste / mix?
The taste of the Purple Lemonade flavor is somewhere between “pleasant” and “tolerable”. I certainly don’t mind it, but I don’t actively look forward to drinking it like I do with Xtend [review coming soon]. Apparently many people complain the “Juicy Grape” flavor gives them bad breath. I didn’t notice that with this flavor.
It doesn’t mix so well with a spoon, you’ll need a shaker. I usually use a funnel to pour it into a 2L plastic bottle of water to sip on before and at the gym.
What effects did I notice personally?
I don’t write much here. For any supplement, someone will tell you it had a great effect while someone else will tell you otherwise. Personally, it helps me slightly with DOMS and recovery (although my diet will have a greater effect) and might give me an extra rep on longer sets. The effects are subtle; don’t expect to start taking it and add 10kg to your bench that day.
Conclusion
How to rate this product really depends on how you define it. As a pure BCAA supplement it’s fine, if not expensive compared to other plain BCAAs. If you look at it as a “Pre-Workout” supplement, then it is lacking a lot of things (Creatine, a proper dosage of beta-Alanine and citrulline malate, etc., stimulants, etc.) to make it a great “Pre-Workout” supplement.
I like to think of Purple Wraath as being somewhere in between a pure BCAA supplement and a “Pre-Workout” supplement – it’s basically BCAAs with a half-dose of beta-Alanine. This is what I expected when I got it, and I got exactly what I expected. If this sounds good to you, then it’s worth a try. If you want to turn it into a great Pre-Workout, then you could take a 1.5-2x serving mixed with some extra citrulline malate together with a caffeine pill.
It tastes reasonable and a large container lasts me around 2-3 months.
Disclaimer: The information contained on this web site is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. The opinions presented are, as stated, simply my opinions – I recommend you read up on things, do some research and check references yourself.
This review is not sponsored by any supplement brand.