Multivitamin Powder with Upgraded Flavor and No Pills!

In March of 2023, we covered a major update to the legendary Animal Pak multivitamin pack with our article Animal Pak: The Product That Created a Brand. Updates also came to Animal Cuts – and Universal Nutrition is still coming with more exciting changes to this iconic supplement lineup.

Updated in 2023, Animal Pak Powder now comes in a new and improved version with 30 full servings, better flavors, no artificial colors, and a new Fruit Punch flavor!

In addition to the reformulation of Animal Pak’s pill version, Team Animal is also making some changes to Animal Pak Powder, their powdered multivitamin drink mix, with a similar foundation as the original Paks, only in delicious powder form.

Animal Pak Powder 2023: Better Taste, New Fruit Punch Flavor, and 30 Full Servings!

The 2023 update brings us a new Fruit Punch flavor, and improved flavors overall. Additionally, we have a full 30 servings (each scoop being two servings), and a cleaner formula with no artificial colors!

In this article, we talk about the upgrades, brief you on the ingredients, and then describe the differences from the updated “pack” version of Animal Pak. First, check on PricePlow’s prices and sign up for our Animal alerts, they always have more on the way:

The New Animal Pak Powder: What’s Different

If you just want the bullet points, here’s what’s changing with the new Animal Pak powder launch:

• Upgraded to 30 Servings!

  

  30 full servings for a month’s supply in each tub!

  In the price listings on this page, the products marked as “30 Servings” are the new ones — this far exceeds the 22 servings in the previous version, getting you a full month’s supply.

• Improved Flavors, now with Fruit Punch

  The big announcement with the Animal Pak Powder update is that the flavors have been reworked and improved. Here are the current offerings, with the versions available 2023 versions highlighted in yellow:

  However, the Green Apple flavor has been removed from the new menu – but we think Fruit Punch more than makes up for it!

• Cleaner Formula – Artificial Colorants Removed

  

  With growing public awareness of potential health risks associated with synthetic food dyes, consumers are turning away from products that contain unnecessary ingredients. Universal Nutrition’s formulators have listened, and that’s why they’ve removed artificial coloring from Animal Pak Powder! One less thing for your liver to process, after all.

Animal Pak Powder Ingredients Summarized

We’re not going to go into detail about every single component, but will focus on the various blends contained in Animal Pak Powder and highlight some key contributors to each blend.

• Vitamins & Minerals

  No surprise here, Animal Pak starts out with solid doses of all the essential vitamins and like Vitamins A, B, C, D, E & K and essential minerals like zinc, iodine, manganese, copper, selenium, chromium, and magnesium.

  This shouldn’t surprise anyone – Animal Pak is based upon tons of vitamins and minerals, after all.

  

• Amino Acid Complex

  Here’s where things start to get interesting for Animal Pak Powder. It’s not everyday that you see a bevy of amino acids contained in a multi. The Amino Acid Complex packs 11 different aminos including 2 grams of BCAAs and the other six EAAs (essential amino acids).

  The doses have been upgraded from the original Animal Pak Powder launched in 2016 as well. The three branched-chain amino acids support muscle protein synthesis and accelerate recovery.

  

  Along with the EAAs and BCAAs, several non-essential and conditionally essential amino acids are included such as glutamine and arginine, providing a full spectrum to get your body started for protein synthesis. We even have taurine and tyrosine in the Focus and Performance Complex below:

• Performance Complex

  This area has the greatest departure from the 2016 version, bringing hydration-supporting osmolyte ingredients like taurine and betaine alongside nootropics like focus-enhancing tyrosine and choline. Additionally, choline and carnitine pair to support acetylcholine production (they also synergize for improved lipid oxidation), and inositol is a sugar that can increase cognition.

• Antioxidant Complex

  High intensity exercise and heavy lifting results in some pretty dramatic changes to the body. It builds muscle, sheds fat, and improves your overall health. However, along with these benefits comes a necessary byproduct of working out, the buildup of free radicals.

  

  Free radicals are atoms or molecules that contain an odd number of electrons and can be formed when oxygen interacts with certain other molecules in the body. When this happens on a large scale, it begins to affect things like DNA and cell membranes, ultimately leading to serious health consequences.

  Antioxidants are substances found in all sorts of fruits and vegetables that combat the spread of free radicals in the body. Animal Pak contains some of the most powerful antioxidants around courtesy of Spectra (a massive phytonutrient blend), turmeric, lycopene (found in tomatoes) and coenzyme-Q10 (CoQ10).

  Specifically, CoQ10 can improve cardiac function, blood flow, and elevate healthy HDL cholesterol levels.

• Digestive Enzyme and Absorption Complex

  

  Manufactured by Universal Nutrition themselves in New Jersey!

  Ahead of the curve in 2016, we originally wrote that “oft overlooked to overall health is the human gut”. Well, it’s not overlooked anymore – and Animal has kept the digestive enzymes inside.

  Modern research has established a link between gut bacteria, energy balance, and energy and inflammation, more specifically how it relates to obesity-related disorders. Years of eating nutrient-void, overly processed foods can deplete the “good” bacteria in your body leading to improper digestion and malabsorption of key minerals and vitamins.

  Luckily, Animal Pak contains some of the most powerful digestive enzymes around, like bromelain, papain, and lipase to aid the body’s breakdown and absorption of proteins and fats. Proper digestion will not only have you feeling better, but also looking slimmer and helping alleviate any bloat you may experience from the previous GI distress you were feeling.

  New in 2023 is the addition of AstraGin to support enhanced gut permeability, which may improve the uptake of the other ingredients.

Capsule vs. Powder Ingredients

First of all, if you want to do a direct comparison yourself, you can see the label and analysis for the updated Animal Pak (packs) version. Although the pills and powder versions are largely the same, there are some slight discrepancies between them.

Compared to the 2023 Animal Pak capsules, here’s what you’ll find in the powder:

Compare to the 2023 version of the Animal Pak pills!

• Doses increased:

  • 25 mg carnitine replaced with 250 mg L-Carnitine Fumarate

• Amino acid changes:

  • BCAA/EAA doses increased
  • Doses more standardized – rounded to nearest ten
  • Some different amino forms used – e.g. glutamine (powder) vs. glutamic acid (capsule)
  • Some aminos (e.g. cysteine and alanine) removed

• Doses reduced:

  • Calcium dose reduced from 650 mg (50% DV) to 110 mg (8% DV)
  • Phosphorus dose reduced from 500 mg to 25 mg

• Ingredients not in powder:

  • Alpha lipoic acid (compared to 100 mg in capsules)
  • Astaxanthin
  • BioPerine (compared to 5 mg in capsules)
  • Chlorella (compared to 50 mg in capsules)
  • Cocoa bean powder (compared to 100 mg in capsules)
  • Fiber (compared to 4 grams in capsules)
  • Ginkgo biloba (compared to 100 mg in capsules)
  • Green tea leaf extract (compared to 100 mg in capsules)
  • Liver detox complex (milk thistle, hawthorne berry, beet root, turmeric root)
  • Potassium (compared to 200 mg potassium or 4% DV in capsules)
  • Protein complex (whey protein blend, beef & liver blend)
  • Sodium (compared to 35 mg or 2% DV in capsules)
  • Spirulina (compared to 50 mg in capsules)

The amino acid changes are too nuanced and numerous to cover in detail, but don’t worry about them – the difference between capsule and powder amino acids is negligible and very unlikely to affect user experience.

Conclusion: A better-tasting Animal Pak Powder

We’re stoked for the new and improved flavors!

As for ingredient changes, they’re definitely in the right direction, especially as far as flavor is concerned. For instance, the BioPerine black pepper extract in the Pak version is an awesome bioavailability enhancer, but we’re not worried about its absence in the powder – sometimes you simply want your drink to not have any black pepper inside!

Animal has had many great releases in 2023, such as the updates to Animal Cuts, Animal Juiced Aminos, and a new Green Apple Animal Creatine Chews flavor (a tub we demolished in short order). If you’re interested in what else they have coming up, listen to Jason Budsock of Animal on Episode #080 of the PricePlow Podcast — a few more goodies are in store!

Note: This article was originally published on April 18, 2016 and updated on May 18, 2023.