Naked Mass Review: High Quality, But Taste Is Lacking

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I have been a supplement store manager and personal trainer for over a decade.

So, I have seen firsthand the struggle clients face when trying to find a high-quality mass gainer to help support their bulking goals. 

Often these customers want something that digests well, contains high-quality ingredients, and tastes great (since they’re taking it multiple times per day, every day). 

While it’s hard to find one product that serves each of these goals, Naked Mass comes pretty darn close. 

Key Takeaways

Honest Review Guarantee from FeastGood: Our testing team purchases each product 100% independently and uses the product for several weeks up to several months before writing a review. Learn more about our review process here.

• Naked Mass has the fewest ingredients in any weight-gaining formula we’ve seen. The fewer the ingredients, the better it will digest for most people.

• The poor taste is likely enough to deter some customers, but those who prioritize quality ingredients with no artificial flavors will appreciate its quality

• The overall value is fair, coming in at $0.50 per 100 calories. For context, other high-quality gainers, like Transparent Labs, cost $0.65 per 100 calories.

• If you value taste, look elsewhere. If you value high-quality ingredients, Naked Mass is an excellent pick. 

About Naked Nutrition

Naked Nutrition was founded by former cross country and track All-American, Stephen Zieminski. 

He felt that supplements were filled with unnecessary ingredients and wanted to create a line of products that were high quality and with a focus on improving the health of the consumers, while using as few ingredients as possible.

Naked Nutrition started with just a few single-ingredient supplements, including their unflavoured whey protein featuring only grass-fed American cows. 

• Check out our review of Naked Whey Protein Powder.

The company now has over 50 products, most of which have 3 ingredients or less. 

Having products with as few ingredients as possible has been a fundamental philosophy and a definite point of pride and distinction for the company. 

Overview of Naked Mass Gainer 

Naked Mass is a weight-gaining formula featuring over 1200 calories per serving with only 5 ingredients. 

Ingredients

• Organic tapioca maltodextrin: Maltodextrin has been shown to be beneficial for improving anaerobic exercise performance and tapioca specifically is better-tolerated among most individuals meaning it elicits little to no digestive side effects compared to other sources of maltodextrin like corn.  

• Whey protein concentrate: Whey concentrate is considered a medium-release protein, digesting at a rate of about 10g per hour). It is relatively low in carbohydrates and fats, but cheaper than whey isolate, making it an appealing option to add to protein blends.

• Micellar casein: Casein protein is a slow-digesting protein, taking between 6-8 hours to fully digest. This longer digestion time can help with protein balance throughout the day and overnight, improving muscle recovery and increasing protein synthesis.

• Organic coconut sugar: Coconut sugar comes from the sap of the coconut tree and naturally contains some nutrients like iron, zinc, and potassium which all play key roles in health and muscle function. I suspect it’s only in here to help with the flavor since it’s not found at all in the unflavoured version. 

• Natural vanilla flavoring: Natural vanilla flavoring comes from the vanilla bean, as you’d expect, and is in the formula purely to enhance the taste.

Calories & Macronutrients

Based on a single serving (330g / 4 scoops) of vanilla flavor: 

• Calories: 1260*
• Protein: 50g
• Carbohydrates: 251g
• Sugar: 58g (with 36g added sugar)
• Fat: 2.5g 

*Calorie content changes based on flavor. (Unflavored as 1250 calories, Chocolate has 1360 calories)

This is one of a few products that Naked Nutrition manufactures that has a flavoring added, and the addition of organic coconut sugar means that this product has 58g of sugar, with 36 grams of added sugar. 

Now, it’s not unusual for a weight-gaining product to have higher amounts of sugar than products like protein powders. This is how weight gainers are able to increase total calories in a very efficient way.

That being said, having 58g of sugar, 36 of which are added is incredibly high, even when compared to other types of mass gainers. 

For instance, if we compare Naked Mass to Crazy Nutrition’s Mass Gainer, we see that for slightly higher calories (1463 vs 1260), Crazy Nutrition has only 25g of sugar, less than half what Naked Mass has.

Highlights: What I Liked About Naked Mass

Naked Mass Contains High-Quality Whole-Food Ingredients

Naked Nutrition delivers on its promise of using the bare minimum quantity of high-quality ingredients. With only 5 ingredients from whole food sources, this is one of the cleanest gainers we’ve come across. 

Many other products include a variety of flavors and sweeteners, and sometimes it can be complicated to decipher the lengthy ingredient lists of other weight gainers. 

For example, the Muscletech Mass Gainer (label below) has 21 ingredients listed after their protein and carbohydrate blend, which includes a variety of gums, preservatives, and artificial sweeteners.

Naked Mass is able to make a good mixing and shelf-stable product without the use of all of these additives which take up extra space in your product where real food calories could be instead.

It was refreshing to have a product that had such a concise ingredient list from whole food sources like whey and coconut sugar.

Mixes Well With a Blender

When a blender is used, Naked Mass has a nice creamy and frothy texture. 

We found that there was minimal clumping, even when a regular shaker cup was used. 

With a blender, the product mixed up completely and the frothy texture made Naked Mass feel more satisfying without feeling “heavy” in the stomach, despite being really calorie-dense.

Third-party Tested

Though the lab won’t allow them to disclose the testing results, Naked Nutrition guarantees that their products are independently third-party tested to ensure quality and quantity.

According to the FAQ page on their website, Naked Nutrition uses a third-party lab located in the United States to test all of their products. 

Unlike Transparent Labs Mass Gainer though, Naked Nutrition does not disclose the test results to the public.

Easy to Identify Allergens 

For anybody with allergies or sensitivities (excluding milk), this is probably a great option. With only 3-5 total ingredients, depending on the flavor, it is easy to identify potential allergens. 

This product is made without gluten-containing ingredients and is tested for gluten to make sure it falls within a safe range. 

Because it doesn’t have ingredients that can cause potential digestive upset, it is less likely to come with negative gastrointestinal side effects.   

• Naked Mass Gainer made our list as one of the Best Unflavored Powders (check out our full review)
• Also, check out Naked Energy Review: All-Natural, But Underdosed (Results).

Drawbacks: What I Didn’t Like About Naked Mass 

Cost – Not The Most Expensive, Not The Cheapest 

Naked Mass costs around $0.50 per 100 calories. Other products in a similar price range have better flavors and added ingredients for improved exercise performance and recovery. 

It is incredibly difficult to gauge the cost of a weight gainer between brands because there are so many different factors like serving size, calorie content, and added ingredients. We found the best way to do this is to average the cost out per 100 calories, leveling the playing field. 

Naked mass costs $69.99 for an 11-serving container (each serving at 1260 calories). This works out to 50 cents per hundred calories that you are paying for this product. 

Compare that to Transparent labs Mass Gainer, another high-quality option that is flavored is $0.65 per 100 calories. While it is more expensive, it tastes great and has added fiber and creatine in its formula with much less added sugar.

If we look at other products in a similar price range, like Mutant Mass ($0.45 per 100 calories) and Optimum Nutrition Serious Mass ($0.55 per 100 calories), they feature a variety of added ingredients to help enhance performance and recovery like creatine, glutamine, or tart cherry. 

High Sugar Content

Naked Mass (Vanilla and Chocolate) contains 58 total grams of sugar with 36g of added sugar, which is exceptionally high both in the weight gainer category and in general. 

For reference, one can of coke has 35g of sugar.

This product has more sugar than any product I’ve seen on the shelf. The next highest I could find was 20g of total sugar, with most brands falling between 5g and 10g. 

According to the American Heart Association, the upper limit for daily sugar intake should be around 36g for men and 25g for women. This means that one serving of Naked Mass contains your full daily sugar intake (or 44% more, for females).

Anecdotally, most of my customers come in looking specifically for products that are low in sugar. 

I understand that Naked Nutrition has added sugars to avoid the use of artificial flavors or sweeteners in their products, but given that the product has an undesirable taste anyways, I feel like it’s a wasted addition and might turn some customers away. 

Taste

Even though it’s “vanilla” flavored, it isn’t an enjoyable taste. We tried it mixed in water, milk, and smoothies with fruit and peanut butter added and it still wasn’t enjoyable.

I feel like all the added sugar mentioned above was a waste because it didn’t enhance the flavor of the product, and the product didn’t taste very sweet. 

Since you have to flavor this product anyways, I would just buy the unflavoured option which has 21g of sugar per serving and 0 added sugars and features only three ingredients (tapioca maltodextrin, whey protein concentrate, and casein protein)

Naked Mass Weight Gainer Review: My Experience

First and foremost – it doesn’t taste good. I’m a bit more accustomed to “not great” tasting products than others. Having managed a store for over a decade, I have been around for quite a while and remember when products tasted really awful.

I asked my hubby to try it and his feedback was: 

“Well. It’s not BAD, but it’s definitely not good”. 

We tried to add things like peanut butter and blueberries to enhance the flavor, but there was an underlying taste from the powder that broke through everything we tried to add.

While I appreciate the quality and transparency when it comes to ingredients that Naked Nutrition offers, I wouldn’t be repurchasing the vanilla mass gainer simply on the taste alone. 

Being so high in sugar, and still not tasting good, if I did rebuy this product I would likely just get the unflavoured version.

I have to add extra ingredients like fruit to make it palatable, so I’d rather skip the added sugars and go unflavored. 

On the Naked Mass label and website, it says: “Mix four scoops into 24oz of milk or your favorite beverage. Add other tasty, calorie-dense ingredients for taste as Naked Mass is unflavoured.”

If we do some quick math:

• 4 scoops Naked Mass = 1250 Calories
• 3 cups 1% Milk = 309 calories
• Total: 1559 total calories per serving

If you add other ingredients like fruit or peanut butter (100 calories per tbsp) as recommended, you can be looking at a 1700-2000 calorie shake.

For perspective’s sake, one Medium Pepperoni Pizza from Little Caesars is 1590 calories. 

I’m not saying that Little Caesar’s pizza is a better option by any means, but I am saying that 1600+ calories in one sitting is a lot, and you might not feel great afterward. 

The recommendation I make to my clients and customers (and that I am making to you) is to space your servings out over the course of the day, rather than taking it all in at once. 

I also found Naked Nutrition’s recommendation of mixing Naked Mass with 3 cups (24oz) of liquid hard to manage. 

My biggest shaker cups maxed out at 24oz, so I had to bring out my big high-powered blender, mix everything, and then distribute it into smaller cups. 

This resulted in one cup sitting for a period of time and the product separated and lost the nice frothy texture that was created in the blender. 

Ultimately, this brings me back to my initial recommendation – split the four scoops out over the course of the day rather than trying to make and consume them all at once.

Because the majority of their products are unflavored or have minimal flavoring added, the company claims that “you control the flavor and your nutrition by what you choose to add to Naked Proteins and supplements”. 

It’s an interesting notion, but it means that many of the products will not have the convenience of being added to a shaker cup and taken on the go, but will require additional steps like blending in fruits or nut butter. 

How Does Naked Mass Stack Up Against Our Criteria For Mass Gainers

At FeastGood, we have 9 different criteria for ranking whey protein powders.  Here’s how Naked Mass stacked up:

Nutrition Label Transparency 

Our rating: 5/5

This is where Naked Mass (and Naked Nutrition as a company) really shine. Their labels are clean, easy to decipher, and clearly state all ingredients.

You don’t have to hunt for ingredients and allergens or wonder if your product is using amino acids in place of complete proteins. 

Quality Ingredients 

Our rating: 4/5

Overall, Naked Nutrition as a company deserves nearly a 5-star rating for using only the highest quality ingredients and minimizing unnecessary ones. We are docking a point from Naked Mass Vanilla specifically for the high amount of added sugar. 

Protein Percent of Calories

Our rating: 2.5/5

Protein makes up 16% of the total calories found in Naked Mass (200 out of 1250 total calories). Other products in a similar price point offer between 20 and 25% protein per serving. 

A high-quality weight gainer will offer more than 15g of protein per scoop. Naked Mass offers 12.5g, falling just shy of our criteria for a high-quality option. 

A typical macronutrient split for a weight-gaining diet will include around 30% of your total calories from protein. 

Carb-to-Protein Ratio

Our rating: 3/5

The optimal carb-to-protein ratio for workout recovery is around 4:1. With a ratio above 5:1, Naked Mass is pushed over the high end of carbohydrate content. 

A 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein means you want 4g of carbohydrates for every 1g of protein. Less serious lifters might opt for a 3:1 or 2:1 ratio, where the 4:1 ratio is generally reserved for the highest-performing and competing athletes. 

Having a ratio above 4:1 means you are likely overconsuming carbohydrates, and under consuming protein or healthy fats which can have negative effects on health and muscle growth. 

This high ratio can be offset by adding extra protein and healthy fats throughout your day, but might require more thought-out planning. 

Taste/flavor

Our rating: 1/5

For all that we like about Naked Mass, we don’t like the taste. Even when mixed with milk, or with fruit and peanut butter mixed in, the taste left a lot to be desired. 

In fairness, we only sampled the vanilla flavor of Naked Mass. It’s not likely that the unflavoured option is any better, but the chocolate flavor may be redeeming. 

Our experience with Naked Whey leads us to believe that the flavor is probably going to be the same across the board.

Mixability

Our rating: 3/5

When blended as recommended on the label, the product mixes up smoothly and frothy. When shaken by hand, there were some small leftover clumps. 

The company itself recommends using a blender and adding hard-to-mix ingredients like peanut butters, so this product doesn’t have great grab-and-go appeal and will require more thorough effort to mix it up. 

Texture (Thick or Thin)

Our rating: Relatively Thin

Considering how calorie dense this product is, we expected it to mix up quite thickly. It mixed up more like a traditional protein powder with a thinner consistency. 

Satiety

Our rating: 4/5

When taken on its own with water or milk, the satiety effect was only about an hour or so. When mixed into a smoothie with berries and peanut butter, the effect was more prolonged. 

Full disclosure: I never drank an entire recommended (4-scoop) serving in one go. I know for a fact that my body wouldn’t tolerate 1500 calories in one sitting. 

I did try a 2 scoop serving, blended with milk, blueberries, and peanut butter though. When used as breakfast, it did a good job of keeping me full through until lunchtime. 

Cost

Our rating: 3/5 

Naked Mass comes in at right around $0.50 per 100 calories. Because this product contains no added ingredients (like creatine or extra amino acids), the cost is purely spent on calories.

Naked Mass falls pretty well right in the middle as far as cost per 100 calories (the easiest way we’ve found to level the playing field for weight gainers who have insane variety in their formulas. 

There are some products, like Crazy Nutrition Mass Gainer, which come in at around $0.97 per 100 calories, making Naked Mass look like a great bargain. 

On the other hand, other products with a similar calorie content and price point contain added ingredients for muscle growth and recovery like creatine, which would otherwise have to be purchased separately. 

Who Is Naked Mass For? 

• Someone looking for a weight gainer with premium ingredients

• Someone with a gluten allergy

• Those who prefer no artificial flavors and sweeteners

Who Shouldn’t Take Naked Mass?

• Someone looking for a gainer that tastes great just mixed with water or milk

• Someone with a dairy allergy 

Naked Mass Customer Reviews

As always, I scoured the internet to see what customers thought of Naked Mass. 

I’ll be honest here – I didn’t expect the reviews to be as high as they were! 

It has an overall rating of 4.5/5 on Amazon.com based on just over 3400 reviews, with a lot of the reviews crediting the product for its high quality, clean ingredients. 

We have seen a lot of people traditionally rate poor-tasting protein powders quite low, but most consumers of this product seemed to appreciate the lack of unnecessary ingredients like thickeners and artificial sweeteners and were willing to give it a high rating because of it. 

Many customers also found the product to be very effective at helping them gain weight. 

One enthusiastic customer claimed to have gained 3kg in a matter of weeks using Naked Mass.  

Another found the product helped her regain the weight that she lost while going through medical treatments.

Here’s a quick breakdown of Naked Mass user ratings out of 5 stars:

• 5 stars: 74% 
• 4 stars: 11%
• 3 stars: 8%
• 2 stars: 3%
• 1 star: 4%

The negative reviews have to do mostly with issues relating to Amazon itself or product availability, such as the wrong flavor arriving (the customer ordered vanilla and got unflavoured), or the product not being available in the UK.

A lot of the one-star reviews relate to the same issues we identified above. Some mention its poor taste but most people who left negative reviews were appalled when they realized how high the sugar content was. 

Naked Nutrition Promotions & Discounts

The only discounts we found currently available for Naked Nutrition products is through the subscribe and save features on Amazon and NakedNutrition.com.

Naked Nutrition offers a 20% off discount on your first purchase, and 10% off all subsequent purchases with their subscribe and save feature. You can set up your subscription in 1, 2, or 3-month intervals. 

Amazon offers a subscribe and save feature, where you can save 5% off your order. You can set up your deliveries to be anything from 2-week intervals to 6-month intervals. 

At the bottom of their website, they have a box for you to enter your e-mail that reads “News. Discounts. Giveaways.” so it’s possible that you can also get exclusive access to deals and discount codes by signing up for their newsletter.

Where To Buy Naked Mass? 

Naked Mass can be bought directly from NakedNutrition.com, or from Amazon.com. 

Both websites only offer an 8lb size, and you can choose from chocolate, vanilla, or unflavoured. 

Naked Mass Alternatives? 

Transparent Labs Mass Gainer

For the consumer who is wanting to avoid artificial flavors, sweeteners, and colors, Transparent Labs offers a great-tasting weight gainer. 

It is available in both Chocolate Glazed Donut and Sweet Vanilla flavours, and has 0g of added sugar and 0g of total sugar, compared to Naked Mass’s 35g and 58g respectively. 

Transparent Labs has also added some healthy fats, fibre, and 3g of creatine monohydrate to their blend.

Rival Nutrition Clean Gainer

If you’re willing to accept artificial sweeteners and want a great-tasting, low-sugar weight gainer then consider Clean Gainer by Rival Nutrition. 

Available in a variety of flavors from chocolate and vanilla to cookies and cream, chocolate peanut butter, s’mores, and cinnamon toast cereal, this one is a fan favorite. 

It mixes easily and tastes great even with just milk or water, with only 18g of sugar and 9g of added sugar for a 4-scoop serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Is Naked Mass Made? 

Naked Nutrition products are made in the USA using whey from grass-fed Northern California and Idaho cows and Pea from raw yellow peas grown in the USA and Canada.

What Is Naked Nutrition’s Shipping Policy? 

Naked Nutrition ships all products within the U.S. and ships select products to the UK and Canada. With standard shipping, you can expect your order in 5-7 business or as soon as 2-3 business days with expedited shipping. 

What Is Naked Nutrition’s Return Policy? 

Unopened and unused items can be returned within 14 days for a full refund or exchange (less shipping charges). You can submit return requests through questions@nakednutrition.com, calling 855-964-0970, or using the e-chat feature on the website. 

Is Naked Mass Third Party Tested? 

As per their FAQ Page, Naked Nutrition uses a third-party lab located in the United States to test their products. The results of these tests are not disclosed. 

Is Naked Mass Good For Weight Loss? 

Being both high in calorie and high in sugar and carbs, this product is not recommended for weight loss. 

Is Naked Mass Keto Friendly? 

Naked Mass is not keto-friendly as it contains a very high amount of carbs, sugar, and added sugar. 

Is Naked Mass Gluten Free? 

Naked Mass is gluten-free, and Naked Nutrition tests for gluten in its products. 

What Are The Best Ways To Mix Naked Mass? 

Naked Mass is best mixed using a portable or high-powered blender. They recommend adding fruits or nut butter for more flavor and calories, which can’t be mixed using a traditional shaker cup. 

What Flavors Are Available For Naked Mass? 

Naked Mass is available in unflavoured as well as vanilla and chocolate flavors. 

Does Naked Mass Make You Gain Weight? 

Naked Mass is a high-calorie, high-carbohydrate protein blend and will be a good addition to support weight gain and increase lean mass (when combined with an exercise program). 

Can you use Naked Mass as A Meal Replacement? 

Naked Mass has enough calories to constitute a meal, but it is low in fat and would require the addition of some healthy fats like avocado or peanut butter to balance it out.

When Is The Best Time To Take Naked Mass? 

Naked Mass can be taken any time of day and we recommend spreading out the 4 scoops over several servings. The high carb content makes it a great option pre- or post-workout and the casein protein makes it a nice option before bed.

How To Contact Naked Nutrition

Naked Nutrition has a contact page that you can use for any questions or concerns. 

They can also be reached at 855-964-0970 Monday through Friday from 9am-5pm EST, or e-mailed at questions@nakednutrition.com

Find Naked Nutrition online on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube.

References

Astina, J., Saphyakhajorn, W., Borompichaichartkul, C., & Sapwarobol, S. (2022). Tapioca Resistant Maltodextrin as a Carbohydrate Source of Oral Nutrition Supplement (ONS) on Metabolic Indicators: A Clinical Trial. Nutrients, 14(5), 916. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14050916

Res PT, Groen B, Pennings B, Beelen M, Wallis GA, Gijsen AP, Senden JM, VAN Loon LJ. Protein ingestion before sleep improves postexercise overnight recovery. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2012 Aug;44(8):1560-9. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e31824cc363. PMID: 22330017.

Kerksick, C., Harvey, T., Stout, J. et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: Nutrient timing. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 5, 17 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1186/1550-2783-5-17