Pea Protein vs Brown Rice Protein
Pea protein and brown rice protein look like twins on the vegan supplement shelf, but under the scoop they behave more like complementary sparring partners. Pea starts strong with a digestible indispensable amino acid score that hit 1.00 in a 2022 human ileal-tube trial—meaning it meets every essential amino need without help. *
Brown rice marches in with 36 percent essential amino acids and 18 percent branched-chains, yet its lysine sits low enough that its DIAAS stalls around 0.60–0.70 in most analyses. *
Muscle performance evens the field. Eight weeks of post-workout rice protein at 48 g matched whey for lean-mass and strength gains in trained men—proof grain protein can flex when dosed high. *
Pea has similar bragging rights: a 12-week curl-centric study showed pea isolate packed as much biceps thickness as whey at 25 g per serving. *
Texture tilts the shaker. Pea’s legume grit thickens shakes but can taste earthy; rice drinks lighter, bordering chalky, and plays nicer with fruity add-ins. Both are hypoallergenic compared with soy or dairy, but rice wins the FODMAP vote for ultra-sensitive guts because most fermentable carbs wash away during isolation. Heavy-metal risk is similar—third-party tests matter for both.
Where one falls short, the other patches holes. Rice supplies sulfur amino acids like methionine; pea back-fills lysine. A 2025 food-chemistry paper found steam-infused rice-chickpea blends boosted protein digestibility to 89 percent and smoothed functional texture—a lab hint at why commercial tubs mix the two. *
Practical takeaways land on your shopping list.
- Naked Pea Protein: One ingredient, 27 g protein, DIAAS-verified quality—perfect if you just want to spike oats or smoothies and control every other macro yourself.
- Garden of Life Raw Organic Protein: Sprouted pea plus brown rice with probiotics and enzymes so the two proteins arrive pre-acquainted and easy on digestion.
- Orgain Organic Plant-Based Protein Powder: Budget-friendly blend of pea and brown rice that nails 21 g protein per scoop and drinks like a milkshake after five seconds in the blender.
Bottom line: pea protein wins the quality scorecard and packs more leucine per gram, while brown rice offers a lighter mouthfeel and methionine backup. Use pea when you need a single-ingredient heavy hitter, rice when your stomach wants something gentler, and a pea-rice duo when you’d rather stop thinking about amino ratios altogether. Either way, dose at least 25 g post-workout, keep total daily protein above 1.6 g/kg body weight, and let the numbers—not marketing—decide which green scoop fuels your next PR.