Protein bars are an easy and convenient way to snack on the go; between meals, in the car, when you just need some extra protein or if you feel the need to curb your appetite until you can have an actual meal. The problem with protein bars is that some are actually not that healthy and many can sabotage your diet due to high levels of sugars, fat or carbohydrates. Many times the ones people grab are just as bad as candy bars just hidden in “healthy” wrappers.
When buying protein bars I always look at and consider the following:
– The calories per bar. Some can be as high as 400 per bar! If you are looking to bulk up or you just ran a marathon that might be okay for you, but for most of us that’s a huge amount of our daily caloric intake so I am always look for a protein bar that is no more than 200 calories.
– Fat: usually the protein powders and bars that taste the best have 8-10 grams of fat. I look for bars that have 0-6 grams of fat
– Sugars: I prefer to buy bars that use natural sweeteners but most of them don’t. I like the sugar grams to be low either way.
– Carbs: If the carbs come mostly from fiber and natural sugars I am okay with it being up to 30g of carbs, but only if the fiber is high. Most of the bars I like have 18-20 grams of fiber per bar.
– Ingredients list: the less ingredients on the list the better
– Protein: I want my protein bar to have a lot of protein, isn’t that the point? I want mine to have 18-22 grams of protein per bar.
I have tried dozens of protein bars and many of them fall short of expectations if they are high in calories and low in protein. I don’t want a protein bar that only has 6 grams of protein. That means I will be hungry pretty soon and that means there is little to no fiber. It is likely just a glorified candy bar. My two favorite protein bars are Quest Nutrition Bars and Oh Yeah! Nutrition Victory Bars.
Both have 20-22 grams of protein per bar
Both are under 200 calories each
Both are very high in fiber
For Quest Bars my favorite flavors are Peanut Butter & Jelly, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Vanilla Almond
For Victory Bars my favorite flavors are Cookie Dough, Peanut Butter Chip and Vanilla Almond
My fiance loves the Power Crunch bars, but those are a little higher in fat and lower in protein but they are a great snack if you have a sweet tooth. They are like vanilla wafers and we usually store these in the fridge to keep them cold – they taste so good that way. I also like the Kind bars for a granola type snack when I am hungry say when I’m out running errands because it’s not a typical protein bar, but a quick snack. Kind bars are great too because they use all natural ingredients you can see and pronounce. Usually I put protein bars in my purse, at my desk at work, in my car in the glove compartment and in my gym bag. This way I am never starving and don’t wind up stopping to pick up a bag of chips or unhealthy snack.
Connect with me on social media:
