[Jones]

Commercial Protein Bars: Datasheet

I wanted to know more about the little bundles of sugar I had been buying after doing some research on protein bars.

Am I consuming a lot of sugar, and just eating shit? Am I being deceived by packaging? What is the best protein bar? What is absolute trash and should be never eaten by any self-respecting person ever again?

I complied a mix of protein bars to find the best of bunch on the market.

The best course of action is to make your own.

But if you want to know more about commercial protein bars and if there are any good options for you, then read on.

Flavours I've tried are in brackets.

Prices all range from $2-$4 (CANADIAN! - although you can order online from their respective websites).

ProMax (Cookies 'n Cream) 75g



- 280 calories, 20g of protein, 1g of Fibre, 30g of Sugar, 41g of Carbs

Never again. Even when taking into account it has 15 more grams, it has 30g of sugar, worse than the PowerBar below, and almost non-existent fibre. Contains soy protein isolate, soybean, and soy lecithin, all terrible for men. This is a chocolate bar in protein bar clothing.

Verdict: F. Stay the fuck away boys.

PowerBar: Protein Plus (Peanut Butter Chocolate Flavour) 60g



- 210 calories - 20g protein, 4g of Fibre, 12g of Sugar, 7g of Sugar Alcohol, 25g of Carbs.

12g of sugar and only 4g Fibre pales in comparison to better options. The 7g of sugar alcohol doesn't help either. "Gluten-Free" it says on the wrapper, but that's a participation ribbon at this point. Soy protein isolate is used in combination with calcium caseinate and whey protein isolate. Soy and soy lecithin is also used.

Verdict: D- . Stay away! Eat if you dare!

OhYeah!: One (White Chocolate Raspberry) 60g



- 220 calories, 22g of protein, 10g of Fibre, 1g of Sugar, 11g of Sugar Alcohol, 23g of Carbs

This is the middle of the pack. The 10g fibre is a nice touch, low in sugar, 22g of protein. But 11g of sugar alcohols, 5g of saturated fat, and it uses soy like the previous bars. That cripples this bar's potential as a great bar. Get rid of the soy and replace the sugar alcohols, and this vastly improves. Still a better option than ProMax and Power Bar.

Verdict: C-. Less sugar, more fibre, more protein, but has some major flaws.

Pure Protein (Chocolate Peanut Butter) 50g



- 200 calories, 20g of Protein, 1g of Fibre, 2g of Sugar, 6g of Sugar Alcohols, 16g of Carbs

Lower in total sugar than previous bars, also lower in carbs. It's low in fibre but that's not a deal-breaker by any means. What is however, is it's soy protein isolate and soy lecithin. This one issue holds it back from being a great bar.

Verdict: C+. It's a good (soy) protein bar - if you have a vagina. Otherwise, it's okay, but not the best commercial option.

Quest Bars (Cookies & Cream, Chocolate Brownie, S'Mores, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, White Chocolate Raspberry) 60g



- 190-210 calories, 20-21g Protein, 12-15g of Fibre, 1g of Sugar, 1-2g of Erythritol (S'mores flavour - 5g), 20-22g of Carbs

Best of the bunch. No soy found in ingredients. Erythritol is better than sugar alcohols - 60-70% as sweet as sugar, does not affect blood sugar levels, tooth decay, and 0.2 calories per gram (95% less than a gram of sugar). Of the flavours I've tried, Chocolate Brownie is the best - 15g of Fibre, only 1g of Saturated Fat (others have 2.5-3g).

Verdict: B+. And it doesn't get higher because the best protein bars are the ones you can make yourself. If you're not (or for some reason can't) making your own protein bars, go with these, they're the best alternative.

Most commercial protein bars range from just okay to KitKat or Snickers bar territory. It was hard to find commercial bars that do not contain soy, soy lecithin, and soy protein isolate, and that also do not contain copious amounts of sugar. Go with Quest bars if you choose to buy your protein bars.

If anyone has found better (or worse) bars, add it to the thread and keep the discussion going.

SparkRecipes has plenty of homemade recipes found here

[Steelex]

They're all crap except for the meadows bar, which contains more whole foods.

[SlickyBoy]

The Quest Bars are definitely the best of what you've got listed. For an actual energy bar, it isn't bad. Energy bars used to taste terrible and their formulations weren't all that hot (like the positively awful tasting, chews like rawhide original Power Bar).

It's only recently there's been better tasting bars with a respectable amount of fiber and fewer carbs. Most of what's out there is tons of protein packed with sugar and sky-high carbs. Might as well have a candy bar.

The companies who make these things are full of crap. There was one years ago called the Steel Bar which tasted so good one guy sent it to a lab for analysis - it had WAY more sugar than what was listed on the label. It got reformulated but even so it looks to be long gone.

I've never tried to make my own but that might be worth a shot. I think you're more likely to get a better formula through some of the powdered drink mixes but even then you need to be careful.

[Hannibal]

I recommend two other ones.

Supreme Protein Bars. I find these at Walmart for $2 per bar. These are a great deal and the macros are fairly solid for a fast snack.

I don't ever buy a box of these, I just buy the big bars individually, they have them laid out in a large stack on the shelf. Sometimes I'll clear a whole row of the ones I like (like peanut butter and jelly flavored).






The other one are the MetRX protein bars. I can also find these for $2 a bar, sometimes $2.50 at the local Walmart. The ones I get are known as the Big Colossal 100 bars and they come in great flavors like cookie dough.

Definitely check the nutritional labels on these. Met RX was started by a bodybuilder who was tired of buying bullshit protein bars and shakes with soy in them, so he made them with whey. The company was bought out and they silently changed the recipe to use mainly soy as the protein source. They then changed it back after people quit buying them. Depending on where you live you might still have the shitty Met RX bars. If you don't, buy em up, they're fucking delicious.





As always, check the nutritional label! If you see soy protein in the first four or five ingredients, stay away.

[Hannibal]

I am also very interested in any protein bar recipes you might have.

I've tried them in the past and they all look like sticky lumps of dog shit.

[Sidney Crosby]

The Cliff builders bars taste good and are pretty cheap if you buy them in bulk at Costco, although they do contain quite a bit of sugar and salt.

[Balkan]

I've tried nearly every protein bar out there. Around 8 years ago, my stable was pure protein but I always found the taste mediocre and they gave me gas. Around 5 years ago, I switched to supreme/oh yeah bars. They tasted great but had a large dose of sugar/sugar alcohols depending on which type you bought. Also, were on the pricier end (^although I guess you can find them for $2/each) In the last 3 years, I've stayed with quest and power crunch bars. Quest macros are near impossible to beat. Quest bars can be bought for $2.30 each and ~$2 each in bulk. Power crunch $1.50 each and $1.30 in bulk.

Quest Macros
9g fat
14 fiber
6g net carb
2g erythritol
21 protein

Power Crunch Macros
12g fat
1g fiber
9 g net carb
5g sugar
13g protein

Power crunch macros aren't stellar but they taste great and are relatively low in sugar. I always filter protein bars by scoping their protein to net carb ratio. Ideally you have 1:1 or 1:<1 Using this logic I'd have the above supreme bar but not the metrx or builder. High fiber is a plus. High sugar, as well as high sugar alcohols are negatives. If you get an upset stomach from sugar free gum, then some super high sugar alcohol bars will fuck you up.

[redbeard]

Best protein bar?

No protein bar. Suck it up and make a shake. Bring a blender bottle with you. No excuses. When you buy in bulk a scoop of whey is what....$0.90? Cheap, no artificial sweeteners, all killer no filler.


Edit: Jones that's $0.90 real money, not monopoly money

[Thomas the Rhymer]

I think most people struggle in visualising how much sugar is as a quantity in terms of grams.

I tell people to remember that 4 grams of sugar is the equivalent of one teaspoon of sugar.

So that first protein bar, with its 30g of sugar, contains 7.5 teaspoons of sugar. The last protein bar, with 1g of sugar, contains 1/4 of a teaspoon of sugar.

The emerging medical consensus is that the human body can tolerate about 3-4 teaspoons of refined sugar per day (that's not per serving, that's per day. So if you put 3 teaspoons of sugar in your coffee, you've used up most of your daily allotment already). Anything more than that seems to trigger fat production and insulin resistance. (It is an emerging consensus, so the figure may change as more data is studied.)

For anyone interested in the science of the harmful effects of refined sugar, I strongly recommend this fantastic article:
http://openheart.bmj.com/content/openhrt...7.full.pdf

[komatiite]

Thomas that is pretty interesting and a good goal to aim towards, max 12-16 grams of refined sugar per day. I was surprised how quick this adds up, I sometimes add a dollop of BBQ sauce to my chicken breasts at lunch and that is 13g right there, lucky I have eliminated alcohols, dessert, soda and sugar in coffee -- it adds up quick. This doesn't include natural sugar like Berries and fruit right? Strictly refined sugar? The article doesn't mention fruit or other "natural" sugar sources like for example Plain Greek yogurt.

[Vill@in]

Thanks for this write up. I was actually wondering about this very subject yesterday.

I bought a Cliff Bar yesterday before my workout and only ate half of it because I kept thinking about all the sugar (and other crap) I was eating.

I'll stick to Quest Bars (which are luckily sold here at work) from now one if I need it.

[Ringo]

(01-18-2017 07:24 PM)Hannibal Wrote:  

I am also very interested in any protein bar recipes you might have.

I've tried them in the past and they all look like sticky lumps of dog shit.

(01-18-2017 08:32 PM)redbeard Wrote:  

Best protein bar?

No protein bar. Suck it up and make a shake.

I've tried many different homemade protein bars and I came up with one (kind of obvious) conclusion: they can be exactly the same as a shake, just with different proportions.

Like I often make a thick shake with:
- Whey
- Water or milk
- Banana (frozen, for consistency)
- Oats (depending on macros)
- Peanut butter

I also used to make no-bake protein bars by mixing:
- Whey
- Water (just a small splash)
- Oats
- Peanut butter
- Cacao powder

So shakes and bars are not that different, it's more a matter of how much liquid you allow in which.

The medium between them is a sludge, which is just slightly more hydrated than a bar should be before refrigeration.



Look up recipes online and you'll see they are usually very similar in method, just with different ingredients to suit macros and tastes.

Low Carb Lab: Beat Your Cravings With These 50 Low-Carb Protein Bar Recipes
Muscle for Life: 20 Healthy Protein Bar Recipes So Good It Feels Wrong

You should aim to have:
- Protein powder (whey, casein, pea). Obviously, the protein part.
- Some type of oil and/or butter (coconut oil or peanut, almond, cashew butter). This will make it creamy and supply good fats.
- Some type of liquid (water, cow's milk, vegetable or nut milk). The liquid is what brings everything together.
- Some type of flour, powder or extra protein powder (coconut or oat flour; cacao powder; cinnamon). This will dry up the batter and make it possible to turn the sludge into bar (it can also add to the flavor, depending on what you choose)

That's it - everything else is optional and can be tailored according to personal preference: raw oats (carbs and fiber), nuts (fats and protein), shredded coconut (fat), vanilla extract (taste), and so on.

If I'm making the bars above, here's my method:

I start by calculating how much protein powder I want in them. Let's say I'm making 5 bars with 1 scoop of protein powder each. Put that in one bowl.

Then, I'll put something like 1Tb peanut butter in each bar. To mix everything better, I'll separate wet and dry ingredients, so 5Tb in a different bowl.

Then, I want to put 1/4 Cup oats in each bar, so I'll mix 5*1/4 cup oats to the protein powder.

Throw in another 2Tb cacao powder with the dry ingredients to give it that nice, bitter, chocolate flavor.

Mix the dry, then throw them on top of the wet and mix. It should be very thick and hard to mix - might have to do it by hand.

From then, just add your liquid (whichever your macros allow, just be warned that cow's milk is more susceptible to spoiling) splash by splash. Don't put too much liquid at once - only the bare minimum.

Either make them into bars and refrigerate, or put the batter on a mold and cut afterwards. Super easy.

[Thomas the Rhymer]

(01-19-2017 09:34 AM)komatiite Wrote:  

Thomas that is pretty interesting and a good goal to aim towards, max 12-16 grams of refined sugar per day. I was surprised how quick this adds up, I sometimes add a dollop of BBQ sauce to my chicken breasts at lunch and that is 13g right there, lucky I have eliminated alcohols, dessert, soda and sugar in coffee -- it adds up quick. This doesn't include natural sugar like Berries and fruit right? Strictly refined sugar? The article doesn't mention fruit or other "natural" sugar sources like for example Plain Greek yogurt.

The article does mention it, I copied and pasted the relevant section:

Quote:

A CRITICAL DIETARY CAVEAT
Importantly, it is likely only added fructose and other sugars (eg, as found in processed foods and sugary beverages) that may be a problem. Naturally occurring sugars, including fructose, seem to be benign in their
usual biological context (ie, in the context of accompanying water,
fibre, and other carbohydrates, or even fats and proteins as in many whole plant foods). In fact, in one trial, switching from a Western diet, to a diet containing approximately 20 servings of whole fruit significantly decreased systolic blood pressure, despite a fructose intake of approximately 200 g. Moreover, a study randomising 131 patients to two low added-fructose diets (a low-fructose diet of <20 g/day, and a
moderate-fructose diet of 50 70 g/day including natural sources like fruits) showed comparable improvements from baseline in blood pressure, lipids, serum glucose, insulin resistance, uric acid, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and quality of life score.

In plain English: for reasons not yet understood, refined sugar raises blood pressure and cholesterol, but naturally occurring sugar does not. As mentioned in the study, 200g of fruit sugar seemed to cause no harm.

Note that by 'natural' fruit sugar, it is meant that it has to be within a whole fruit - fruit smoothies and fruit juices don't count. Fruit sugar is safe when eaten, not when drunk.

Note that this is just current scientific knowledge, and science changes as more data comes in, so I'd urge to exercise moderation and not stuff excess amounts of fruit into your face.

But yes, the 12 - 16 gram daily recommended limit is strictly for refined sugar only, it doesn't include fruit. That said, I know of medical people who are passionate about the idea that the only safe amount of refined sugar is zero.

For comparison, an interesting fact, also from the article: the average western diet contains 100 - 200 grams of refined sugar (up to 50 teaspoons!). No wonder there is an obesity and diabetes epidemic!

[komatiite]

Cool thanks, I just scanned the paper over breakfast, obviously I should have read more carefully. I'm confused about what you mean by smoothies -- I drink tons of them daily where I blend protein powder, whole frozen berries and spinach and water to reduce viscosity. By smoothies do you just mean if one were to add like a bottle of fruit juice instead of water? Like what they do at those food court smoothie bars? Or does blending frozen berries count as "drinking sugar"

[Jones]

(01-18-2017 08:32 PM)redbeard Wrote:  

Best protein bar?

No protein bar. Suck it up and make a shake. Bring a blender bottle with you. No excuses. When you buy in bulk a scoop of whey is what....$0.90? Cheap, no artificial sweeteners, all killer no filler.


Edit: Jones that's $0.90 real money, not monopoly money

Yeah protein shake instead protein bar is the way to go.

Protein bars are a nice additive every now and again, a healthy protein "dessert" to treat yourself. Not a go-to source.

(01-19-2017 11:05 AM)graffix13 Wrote:  

Thanks for this write up. I was actually wondering about this very subject yesterday.

I bought a Cliff Bar yesterday before my workout and only ate half of it because I kept thinking about all the sugar (and other crap) I was eating.

I'll stick to Quest Bars (which are luckily sold here at work) from now one if I need it.

Same reaction with a few bars I was eating.

And I ate those over a few months. The worst of the bunch just to try once so I'd know what people are eating and to have an opinion.

You only need to look at the wrapper to really know what you're getting yourself into though.

The Quest bars were probably the worst tasting, yet best for you of the bunch.

Ringo and Thomas, good shit there on making your own protein bars and just how bad refined sugar is for you.

[Thomas the Rhymer]

(01-19-2017 01:23 PM)komatiite Wrote:  

Cool thanks, I just scanned the paper over breakfast, obviously I should have read more carefully. I'm confused about what you mean by smoothies -- I drink tons of them daily where I blend protein powder, whole frozen berries and spinach and water to reduce viscosity. By smoothies do you just mean if one were to add like a bottle of fruit juice instead of water? Like what they do at those food court smoothie bars? Or does blending frozen berries count as "drinking sugar"

If you throw fruit in a blender, it breaks up the fibre of the fruit. Although it's still a bit unclear, at the moment it appears that it is the fibre that is the critical component that alters the absorption of fruit sugar.

Fibre appears to cause fruit sugars to be released into the body as a slow trickle, instead of a flood - this slowness of absorption appears to be why fruit sugar doesn't disturb the body's insulin balance.

Blending breaks up the fibre into smaller pieces and appears to reduce the effectiveness of the fibre at controlling sugar absorption.

That said, I couldn't find any scientific research papers into this area, so maybe some smart guys will figure the exact details out in future.

But for now, I'd say the medical consensus is: if you blend fruit into a smoothie, you should consider the sugar released to be 'refined' sugar due to the loss of efficacy of the fibre. Therefore count the sugar content of the smoothie as part of your refined sugar intake, and adjust the rest of your diet accordingly.

[komatiite]

Thanks for taking the time to clarify that Thomas. I guess this can go back to the eternal question of Jucing vs Smoothies and associated sugar levels when you take out the fibre via Juicing. Didn't realize that blending had such a big effect on fibre, I figured that chewing it was equivalent of blending but obviously a Vitamix will purée the fibre much more than chewing. I'll just add more greens to my smoothies from now on and just a small scoop of berries, I had been adding too much either way. .anyways, sorry for derailing the thread, back to protein bars!

[Maxzilla]

Do they sell Quest Bars at Costco ? ))

[Shimmy]

The best are Kirkland brand protein bars that they sell at Costco. It's about $18 usd for a box of 20 and have the same calories, nutritional stats, and ingredients as quest bars. They also taste as good as quest bars. If I had to guess I would say Quest produces the bars for costco under different flavors so they are different. It's no secret that there isn't a kirkland factory making these protein bars. The costco ones are all natural (no sucralose) and only 4 of the flavors of quest bars out of the 20+ they make are sucralose free.






/endofthread

[J. Spice]

While whey is best for post-workout, I prefer one of these as a snack:

[Harvey Specter]

(01-19-2017 11:23 PM)Thomas the Rhymer Wrote:  

If you throw fruit in a blender, it breaks up the fibre of the fruit. Although it's still a bit unclear, at the moment it appears that it is the fibre that is the critical component that alters the absorption of fruit sugar.

Fibre appears to cause fruit sugars to be released into the body as a slow trickle, instead of a flood - this slowness of absorption appears to be why fruit sugar doesn't disturb the body's insulin balance.

Blending breaks up the fibre into smaller pieces and appears to reduce the effectiveness of the fibre at controlling sugar absorption.

That said, I couldn't find any scientific research papers into this area, so maybe some smart guys will figure the exact details out in future.

But for now, I'd say the medical consensus is: if you blend fruit into a smoothie, you should consider the sugar released to be 'refined' sugar due to the loss of efficacy of the fibre. Therefore count the sugar content of the smoothie as part of your refined sugar intake, and adjust the rest of your diet accordingly.

It doesn't appear to be quite that simple. Here is a pretty good video about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_tN7NQgtR8

[Easy_C]

Also, some of those have dietary side effects. I've found that both Power Bars and Cliff Bars result in noxious farts. As bad as trapped in a kennel of dogs fed on a Taco Bell diet bad.

[Vaun]

(01-18-2017 07:29 PM)Sidney Crosby Wrote:  

The Cliff builders bars taste good and are pretty cheap if you buy them in bulk at Costco, although they do contain quite a bit of sugar and salt.

I've been eating one of these for breakfast for years. IMHO they are the best bars on the market. Quest is popular but they tend to taste very dry to me.

[xmlenigma]

Not sure if anyone tried this..

My mom makes a "date" & "almonds" + nuts based thingy thats chopped into flat bite sized pieces..

Another variation was Soaked & ground paste of Fennel seeds.. could be done with various other seeds/nuts like almond etc that soak well..?

I think you need a "sticky" holding agent (like dates) to CEMENT and the other stuff you want in there as BRICKS

[TSC2295]

Protein flapjacks > protein bars. I can personally vouch for the CNP and sci-mx flapjacks being tasty as fuck.