Protein bar round-up 🤠

Introduction

I used to eat a lot of protein or meal bars, and after some trial and error I found some go-to brands: Quest's chocolate chip cookie dough bar, lemon Luna bars, and peanut butter GoMacro bars, to name a few. I took a break from bars for the last year or so while I was at home more often and not working a traditional job. Now that I'm out of the house regularly again, I am back in the market for more convenient snacks. The protein bar section at the local convenience store caught my eye recently, and I noticed some new names and packaging that I hadn't seen before. I decided I needed to update my knowledge on the protein bars out there today - there are SO many. Here's a round up of 12 brands/kinds of bars and my thoughts on how to choose the best bar for you.

Methods

12 bars were tested. Effort was made to test the same kind of flavor, so I tried to go for a peanut butter flavor if available. If not, I chose chocolate or caramel. If not that, then whatever was available.

Power Crunch Protein Energy Bar, Peanut Butter Creme

Clif Bar Energy Bar, Crunchy Peanut Butter

ONE, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bar

Gatorade Protein Bar, Chocolate Caramel

Quest Bar, Chocolate Peanut Butter

Built Sour Puff Bar, Sweet Peach Punch

MET-Rx BIG 100 Bar, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Barebells Protein Bar, Peanut Butter

Anabar Protein-Packed Candy Bar, Monster Cookie Crunch

David Protein Bar, Fudge Brownie

Pure Protein Bar, Chocolate Deluxe

Lenny & Larry's Cookie-Fied Big Bar, Peanut Butter

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(photos from retail websites)

In the interest of science and putting some numbers to this, I enlisted my spouse to join me in tasting and evaluating each bar. We rated each one on its tastiness, appearance, texture, and overall appeal from a scale of 1 (bad) to 5 (great). I then averaged out those ratings (statisticians, please don't come for me) and added a nutrition rating, which was based on 3 metrics averaged together:

• Protein + Fiber > Added Sugar: If the grams of protein per serving + the grams of fiber per serving were greater than the grams of added sugar per serving, the bar got 4 points. If not, it got 2.

• % Calories from Protein: Normalized over a scale of 1-5 with the highest % Calories from Protein bar getting 5 points

• Saturated Fat Content: Normalized over a scale of 1-5 with the bar with the highest saturated fat content getting 1 point

All categories were then combined and averaged to come up with a normalized total score on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the least desirable bar and 5 being the most desirable bar.

Results

I was a little surprised at the results. Some bars that I expected to taste really good just did NOT. And others tasted better than I thought. Some bars looked terrible once we opened the package, which brought down their overall score. A few bars were astronomically high in fat without providing much in the way of protein, but you wouldn't know it by just glancing at their packaging, which makes it look like a protein bar.

Here are the bars presented by taste, by nutrition, and by overall combined score.

Taste

The best-tasting bars were the Power Crunch and Clif bars, followed by the ONE, Gatorade, Quest, and Built Sour Puff bars. The Lenny & Larry's bar surprisingly scored the worst of the bars on taste.

Nutrition Score

There was one clear front-runner on the nutrition score (the David bar). There were two bars that didn't quite measure up on nutrition (the Power Crunch and Gatorade bars). The rest of the bars were average on nutrition and were fairly comparable to each other.

Overall Combined Score

The bars that scored high on taste also tended to score high on texture, which pushed them toward the top of the overall combined score even if their nutrition was somewhat lacking. The top-scoring overall bars were the Power Crunch, Clif, Gatorade, Quest, and ONE bars. The lowest-scoring overall bars were the Pure Protein, Lenny & Larry's, and Barebells bars. *Disclaimer: these ratings are subjective; your taste preferences may differ from mine!

Discussion

I think every bar that we tried can fall into one of three categories from a nutrition standpoint: protein bars heavier on the protein and what you'd expect from a traditional protein bar, meal bars that have protein but also provide more of a balanced macronutrient profile to approximate that of a meal, and "I wanted a candy bar but I want it to have a little more nutrition so I'll get a healthier-for-you candy bar" - you know the type. I'll group the bars into these categories and tell you my pick for the best bar in each category (of these 12 brands):

Protein Bars

Bars high in protein but relatively low-calorie are what I'm calling True Protein Bars. Of the bars I rated, the Barebells, David, Pure Protein, Quest, Built, and ONE bars are in this category. My picks among these are the Quest bar and the ONE bar (tied for 1st!).

Meal Bars

Bars that provide protein but also energy (with relatively higher calories and carbs) are in the Meal Bars category. Bars I tried in this category are the MET-Rx, Clif, and Gatorade bars. My pick among these is the Clif bar.

Healthier-For-You Candy Bars

The bars I'm calling "Healthier-For-You Candy Bars" provide some protein, but are relatively higher in saturated fat and sugar. Bars I tried in this category are the Anabar, Lenny & Larry's, and Power Crunch bar. My top pick in this category is the Power Crunch bar, by a long shot!

The Bottom Line

Different bars have different uses. When I need quick energy to fuel a long workout or stand in for a meal, I'm not going to reach for a protein bar. I'm probably going to grab something with more balanced macros and more carbs, like a meal bar. After a workout or as a protein addition to my day, though, I'll seek out a protein bar. And if I want a healthier-for-you candy bar, I might reach for a Power Crunch bar...but really my approach would be to just have a small treat that I actually want and enjoy. (The "healthy" candy bars did not taste good enough to be worth it to me!)

And remember, bars like these are great tools when we're crunched for time or need an addition to a snacky meal, but most of the time we can get all the nutrients we need from enjoying a wide variety of (less-engineered) foods.

Thanks for reading. Have questions or comments? Email me here!