Protein Bars Review
Protein bars have become so ubiquitous these days that they virtually need their own aisle. I recommend doing your homework, but I think you’ll wind up with the same findings that I’m sharing in my protein bars review. There are tons of different brands out there, and the vast majority of them have added sugars as part of their ingredients.
I remember first reading about Larabar in a magazine’s “new and recommended” box several years back, near when they first came out. I don’t recall if they said anything about the sugar factor, but they must have: Larabars don’t have any refined sugars, which is extraordinarily rare for protein or snack bars. Not only do they not have a single gram of refined sugar, they don’t even have added unrefined sugars, such as agave nectar or honey.
Larabars are indeed a rare breed, since they’re sweetened naturally; mainly with dried fruits and nuts: raisins, dates, cherries, blueberries, cashews, almonds, and the like. Most bars average no more than 3 or 4 ingredients- total. See how long an ingredients list you can count on other bars; you’d be lucky to see less than 10. In the interest of full disclosure, I will point out that among Larabar’s large variety of bars, there are a few flavors that include chocolate chips, which have been sugar-sweetened – such as Chocolate Chip Brownie and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip – but these are in the small minority.
photo by Shoshanah, Flickr
That said, what’s interesting is that the amount of sugars in the chocolate chip bars is pretty much the same as those that only contain natural sugars, such as Cherry Pie and Carrot Cake bars, which, again, among those protein bars reviews– have no refined sugars whatsoever. So, while you may not be avoiding refined sugars when you have a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, or a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip bar, at least you won’t be consuming higher quantities of sugars than most protein bars (you’ll still have a lower serving of sugar per serving than most). Of course, as the creator of a website called No Flour, No Sugar Diet, I would advise staying away from the Larabars with added chocolate chips. But- if you were to have one, it would still be a lot healthier than having a brownie or a cookie.
I think of these as about as healthy an alternative to having a piece of fruit as you can get…and you’re getting a good shot of protein to boot.
To try Larabars yourself, please click here.
At last count, Larabar offers no less than 19 varieties of bars. Unless you happen to have an allergy to any of the ingredients – and you know who you are – these bars should be easy to digest, tasty and satisfying in a way that you don’t get with the chemical-heavy bars that make up the classic “protein bar” market. They’re so natural, with just the most basic, and most pure, ingredients, that I defy you to find a healthier energy/protein bar for that long hike, that afternoon snack, or that quick bite on the go. If there’s anything even vaguely negative that must be acknowledged in this protein bars review, it would be that a couple of the flavors — Coconut Creme Pie and Tropical Fruit Tart — have a fairly hefty amount of saturated fat: 7 grams, or 35% of your daily value; but compared to most junk food, that’s still a reasonable number. But for the other dozen or so varieties that Larabar makes, you’ll be hard-pressed to find healthier ingredients than these…In fact, feel free to email me if you do– I’d love that challenge.
photo by Shoshanah, Flickr