A convenient, high-protein snack? Or an expensive, gut-aching candy bar with above-average protein?
There’s no denying that protein bars are a craze in the fitness industry and with good reason - most of them taste pretty darn good these days!
However, the cost vs reward (realistically and metaphorically) isn’t always worth it in some people’s opinions…
For example, the average protein bar that contains 20g of protein, provides ~200 calories and costs ~$5
In comparison, 20g of protein from your average WPI powder will provide ~90 calories and costs ~$1
Another three considerations to bear in mind with protein bars is:
1.) The sugar alcohol content
2.) The potential inaccuracy of labelled calories
3.) The ratio of fibre/fat/sugar alcohols : total protein
1.) In terms of sugar alcohols, some individuals find that these cause far more grief for our guts than the goodness of how sweet they taste. Read the ingredient label too (which is listed in order of the most abundant ingredients in a food), as it may come as a shock sugar alcohols (such as manitol) are listed BEFORE actual protein powder. Everyone has a threshold for how much they can comfortably tolerate and it’s important to find yours.
2.) Being a highly-processed and multi-ingredient food, protein bars are also notorious for having inaccurate labelling in terms of calories. This could be because items such as this ARE ALLOWED to have a 20% +/- degree in error with their label, or also because the caloric content of sugar alcohols and synthetic fibres isn’t always thrown into the calculation. Therefore, bear in mind that your “200” calorie chocolate fudge brownie protein bar might be too good to be true.
3.) Is a 20g protein bar really JUST high-protein if it also contains 12-18g of fat, sugar alcohols and fibre? Or is it really just high (and crazy dense!) in everything…?
Would we all be better off just eating a real candy bar with a protein shake on the side?
We’ll let you decide.
Let us know in the comments below, what is your opinion on protein bars?