The market for nutrition bars has taken off over the past few years. There are whole aisles in grocery stores dedicated to nutrition bars. There are hundreds of choices. Should you incorporate nutrition bars into your diet and workout regimen? Which one do you choose?
Disclaimer: In this article, I discuss my own opinions and/or observations on health topics. I am not a doctor. The information here is only observations and opinions, not medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes that might affect your health.
I used to swear by Pure Protein bars. They were convenient to buy in bulk at Costco, had only 1-3 grams of sugar, had 20 grams of protein per bar, and tasted great. But when you look past those simple metrics and look at the ingredients, they are a disaster. Almost the entire bar was formulated with chemicals in a lab. Pure Protein bars are made up of such wholesome ingredients as “fractionated palm kernel oil,” “sucralose,” “hydrolyzed collagen,” “maltitol syrup,” “soy protein isolate,” and “sucrose,” among others. I needed to find a better nutrition bar.
I began my search by buying dozens of different kinds of nutrition bars. I bought whatever looked healthy. Whenever I tried a new bar, I would turn a critical eye to not only the nutrition facts but also the ingredients list. Eventually, I came up with the Nutrition Bar Rating System (NBRS). It is a 1-10 rating system, grading each bar by nutrition (4 points), ingredients (4 points), and taste (2 points). A Snickers bar was used as the baseline, having only 2 points for taste. That way, any bar rated more than 2/10 is at least better than a Snickers bar.
The results were surprising. I found out that many nutrition bars are just glorified candy bars. The vast majority of nutrition bars are loaded with sugar. The ones that aren’t loaded with sugar are loaded with sugar alcohols and synthetic ingredients.
Each person has a different health situation and goals. My own personal goal is to lose weight by eating less sugar and more protein, so the ideal nutrition bar for me has no sugar, a lot of protein, and very few carbohydrates. Furthermore, I want the foods I eat to be as close to natural as possible.
Nutrition Bar Rating System (NBRS)
Up until recently, I judged nutrition bars very simply. If it had high protein and low sugar and tasted good, I would give it my thumbs up. If it had high sugar, low protein, or didn’t taste good, it would get thumbs down. However, things aren’t that simple. There are plenty of high protein, low sugar bars out there that can hurt you more than they help. So I devised a way to rate nutrition bars objectively.
I judge nutrition bars by three primary criteria: nutrition, ingredients, and taste. For a baseline, I used a Snickers bar. A Snickers bar under this rating system would get somewhere between 0-2 points out of 10, depending on how much you like the taste of Snickers bars. A Snickers bar gets a 0 score for both nutrition and ingredients. That means any nutrition bar getting a score of 2 or lower is no better than a Snickers bar.
Nutrition info
Sugar is enemy number one. If you don’t mind large amounts of sugar in your nutrition bar, you might as well just eat a candy bar.
Depending on what kind of nutrition bar you’re eating, you might be happy with high protein, fiber, or nutrients.
I measure nutrients in perhaps an oversimplified way. At the bottom of every nutrition label is a listing of the percentage daily value of different vitamins and minerals. I just add them all up to get % nutrients.
0 points: (27+g sugar) AND (0-4g protein OR 0-1g fiber OR 0-6% nutrients)
1 point: (16-26g sugar) AND (5-6g protein OR 2g fiber OR 7-15% nutrients)
2 points: (10-15g sugar) AND (7-11g protein OR 3g fiber OR 16-32% nutrients)
3 points: (6-9g sugar) AND (12-19g protein OR 4g fiber OR 33-106% nutrients)
4 points: (0-5g sugar) AND (20+g protein OR 5+g fiber OR 107+% nutrients)
Depending on which category—protein, fiber, or nutrients—is highest, the nutrition bar is categorized as a “protein bar”, “fiber bar”, or “nutrient bar”. Some bars are combinations: “protein/fiber bar”, “protein/nutrient bar”, “fiber/nutrient bar”, or even “protein/fiber/nutrient bar”.
Ingredients
A protein bar could have no sugar and 30 grams of protein, but still be bad for you if it’s loaded with carcinogens.
0 points: All 4 categories of bad ingredients
1 point: 3 categories of bad ingredients
2 points: 2 categories of bad ingredients
3 points: 1 or fewer categories of bad ingredients
4 points: no bad ingredients
I split bad ingredients into four categories: unhealthy fats, synthetic ingredients, bad protein sources, and processed sugars. Unhealthy fats are dairy fats from non-organic sources, palm oil, soybean oil, partially hydrogenated oils, etc. Synthetic ingredients are artificial flavors, natural flavors (which may include something like MSG), vitamins and minerals not from whole foods, and others. Bad protein sources are casein, peanuts (for carcinogenic properties), soy, non-organic whey, etc. Processed sugars include all sugars not directly from whole foods, like cane syrup, fructose, molasses, tapioca syrup, agave nectar, and many others.
You might not find any problem with some of these ingredients. That’s fine. Just look at the ingredients list, and if there are any ingredients that you take exception to, mark it down in one of the bad ingredients categories.
Taste
The last two points are reserved for the factor that often makes or breaks a nutrition bar: do you enjoy eating it? This is more important than it initially seems. The taste factor has to do with compliance. You could have the healthiest nutrition bar in the world, but if you never eat it, it doesn’t do any good.
0 points: inedible
1 point: I wish I didn’t have to finish this one
2 points: Good, I wish I could eat another now
Lärabar ÄLT Protein Bars
Lärabar makes nutrition bars with a focus on unprocessed whole food ingredients. Their ÄLT Protein line of bars swaps out the whey or soy proteins for alternative protein sources that are gluten-free, dairy-free, and non-GMO.
Larabar ALT Protein Chocolate Chip Macaroon
20 grams of sugar, 10 grams of protein, 4 grams of dietary fiber, 8% iron.
With only 10 grams of protein, but 4 grams of fiber, I would classify this more as a fiber bar and not a protein bar.
Nutrition Bar Rating: 6/10
Larabar ALT Protein Chocolate Peanut Butter
20 grams of sugar, 10 grams of protein, 4 grams of dietary fiber, 2% calcium, 8% iron.
This flavor has a very similar profile to the chocolate chip macaroon bar. The fruit gives it a moderately high amount of sugar, but higher fiber content than most other bars.
Nutrition Bar Rating: 6/10
Pure Protein Bars
I’ve written before that my nutrition bar of choice is Pure Protein, because of its high protein, low sugar, and Costco-convenience. Depending on what you’re looking for in a nutrition bar, you might heartily disagree with my assessment. Fair enough. Pure Protein bars do have high protein, low sugar, and purchasing convenience. However, the ingredients are totally unnatural to the point of perhaps being unhealthy. There is even a warning on the packaging stating that the bars contain sugar alcohols that may cause gastrointestinal discomfort and laxative effects. Again, depending on what you’re looking for in a nutrition bar, Pure Protein bars may or may not be what you’re looking for. The best protein bars are actually the ones you make yourself, but you lose convenience.
Dark Chocolate Coconut
Tastes like a chocolate bar with a pleasant coconut flavor. The coconut flakes also give it a satisfying crunchiness. In terms of protein/sugar ratio, this is the best Pure Protein offers.
Nutrition Bar Rating: 5/10
Chocolate Peanut Caramel
Bed of caramel on top of the bar makes it a lot like a candy bar.
Nutrition Bar Rating: 5/10
Chocolate Peanut Butter
One of my favorite flavor combinations—chocolate and peanut butter. The bulky dense bar makes me feel more full.
Nutrition Bar Rating: 5/10
Chewy Chocolate Chip
Like a chocolate chip cookie, though I found it a little too sweet and chewy. This has the worst protein/sugar ratio of the Pure Protein bars I tried.
Nutrition Bar Rating: 5/10
Chocolate Deluxe
It’s just chocolate. Kind of one-dimensional and flat with a lot of the “fake” sweetness you get from sucralose. This is the most extreme of the Pure Protein bars I tried, with the most protein, most sugar, but least calories.
Nutrition Bar Rating: 4/10
Pure Organic Ancient Grains Bars
Pure Organic Ancient Grains bars show promise with their organic whole food ingredients. Creating nutrition bars is a balancing act between health and taste. In this case, Pure went a little too far into the taste side, adding an abundance of processed sugars and natural flavors into the mix.
Pure Organic Ancient Grains Chocolate Chunk Nut Bar
This bar, like the others, have lots of added sugars: tapioca syrup, agave nectar, cane sugar, and evaporated cane syrup. Sugar is the number one culprit in making health foods unhealthy.
Nutrition Bar Rating: 5/10
Pure Organic Ancient Grains Peanut Butter Chocolate Bar
Peanuts are the main ingredient in this bar. There is some research out there to suggest that peanuts cause cancer because many of them contain carcinogenic aflatoxins. Though I’m not entirely convinced that peanuts should be avoided, there is enough merit to the argument against peanuts that I would eat them in moderation.
Nutrition Bar Rating: 5/10
Pure Organic Ancient Grains Triple Berry Nut Bar
My main complaint about Pure Ancient Grains bars is that I can’t find any reason to eat them. They are not good sources of protein, fiber, or nutrients. They are simply organic granola bars that can satisfy hunger in a pinch, but shouldn’t be taken as a regular part of your diet.
Nutrition Bar Rating: 5/10
Wegmans Wholesum Bars
Wegmans grocery stores produces their own brand of nutrition bars called Wholesum. These bars make use of chocolate, honey, and dried fruits for sweetness, with a base of rice, soy, and nuts. They are all artificially fortified with dietary fiber and/or vitamins. While Wholesum bars are still far from ideal, they are well-balanced between ingredients, nutrition, and taste.
Wegmans Wholesum Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate
moderate amount of sugar at 7g, decent amount of fiber at 3g
has processed sugars (tapioca syrup, organic sugar) and soy (isolated soy protein, soy lecithin)
Nutrition Bar Rating: 6/10
Wegmans Wholesum Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew
moderate sugar (13g), decent amount of fiber (3g), fortified with synthetic vitamins (A, C, and E).
has processed sugars (organic sugar, tapioca syrup, tapioca maltodextrin, sugar) and soy (soy lecithin), and synthetic ingredients (ascorbic acid, vitamin E acetate, vitamin A palmitate, natural flavor)
Nutrition Bar Rating: 6/10
Wegmans Wholesum Cranberry Almond
moderate amount of sugar (10g), high in fiber (4g) and nutrients, 50% of A, C, and E.
has processed sugars (sugar, tapioca syrup, tapioca maltodextrin) and soy (soy lecithin), and synthetic ingredients (ascorbic acid, vitamin E acetate, vitamin A palmitate)
Nutrition Bar Rating: 6/10
Raw Revolution Bars
Raw Revolution boasts the most premium ingredients. Most of their ingredients are kosher, non-GMO, vegan, dairy-free, vegetarian, gluten-free, and organic. It’s quite a mouthful to say, but these are some of the best nutrition bars I’ve found yet.
Raw Revolution Spirulina Dream
15g sugar, 7g protein, 3g fiber, 2% vitamin A, 6% vitamin C, 6% calcium, 15% iron. Classified as vitamin bar. Looks gross, but tastes great!
Nutrition Bar Rating: 7/10
Raw Revolution Almond Butter Cup
17g sugar, 6g protein, 5g fiber, 6% vitamin C, 8% calcium, 10% iron. Classified as a fiber/vitamin bar. Tastes salty: 210mg sodium, compared with 10mg or less for the other two bars.
Nutrition Bar Rating: 7/10
Raw Revolution Chocolate Coconut Bliss
12g sugar, 7g protein, 5g fiber, 2% vitamin A, 8% vitamin C, 4% calcium, 15% iron. Classified as vitamin bar. This was my favorite out of the three I tried, and it also happens to have the least sugar.
Nutrition Bar Rating: 7/10
Luna Protein Bars
I had high hopes for Luna Protein bars because I had heard people raving about Luna bars. However, I found these bars to have so many synthetic ingredients that even the taste of most of the bars was artificial. These bars are fortified with synthetic vitamins and actually don’t have a whole lot of protein compared to other protein bars.
Luna Protein Mint Chocolate Chip
12g protein, 14g sugars, 3g dietary fiber, 10% vitamin A, 20% vitamin C, 25% calcium, 15% iron, 15% vitamin D, 30% vitamin E, 10% vitamin B1, 10% vitamin B2, 10% vitamin B3, 20% vitamin B6, 30% vitamin B9, 20% vitamin B12. Tastes very artificial.
classified as Vitamin bar
Nutrition Bar Rating: 4/10
Luna Protein Chocolate Salted Caramel
12g protein, 15g sugars, 3g dietary fiber, 10% vitamin A, 20% vitamin C, 25% calcium, 15% iron, 15% vitamin D, 30% vitamin E, 10% vitamin B1, 10% vitamin B2, 10% vitamin B3, 20% vitamin B6, 30% vitamin B9, 20% vitamin B12. Again, tastes artificial. This one in particular tastes almost like bubble gum.
classified as Vitamin bar
Nutrition Bar Rating: 4/10
Luna Protein Chocolate Peanut Butter
12g protein, 13g sugars, 3g dietary fiber, 10% vitamin A, 20% vitamin C, 25% calcium, 15% iron, 15% vitamin D, 30% vitamin E, 10% vitamin B1, 10% vitamin B2, 10% vitamin B3, 20% vitamin B6, 30% vitamin B9, 20% vitamin B12. Artificial taste again, but not so strong, probably masked by the peanut butter flavors.
classified as Vitamin bar
Nutrition Bar Rating: 6/10
Luna Protein Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
12g protein, 15g sugars, 3g dietary fiber, 10% vitamin A, 20% vitamin C, 25% calcium, 15% iron, 15% vitamin D, 30% vitamin E, 10% vitamin B1, 10% vitamin B2, 10% vitamin B3, 20% vitamin B6, 30% vitamin B9, 20% vitamin B12. Doesn’t taste so artificial. I enjoyed it.
classified as Vitamin bar
Nutrition Bar Rating: 5/10
Luna Protein Chocolate Coconut Almond
12g protein, 13g sugars, 3g dietary fiber, 10% vitamin A, 20% vitamin C, 25% calcium, 15% iron, 15% vitamin D, 30% vitamin E, 10% vitamin B1, 10% vitamin B2, 10% vitamin B3, 20% vitamin B6, 30% vitamin B9, 20% vitamin B12. The artificial coconut flavors are actually kind of pleasant.
classified as Vitamin bar
Nutrition Bar Rating: 6/10
CLIF Builder’s 20g Protein Bars
CLIF Builder’s bars deliver on their promise of 20 grams of protein per bar, but they fall into the common pitfall of nutrition bar manufacturers in sacrificing health for taste. For every gram of protein they put in the bars, they add even more sugar. All of their bars also have plenty questionable ingredients, even though they claim to use healthy, natural, or organic ingredients.
CLIF Builder’s 20g Protein Vanilla Almond
22g sugar, 20g protein, 3g fiber, 30% vitamin A, 50% vitamin C, 30% calcium, 10% vitamin D, 50% vitamin E, 10% vitamin B1, 15% vitamin B2, 15% vitamin B3, 25% vitamin B6, 15% vitamin B12, 20% pantothenic acid, 10% iodine, 15% magnesium.
Vitamin Bar Rating: 4/10
CLIF Builder’s 20g Protein Chocolate Peanut Butter
21g sugar, 20g protein, 2g fiber, 30% vitamin A, 50% vitamin C, 30% calcium, 10% vitamin D, 50% vitamin E, 10% vitamin B1, 15% vitamin B2, 15% vitamin B3, 25% vitamin B6, 15% vitamin B12, 20% pantothenic acid, 10% iodine, 15% magnesium.
Vitamin Bar Rating: 4/10
CLIF Builder’s 20g Protein Chocolate Mint
22g sugar, 20g protein, 2g fiber, 30% vitamin A, 50% vitamin C, 30% calcium, 10% vitamin D, 50% vitamin E, 10% vitamin B1, 15% vitamin B2, 15% vitamin B3, 25% vitamin B6, 15% vitamin B12, 20% pantothenic acid, 10% iodine, 15% magnesium.
Vitamin Bar Rating: 4/10
CLIF Builder’s 20g Protein Chocolate
21g sugar, 20g protein, 2g fiber, 30% vitamin A, 50% vitamin C, 30% calcium, 10% vitamin D, 50% vitamin E, 10% vitamin B1, 15% vitamin B2, 15% vitamin B3, 25% vitamin B6, 15% vitamin B12, 20% pantothenic acid, 10% iodine, 15% magnesium.
Vitamin Bar Rating: 4/10
CLIF Builder’s 20g Protein Crunchy Peanut Butter
22g sugar, 20g protein, 2g fiber, 30% vitamin A, 50% vitamin C, 30% calcium, 10% vitamin D, 50% vitamin E, 10% vitamin B1, 15% vitamin B2, 15% vitamin B3, 25% vitamin B6, 15% vitamin B12, 20% pantothenic acid, 10% iodine, 15% magnesium.
Vitamin Bar Rating: 4/10
RXBAR Bars
Advertised as protein bars, RXBARs are made with mostly simple whole food ingredients. However, there are still more grams of sugar than protein in these bars. There are also added natural flavors.
RXBAR Blueberry
I’m impressed with the simple whole food ingredients: dates, egg whites, almonds, blueberries (apple juice infused), figs, natural blueberry flavor. Yes, it does have natural flavors, but I think keeping it out would make the bar taste pretty bland.
- 210 calories
- 12g protein
- 4g dietary fiber
- 15g sugar
- 6% calcium
- 6% iron
- 20% riboflavin
- 2% magnesium
- 2% phosphorus
- 20% selenium
Vitamin bar rating: 7/10
RXBAR Coconut Chocolate
Again, the ingredients list is impressive: dates, egg whites, almonds, figs, cacao, coconut, sea salt, natural coconut flavor. This bar also has natural flavors.
- 210 calories
- 12g protein
- 4g dietary fiber
- 15g sugar
- 6% calcium
- 8% iron
- 20% riboflavin
- 4% magnesium
- 2% phosphorus
- 2% copper
Vitamin bar rating: 7/10
Met-Rx Protein Plus Bars
Met-Rx Protein Plus bars deliver massive amounts of protein and nutrients with very little sugar, since they rely on sucralose and sugar alcohols for sweetness. Where they fail though is in the ingredients department. Almost every ingredient looks like it was synthesized in a laboratory. Their trademark motto is “you can’t fake strong”. I’d like to add to that: “but you can fake food”.
Met-Rx Protein Plus Chocolate Chocolate Chunk
This bar tasted amazingly good, and has a whopping 32g of protein.
- 310 calories
- 1g sugar
- 32g protein
- 2g dietary fiber
- 30% vitamin A, 30% vitamin C, 35% calcium, 15% iron, 30% vitamin E, 30% thiamin, 30% riboflavin, 30% niacin, 30% vitamin B-6, 25% folic acid, 25% vitamin B-12, 25% biotin, 30% pantothenic acid, 15% phosphorus, 25% iodine, 8% magnesium, 30% zinc, 30% copper.
Protein/Vitamin Bar Rating: 6/10
Met-Rx Protein Plus Creamy Peanut Butter Crisp
Though this bar has a little less protein and a little more sugar than the Chocolate Chocolate Chunk bar, it also has significantly more nutrients. It looks almost sufficient to double as a multivitamin.
- 310 calories
- 3g sugar
- 30g protein
- 1g dietary fiber
- 35% vitamin A, 35% vitamin C, 35% calcium, 50% iron, 40% vitamin E, 40% thiamin, 35% riboflavin, 40% niacin, 35% vitamin B-6, 40% folic acid, 35% vitamin B-12, 35% biotin, 35% pantothenic acid, 20% phosphorus, 35% iodine, 15% magnesium, 40% zinc, 50% copper.
Protein/Vitamin Bar Rating: 6/10
Nutrition Bar Care Package
A friend sent me a box of 16 different nutrition bars. Just for fun, let’s run them through the NBRS to separate the healthy bars from the candy bars.
- KIND Fruit & Nut Almond & Coconut (nutrient bar 7/10)
- KIND Plus Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate (nutrient bar 7/10)
- KIND Plus Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew (nutrient bar 6/10)
- PowerBar Triple Threat Caramel Nut Brownie (protein bar 5/10)
- PowerBar Triple Threat Chocolate Peanut Butter Crisp (fiber/nutrient bar 5/10)
- PowerBar Triple Threat Peanut Butter Caramel (protein bar 5/10)
- Balance S’Mores (nutrient bar 5/10)
- CLIF Blueberry Crisp (fiber/nutrient bar 4/10)
- Balance Mocha Chip (nutrient bar 4/10)
- Balance Yogurt Honey Peanut (nutrient bar 4/10)
- Balance Honey Peanut (nutrient bar 4/10)
- Balance Double Chocolate Brownie (nutrient bar 4/10)
- Balance Cookie Dough (nutrient bar 4/10)
- PowerBar Cookies & Cream Caramel Crisp (protein bar 3/10)
- PowerBar Peanut Butter Caramel Crisp (protein bar 3/10)
- Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut Granola Peanut (bar 3/10)
The results were a bit surprising. KIND bars come out on top because of the simple ingredients, relatively low sugar, and lots of nutrients (though they still don’t beat Oatmega bars, which scored 8/10). Most of the other bars fall short because of high sugar and/or large amounts of synthetic or unhealthy ingredients.
Nature Valley is an interesting case. Their Sweet & Salty Nut Granola bar has very little protein, fiber, and nutrients—less than a Snickers bar. At least it has low sugar content. There’s really no point in eating Nature Valley bars except for calories when you’re hungry.
The best nutrition bars money can buy
I found the overall best nutrition bar to be Oatmega. With 5 grams of sugar, 14 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber, these bars are high in protein, fiber, and nutrients, but low on sugar. The only thing preventing them from achieving perfection is the processed sugars and flavors.
If you want a good bar that has no processed sugars, try RXBAR. These are sweetened with fruit juice or figs. The downside is the 15 grams of sugar in each bar.
Another good choice is KIND bars. Like the Pure Protein bars I mentioned before, these are sweetened with sugar alcohols, but are packed with protein and fiber. However, they do this with a lot of synthetic ingredients, though not nearly as many as Pure Protein bars have.
The best nutrition bars money can’t buy
I’m going to stock up on Oatmega bars to use as snacks or refueling after workouts. Oatmega bars are rated 8/10 under my rating system. That begs the question, are there any 10/10 nutrition bars for sale? I will continue to look, but my guess is “no”. The final two points becomes a trade-off between synthetic ingredients and good taste. Because of the nature of mass-producing nutrition bars to sell to consumers, I doubt you can find the perfect nutrition bar for sale.
One hypothesis I would like to test in the future is whether I can create a 10/10 at home. That would be for a future project.
Leave a Reply