Protein Bar Review - #2 Good n natural

Well, we are onto the next Protein bar up for review.  This time, I was up for an early morning long run (12 miles) with a very busy weekend ahead of me including a wedding and a 3 hour road trip.  I got up before 8 while the rest of the house slept in, laced up my runners, tore the wrapper off of the bar and headed out the door.  My plan was to eat it while I warmed up, and then hopefully have enough energy to get through the run!

So, how does this energy bar stack up when it comes to the nutritional value? Here are the facts:

Good n natural - Chocolate  $1.37
56g, 230 calories
9g Fat
5g Fibre
9g Sugar
10g Protein

Appearance: Just another compacted brown bar of seeds and fruit and nuts. This one was a little more shiny than the last one - not sure what that means!

Taste: With the first bite, I noticed this bar was noticeably less sweet than the Clif Bar.  Notably, it has half the sugar of a Clif bar.  Also, the chocolate flavor was closer to the bitterness of dark chocolate, and as I was chewing, I tasted an almost fermented or baking soda sort of flavor.  To me, that was a bit of a deterrent.  I wondered if maybe there was extra sodium in this bar to help balance electrolytes while exercising. (I later compared the two bars, and actually the Clif Bar has more sodium than this one!) There was also a slight peanut flavor (and peanut butter is listed in the ingredients list).

Texture: This bar is quite chewy and held together with what almost reminds me of thickened molasses.  There is a lot of bits of seeds and nuts and oats.  It holds true to the claim that it is a "fruit, nut & seed bar".

Energy: I had little to no trouble getting through my two hours of running on just an energy bar for breakfast.  I did experience a bit of indigestion mid-run - but that can happen with normal food as well.  I do approve of the fact that this bar has a much lower amount of sugar, but I don't know if I'm willing to sacrifice flavor just for that reason.

Rating: I would give this bar just a 6/10.  The Clif bar was definitely tastier - and there were some odd nuances with bitterness/baking soda in this energy bar.

Read my previous blog if you are curious what I thought about the Chocolate Almond Fudge Clif bar.