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.

Protein Bar Review - #1 Clif Bar

Sometimes you feel like you don't have the time or creativity (or desire) to prepare a healthy meal or snack.  Or perhaps you are so busy, you can't put together a sandwich or salad or whatever it is that you think you should be eating.

If you are expending a lot of calories (and time), working out or training for a race, then it may be useful to occasionally eat a meal-replacement or protein or energy bar.  Now I personally wouldn't recommend making it an every-day habit to eat these because whole foods - raw, fresh foods - are best for our bodies, and if you're reaching for an energy bar, then you are ingesting something that has been processed. (More on that in another blog!)

It has been quite some time since I felt my lifestyle and level of physical activity merited the use of energy bars, but now that I'm deep into training for a half-marathon, and putting in 25+ miles/week, I know how important it is to fuel my body properly so I can stay healthy and full of energy!

So here I am, trying out a few energy bars that I picked up at Walmart.  I'll start with 3 that I found, including the popular "Clif" bar, and I will give my honest opinion on taste, texture, and whether I felt the bar was adequate to maintain my energy level and keep me from "starving"!

Clif Bar - Chocolate Almond Fudge $1.57
68g, 250 calories
5g Fat
5g Fibre
20g Sugar
10g Protein

Appearance:  First of all, I dig the packaging.  I like how there is this adventurous guy hanging off of a cliff... but of course, it's what's inside that really counts!  When I opened it up, it looked kind of like one of those haystack no-bake cookies with oats and cocoa that I occasionally help my kids to make, except in a more flattened, rectangular shape.

Taste:  I took a bite, and instantly recognized that despite the promising "chocolate" in the name, it was not going to taste like your typical chocolate bar.  It wasn't nearly as sweet and didn't give me that satisfying sugar-buzz that I normally get from my treats.  That being said, it still has a considerable amount of sugar for a "healthy" bar, but most chocolate bars are 25-40 grams of sugar per bar, so this is healthier on that level.  At any rate, the flavor was still pleasant, and had an enjoyable nuttiness amidst the slight chocolate taste (thus the "almond-fudge").

Texture:  I enjoyed how this was a chewy bar; full of texture.  You could tell it was made with real ingredients - and, to it's credit, the Clif Bar is made with 70% organic ingredients.  When I was a teenager, I would occasionally eat Power-bars and some of them had the texture of foam or sawdust with a light chocolate cover.  This was more like eating a slightly chewy oatmeal and almond cookie.

Energy:  A bar with this much protein should be satisfying enough to get through a few hours, and I did feel fine as I shopped with my little boys and went about my afternoon activities.  My only regret is that I didn't have a bottle of water with me because the bar is quite oat-y and the added moisture would have improved my experience!

Rating:  Since I haven't tasted any other bars yet, I don't know exactly how it rates among protein bars.  However, based on my experience with Powerbars (some 15 years ago) and the occasional Slimfast bar (8 years ago?) I would give this bar a 7.5/10.  It doesn't taste like candy, but the flavor is pleasant enough and you do feel like you're eating something reasonably healthy.

Until the next bar...