Raising The (Protein) Bar

Answering all your burning questions & sharing my favorites.

Before we get into it, I’m just going to put it out there: bars are kinda processed. Some (a lot) more than others. But the convenience factor of a bar is high, and sometimes it’s the best available option. Maybe you’ve been running around all day and need a quick snack so you don’t get home famished and eat the entire box of crackers while preparing dinner. Perhaps you’re traveling and don’t want to eat the airplane pretzels or break into the mini bar. Or, you’re getting your hair done and it takes forever (or is that just me?). Point is: there are good reasons why you might want a bar in your bag.

My nutrition practice and ideologies have always been based on pragmatism. I live by a good, better, best approach. A bar will never be best, but it can be better or good, which means it has a place and can be pretty darn convenient when you need it.

What’s the best time for a bar?
Most protein bars have somewhere around 10 grams of protein, which really isn’t sufficient for a full meal. So, ideally a bar would be an afternoon snack—about 3 hours after lunch and a few hours before dinner. If you need to have a bar for breakfast, try to amp up the protein to at least 20 grams with some nut butter, a hard-boiled egg, or maybe a coffee with added collagen. Makes it a little less convenient, but you’ll benefit later in the day from having more protein in the morning.

Is it okay to have a bar every day?
It depends on the bar. Most are definitively better than a bag of chips, a soda or even a glass of wine a day IMO, and some are really excellent. So, if you find a good bar and it helps you, I say go for it.

What makes a “good” bar? Generally, I want to see quality ingredients that won’t spike your blood sugar, but here’s some more specific criteria I’m looking for when evaluating a bar:
1. Ingredients. Is this bar made from whole foods? Is it organic or non GMO? Does it have weird processed ingredients or preservatives?

2. Sugar. Some bars are really just glorified candy bars, so you need to pay attention to the sugar content. Others are full of dates (a healthy whole food but still high in sugar), or have artificial sweeteners. To account for these variables, check the label for both total and added sugars. I don’t like to see more than 3-5 grams of added sugar or 10 grams of total sugar. When it comes to sweeteners, be conscious not to have multiple products a day with stevia, monk fruit, etc. It may not spike your blood sugar, but it still registers as sweet. Lots of bars have tapioca fiber, which you’d never guess is a zero calorie sweetener, but it is.

3. Protein. It’s called a protein bar for a reason. 10ish grams is good for a snack, so anything less than that isn’t really enough.

4. Carbs. There are a few things I’m looking for when considering the carb count. First is the fiber. A bar is meant to fill you up, so it should some fiber (let’s stay 5gram of more), and ideally less than 15 grams of net carbs (total carbs minus the fiber) to mitigate a massive blood sugar spike.

5. Taste. Obviously, this is pretty important. Some of this just comes down to personal preference, so I would recommend trying a few and seeing what you like.

Okay, now to the bars. I can’t cover every bar in this post, so hopefully this helps you vet the myriad of choices in the bar aisle. If you don’t see your preferred bar, check the label against this criteria and make your opinion based on that.

THE CRÈME DE LA CRÈME
Sakara Protein Bar
These bars have all organic whole food ingredients, 12 grams of protein and 10 net grams of carbs (with 9 grams of fiber!). Each flavor serves a different purpose, using functional ingredients to help with metabolism, energy, beauty (i.e. collagen) and detox.

Dr. Smood Smart Bar
This is the most niche bar on the list, but it’s also maybe the best from a nutrition standpoint. All organic ingredients, 12 grams of protein, 6 grams of net carbs (14 grams of fiber!), plus pre and probiotics for gut health. A winner!

BEST GROCERY STORE FINDS
Aloha
The peanut butter cup flavor is delicious, plus it has 14 grams of protein and is certified organic! Ingredients are pretty good for a bar. Carb count depends on the flavor but is around 15 grams (net) with 10 grams of fiber.

R.E.D.D
Most of these ingredients are organic (although not all). I’ll take those 9 grams of protein (10 is really my threshold, but close enough). The carb count varies by flavor, but it’s generally around 14/15 grams of net carbs with 10-14 grams of fiber. R.E.D.D. bars are widely available and they also have nut free options (which can be hard to find with bars!).

IQBAR
These are low carb, high protein (12 grams), high fiber and easy to find. They’re not organic, but other than that I feel like they’re a solid choice.

Bhu Foods
Organic, low sugar, high protein. I like it! With 2 grams of net carbs, they fit the bill but they feel a bit sweet to me. The sweetener is organic soluble tapioca fiber and it has no calories but still tastes really sweet to me.

NICHE & NICE
Papa Steve’s
These bars are found in the refrigerator section but they can be at room temp for 45 days, so you can still bring them if you travel or forget it in your bag without worry. Generally, when something needs to be refrigerated the ingredients are less processed. Some of the flavors are very high in sugar, but others are great. The Apple Cinnamon Pecan has 12 grams of protein and 13 grams of net carbs (with 14 grams of fiber), and the Cranberry Almond has 13 grams of net carbs (with 15 grams of fiber!) and 13 grams of protein.

Urban Remedy Superfood Bars
These taste most like a candy bar IMO (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing!) and they do have 7 grams of added sugar (from unrefined sources, but still). BUT, the ingredients are top notch, they have 12 grams of protein and 11 net carbs. Not bad!

FOR KIDS
Happy Wolf
We LOVE these bars in my house. They use simple ingredients and no preservatives (so they have to be refrigerated, which is not ideal but shows the quality of ingredients). Ozzie likes all the flavors but the chocolate chip (orange) are his favorite. And I have a discount code too: MIA20.

Cerebelly
I like these bars because they’re organic and have a variety of plant-based ingredients (think whole grains, veggies and fruit) that support cognitive development. They’re widely available at grocery stores too.

Now before you ask, I didn’t add GoMacro, Perfect or Rx Bars because they’re too high in carbs. Big blood sugar spike! If I were stuck at the airport I would 100% eat one of these, but not my first choice.

And lastly, I took a poll on instagram and a few people asked which bars were safe for pregnancy and breastfeeding. Some of these bars have adaptogens (like ashwagandha) which are not recommended in pregnancy because they’ve never been studied in pregnant people. TBH, I kind of hate all the confusion and fear around what you “can” and “can’t” have during pregnancy. Emily Oster does a great job at debunking all these myths and I think every pregnant person should read her book, Expecting Better (her website Parent Data is pretty great as well). There’s a lot more you can and should eat than shouldn’t, and snacks are important for pregnancy and postpartum.