What’s in a Good Protein Bar? (Our Dietitian Tears Apart 5 to Find the Best)
Key Takeaways:
Protein bars are a great way to increase your protein intake. However, not all are healthy.
In general, a good protein bar is high in protein and dietary fiber, low in added sugars, fat, and calories, and tasty.
Individual factors, including taste preferences, dietary restrictions, and food allergies (if any), will determine the best protein bar for you.
Ultimately, enjoy protein bars in moderation; treat them as a complement to an otherwise well-balanced, nutritious diet.
Eating more protein is one of the most effective things you could do to promote weight loss.
It’s incredibly satiating, helps preserve metabolism-boosting lean mass, and prevents the common, much-dreaded post-diet fat regain. But, as anyone who has valiantly tried to hit the appropriate, fat-loss-maximizing daily protein intake — 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight — with 100% whole foods would tell you, it’s a laborious endeavor.
Which explains the popularity of protein bars. Their winning combination of:
On-the-go packaging (protein, anytime and anywhere you want) and
High protein-to-volume content (more protein in fewer chews; a well-deserved break for those jaws)
… is a breath of fresh air. That said, the quality of protein bars can differ. A lot. Some are perfectly healthy vehicles of protein. While others? Nothing more than glorified candy bars. So, how can you tell which is which? This article tells you.
What makes a good protein bar?
A good protein bar has a few key defining attributes.
#1: High in protein and dietary fiber
Protein bar. Special emphasis on the protein for, well, obvious reasons.
In general, you should choose a protein bar that contains a substantial amount of protein, ideally 15 to 20 grams.
Another thing to look out for on the nutrition label is dietary fiber content.
By delaying gastric emptying (i.e., the time it takes for food to empty from your stomach), dietary fiber helps you feel fuller for longer and softens your body’s glycemic response to the carbohydrates present in the protein bar. Fiber also helps to promote regular bowel movements. Look for bars that contain dietary fibre ≥3g per 100kcal or ≥6g per 100g -- which will be an indication of having a good amount of fibre.
#2: Low in added sugar
Speaking of carbohydrates, a particularly harmful type is something called “added sugar”. Now, to provide some context, dietary sugar can be divided into two broad categories:
Naturally occurring sugars: Naturally present in the foods they’re found in, such as fruits and dairy products
Added sugars: These are sugars added to packaged foods (including protein bars) and beverages during processing
While moderating your sugar intake is always a good idea regardless, research links most adverse health outcomes — from type 2 diabetes to obesity to cardiovascular disease — to the excessive consumption of added sugar instead of naturally occurring sugar.
This is why your protein bar of choice should contain minimal added sugar. More specifically, 4 grams or less.
Sometimes, you might come across protein bars that contain little to no added sugar, yet find that they taste pleasantly sweet.
This raises an important question: how?
If you don’t spot natural sweeteners (e.g., dates, fruit purees, and monk fruit extract) in the ingredient list, artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols are the next most plausible explanation. Here’s what you need to know about them:
Artificial sweeteners: High-intensity, non-nutritive sweeteners. They are all sweeter than table sugar but contain few or no calories. The six artificial sweeteners the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeled as “Generally Recognized as Safe” or GRAS are aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, neotame, advantame, and saccharin.
Sugar alcohols: Because your body absorbs only about a third to half of the carbohydrates in sugar alcohols, these provide much fewer calories than table sugar, anywhere from 0.5 to 3 calories per gram. The six common sugar alcohols you’d find in beverages and food products — such as protein bars — are lactitol, sorbitol, erythritol, mannitol, maltitol, and xylitol.
While sweetness paired with a lower risk of overindulging in added sugar might seem like a dream come true, artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols aren’t without downsides. And a key one is this: gastrointestinal upset. In adults, studies have found that consuming:
20 to 30 grams of sorbitol daily can cause abdominal pain
100 grams of xylitol can cause diarrhea
20 grams or more of mannitol can have a laxative effect
Not fun.
#3: Low in calories
Most of the protein bar’s calories should come from protein. In terms of macronutrient split, a good rule of thumb is to find a protein bar that contains:
(Friendly reminder) 15 to 20 grams of protein
15 to 20 grams of energy-giving carbohydrates (this includes added sugars and dietary fiber)
7 grams of fat
This works out to an ideal calorie content of 180 to 220.
#4: Level of processing
First, a disclaimer. All protein bars are ultra-processed.
Some background information: here’s how the NOVA classification system groups foods into four categories based on their level of processing:
Unprocessed or minimally processed foods (e.g., fresh fruits and milk): Unprocessed foods include the natural edible food parts of plants and animals. Minimally processed foods have been slightly altered to be more easily stored, prepared, and eaten.
Processed culinary ingredients: Food ingredients used in kitchens to prepare and season foods that are derived from minimally processed foods by pressing, refining, grinding, or milling. Examples include honey extracted from combs and seed oils.
Processed foods: These are derived from either of the two previous groups but have added salt, sugar, and/or fat. Examples include canned fruits and vegetables.
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs): These are processed foods that contain artificial colors and flavors, preservatives, thickeners, emulsifiers, and artificial sweeteners. Examples include breakfast cereals, cookies, and, of course, protein bars.
Still, contrary to popular belief, not all UPFs are equally bad for health.
For example, protein bars with a greater percentage of ingredients sourced from whole, nutrient-dense foods (e.g., nuts and eggs) will be considered less processed and more healthful.
#5: Taste
Lastly, a good protein bar must win over your tastebuds. That means it shouldn’t taste like:
Cardboard
A glob of protein powder smushed together with random solidifying ingredients
The Sahara desert
… you get the point.
Five protein bars in Singapore, scrutinized by a dietitian
To help you bring together everything covered in this article, we’ve called on the expertise of our senior dietitian at NOVI Health, Angena Teo, to tear back the shiny wrappers of five protein bars widely available on the shelves of Singapore’s grocery stores:
BSN Protein Crisp Chocolate Crunch
FULFIL Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel
GRENADE Dark Chocolate Mint
QUEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
WARRIOR CRUNCH Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter
She’ll be scoring them against six metrics:
Macros (i.e., how many grams of protein, carbs, and fat the protein bar contains)
Added sugar content
Notable ingredients
Calories
Taste
And here’s how the various protein bars stacked up:
You can watch the full breakdown here:
But before you rush out and buy the GRENADE Dark Chocolate Mint protein bar in bulk, know that the best protein bar for you can vary according to individual factors, including your taste preferences, dietary restrictions, and food allergens (if any).
The ultimate aim of this article is to equip you with the knowledge you need to select the best, healthiest protein bar for you.
Enjoy protein bars in moderation
Ultimately, please remember to see protein bars as they are.
A complementary supplement to an otherwise well-balanced, nutritious, calorie-restricted diet that’ll help you in your weight loss journey. They’re meant to help you hit your daily protein requirements, not meal replacement bars, so please do not treat them as such.
If you’d like to learn how to improve your diet and overall lifestyle to support your weight loss goals, why not check out NOVI Optimum? It’s a weight loss program that combines the power of tailored nutrition and fitness plans to help you get fitter, shed the weight, and keep it off long-term.