Protein Bars? What are your Faves? Ones to Avoid?

I found quest bars to be absolutely horrifying. It's like chewing rubber with obviously artificial flavors added.

Ha ha, to each his own I guess. It's probably a good thing we don't all enjoy the same protein bars, or there'd be a bunch of manufacturers going out of business! To your "rubbery" I say "chewy". And there are no artificial ingredients in these puppies at all, another reason I feel ok about eating them.

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I want to add a protein bar to my workout routine as I gear up to my first half marathon...Any recommendations?

I'd like to use it for my long 11 and 12 miles runs.

Thanks!

I'd say avoid most because they're nothing but refined carbs and some are nothing more than expensive candy bars. I occasionally get some when I'm traveling because they're still better than not eating or eating crap. If I have to buy a protein bar I like Optimum Nutrition's Crispy Whey bars.

I found quest bars to be absolutely horrifying. It's like chewing rubber with obviously artificial flavors added.

Ha ha, to each his own I guess. It's probably a good thing we don't all enjoy the same protein bars, or there'd be a bunch of manufacturers going out of business! To your "rubbery" I say "chewy". And there are no artificial ingredients in these puppies at all, another reason I feel ok about eating them.

Isomalt is not natural =P
That's where they derive the "Fiber"

The ingredient in the Quest bars is Isomalto-Oligosaccharides which is indeed a natural nutrient sweetener that is refined from starch through enzymatic hydrolysis. The entire process uses all natural enzymes to convert the starch into the final product ... there are no man-made chemicals used in the process, thus it can be classified as all natural.

Premier. Can get them individually at WM.

I also like Pure Protein too because Whey based (instead of soy) for the chocolate one.

i go for whatever has the most protein usually, but sometimes ill make homemade ones too using whey protein.

I love the Fortifx protein bars! They are like triple baked or something and have 30 grams of protein. There's 3 different kinds and they are all delicious. You can get them at GNC.

thank you - need to up my protein and def going to give these a try!!

The Extend Bar is pretty good. 11g of protein, no sugar, 150 calories and 1 net carb. I eat the peanut butter chocolate delight for a snack. I think they are only available online but drugstore.com has free shipping.

I have been making my own lately, and prefer them..............posted this a while back, but here is the recipe and stats if you want to give it a shot.

2 cups kashi go lean crunch berry crumble
4 scoops body fortress vanilla
4 tbs skippy peanut butter
6tbs pb2 chocolate
.5 cup 2% milk

calories Carbs fat protein sugar fiber
200 20 6 20 7 4 (each)

mix all in bowl, will consistency of very thick cookie dough
press into a 8x8 pan, pyrex
(could just chill and cut probably)
I bake at 350 for about 10-15 until edges brown
cool.............cut into 8 bars

This sounds great. Gonna give this a try. I have yet to find a protein bar that isn't full of crap and actually tastes good. I MUCH rather make my own. I never even thought to try my own. You can completely control the macro content this way. Awesome idea!

I would like to give this a try - just not sure what you mean by 6tbsp pb2 chocolate - can you explain?
Thanks so much!

to the poster who asked what's wrong w/GMOs: Ethically Everything. The companies that push this crap, are producing terminator seeds, Meaning when harvest is done the seeds produced are sterile and won't produce anything, nothing is stopping cross-pollination, the comanies have also gone into OUR national seed bank and taken the seeds and PATENTED them. They are obliterating varieties and are not testing for hardiness against weather conditions, and local pests. In this process they are also wiping out family farms, mostly through litigation.

Monsanto is one of the chief offenders, however there are multiple companies in this catagory. Monsanto creates Round Up and is generating plants that will resist Round up so they can dump even more on them. Essentially poisoning our water table. RoundUp is based on Agent Orange. Herbacides are known carcenogens. Add it all together and you have a recipe for future famine. Oh and they are also a large cause of migration from Mexico because the mexican farmers couldn't compete with the cheap GMO corn and they moved into cities which couldn't support them and then came here out of desperation.

Nutritionally these foods don't hold the value of natural foods AND more importantly hold the potential for SEVERE ALLERGIC REACTIONS i.e. anaphalyaxis where in tissues swell and the throat closes and heartrate elevates. Our DNA has cell markers that determine our genetic traits, these markers known as aleals are proteins. Sometimes, we encounter a protein (eat, breathe or enteres through a cut or injection.) that the body sees as an intruder AND it resembles one of our own proteins (my understanding is that is usually the alleals it resembles) , the next time we encounter that protein our body goes on high alert and starts attaking ALL of the proteins that it sees as an enemy intruder. Hence, the autoimmune response known as allergies. Other known auto immune responses/diseases include Multiple Sclerosis, Ezcema, Lupus, hayfever, hives etc.

Esthetically: they don't taste as good. i.e. mealy tomatoes because they're designed to have longer shelf life for transportation, the Macintosh, Red and Golden Delicious Apple varietis (blech), most store bought peaches.

Green: (by green in this speciffic post I mean energy used to produce and transport) Local and organic for storage, middle men, and transportation reasons are better. Lots of grocery stores at least in my area carry local produce when it is in season.


sorry for dragging everyone off topic but for the EXACT reasons Iisted above I will look into finding a better protein bar.

Damn I hope that those Quest bars are all they're cracked up to be, Coz I just spent $65 AU on them, including $25 shipping! Thank God our dollar is doing okay these days

Did you like them and think they were worth the money?

I have been making my own lately, and prefer them..............posted this a while back, but here is the recipe and stats if you want to give it a shot.

2 cups kashi go lean crunch berry crumble
4 scoops body fortress vanilla
4 tbs skippy peanut butter
6tbs pb2 chocolate
.5 cup 2% milk

calories Carbs fat protein sugar fiber
200 20 6 20 7 4 (each)

mix all in bowl, will consistency of very thick cookie dough
press into a 8x8 pan, pyrex
(could just chill and cut probably)
I bake at 350 for about 10-15 until edges brown
cool.............cut into 8 bars

I'll have to try these!

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I would like to give this a try - just not sure what you mean by 6tbsp pb2 chocolate - can you explain?
Thanks so much!
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PB2 chocolate is powdered peanut butter chocolate flavoured.

http://bellplantation.com/

I found Quest bars at Vitamin Shoppe, if anyone is still looking for them.

They are a little high in calories, with 290, but the Snickers Protein bars, especially the Caramel Rush flavor, are fantastic. They have 20 grams of protein. I don't recommend the pure protein, but that is because I had a bad reaction to them and was sick to my stomach for a few days.