What’s A Protein Bar And How To Choose The Right One?

Protein bars are power packed nutritious bars enriched with protein and other nutrients. They are made in different flavours like chocolate, vanilla, cookies and cream, etc. Calorie count may differ from brand to brand ranging 200-600 calories per bar. Protein bars can start from 10g protein to whopping up to 40g per serving. You can eat them every day if you want to and can be replaced any anytime but a few things you need to avoid when replacing it around your workout time (discussed below). You can make these bars at home too, to make it macro and calorie friendly.

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These bars have other nutrients as well as I said it above.

What other nutrients are there?

  • Carbohydrates
  • Fats
  • Sugar
  • Fibre

These bars can be a meal replacement and its a convenience protein enriched food.  These are ready to go foods which don’t need any preparation and can be easily fit in your daily travel bag. If you’re a busy individual and have less time to cook your own lunch or snacks then these can be very helpful.

What's A Protein Bar And How To Choose The Right One

How to pick your ideal protein bar?

1. Calories

Look behind of every protein bar, you will find “nutrition facts”. Look at those numbers and judge if it fits in your daily energy. Then check its serving size per gram of a bar and then check its macros and fibre intake. This will help you to know how many calories, macros and fibre you going to consume per bar.

2. Ingredients

Check bar ingredients and look what sources been used to make it. Sometimes bars are filled with a ton of sugar and other fillers. So look for minimum sources used to make a bar.

3. Protein

Look for protein content per serving. It should be above 10g per serving. Protein should come from whey sources or milk products used in a bar. For vegans, something like oats or nut source bars would do. If you looking for post workout recovery then I recommend picking a bar which has 20-40g of protein per serving.

4. Fats

If you looking for post-workout recovery, then I would suggest you look for low-fat protein bars because fats slow down your protein and carb digestion. If replacement isn’t around your workout then you can go for normal ones.

5. Carbohydrates

Check for total carbs and ignore the net carb numbers. Carbs would come up high as lots of carb source ingredients are used to make a bar like oats, flour, cocoa, etc. Check fibre intake too per serving. Make sure it is below 10g per serving, best would be 5g per serving. If you’re sensitive to artificial sweeteners then make sure they are limited in a bar.

 Protein Bar And How To Choose The Right One

What Are The Cons Of Protein Bars?

1. Cost

Bars can be costly in India when compared to normal energy or chocolate bar. Some bars are costlier than a dish from a good restaurant if you actually compare it.

2. Taste

Some bars taste pathetic and dry. Make sure you read some reviews before trying.

3. Nutrition Facts Labelling

Sometimes nutrition facts label is not correct when the calculation is done manually. Recalculate them whenever you planning to eat.

To conclude:

  • Yes, you can have a protein bar in your daily diet.
  • Yes, they are costly when it comes about pricing.
  • Yes, you can make them at home to make it calorie friendly and macro friendly.

Yashovardhan Singh is a fitness coach with GetSetGo Fitness and a former national football player. He likes to keep a no-nonsense approach to fitness by applying scientific literature to provide results to his clients. Reach him at yashovardhan@getsetgo.fitness for coaching and follow him on Instagram and Facebook.

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