Evaluating Protein Bars in accordance with IIFM and the Pareto Diet
Protein is one of the three macro-nutrients your body needs in order to function properly. When it comes to dieting for weight-loss, high protein helps in 2 ways.
1) As mentioned in the Pareto diet principles consistently restricting total calories over a period of time is important to achieving a calorie deficit required for weight loss. The biggest challenge with this is feeling satiated. Having a relatively high level of protein in your diet because it have a large impact on satiety relative to the number of calories.
2) Protein helps preserve muscle-mass during a diet, which in turn helps increase your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), this is essentially the rate at which your body expends calories while resting. This helps increase your caloric expenditure and helps you loose weight.
Unless you cook at home and adjust your recipes in accordance with macronutrient ratios, it can be hard to get enough protein while simultaneously restricting calories. The advantage that protein bars have over shakes is mostly taste and convenience. They are great for times where you just want to treat yourself to something sweet without feeling like you are cheating on your diet.
Does the Type Protein Used in Protein Bars Matter ?
There are various types of protein found in protein bars. Most of the protein bars have whey isolates, whey concentrate, hydrolysate protein, casein protein, soy protein, milk protein isolate, vegetable protein and egg albumin. In accordance with the 80-20 rule, I would not suggest worrying too much about this unless you are an athlete looking to get the absolute best results.
This is not to say that all proteins are equal. There are some differences in protein absorption (whey for example is absorbed faster than casein protein). There are some people who think soy protein is bad for men, but the research does not support this view point, particularly if you they are active and take it in moderation.
But if you should use your limited focus and will power to evaluate based on other criteria.
What are the correct metrics to evaluate a protein bar ?
- Calorie to Protein Ratio: As a rule of thumb you want at least 1 g of protein per every 10 calories.
- Cost per gram of protein: Rather looking at individual
- Taste: Depends on the individual, however some are just way better than others.
Atkins Bar – Buy on Amazon.ca
- Calorie to Protein Ratio: Medium-High. .81 g of protein per 10 calories (varies slightly based on flavour)
- Cost Per Gram: Low, tends to be cheaper than the other alternatives
- Taste: Rich and Indulgent comapared to the alternatives
Overall:
I recommend this bar if you are trying to avoid sugar alcohols or are on a generally low carb diet (I mean it is Atkins afterall). The flavour tends to compare favourably to more premium bars even if the macros are slightly worse. I think perhaps due to the relatively high fat content, this bar provides a fairly high level of satiety.
Pure Protein – Buy on Amazon.ca
- Calorie to Protein Ratio: High. 1 g of protein per 10 calories (varies slightly based on flavour)
- Cost Per Gram: Low, tends to be cheaper than the other alternatives
- Taste: Low, dry and has a strange aftertaste. But this can vary from person to person.
Overall:
I recommend this bar if you are budget conscious, or not terribly picky about the taste of the bar. It delivers a solid amount of protein per gram. I think the chocolate deluxe flavour is one of the best ones in terms of taste. I personally world rank the taste of the chocolate deluxe flavour very favourably to several premium protein bar options.
Quest Nutrition Protein Bar – Buy on Amazon.ca
- Calorie to Protein Ratio: High. 1.17 g of protein per 10 calories (varies slightly based on flavour)
- Cost Per Gram: High, tends to more expensive then the other alternatives
- Taste: Pretty good for a protein bar, but not good at all compared to an actual snack.
The sweetener used in the quest bar is a form of fiber, so it ranks high in fiber, which is an important ingredient missing in Pure Protein above. The cookies and cream flavour is my personal favourite. The taste while good for a protein bar, can’t really compare to an actual Oreo cookie, and an average person who is judging purely based on taste would pick the cookie over the bar.
Clif Builder’s – Protein Bar – Buy on Amazon.ca
- Calorie to Protein Ratio: Low. 0.74g of protein per 10 calories
- Cost Per Gram: : Low, tends to be quite cheap compared to the other two when you compare the other two. It uses soy protein, which tends to be a bit cheaper than whey.
- Taste: This is the only protein bar I can compare to an actual ‘normal’ snack. The taste is similar to a store bought granola bar
Overall:
Even though the overall protein content of this. The bar also advertises its micronutrient content, but I don’t think it is actually a good source of micronutrients (compared to eating a serving of leafy greens for eg.). Because the protein ratio of this bar is low, but the taste is very good I think the real value of this bar comes in IF you use it as a snack replacement.
For comparison with a quest bar you could have the bar + a piece of small dark chocolate and have a similar macronutrient profile as the clif builder’s bar. However if you treat the bar itself as a treat, then this is a viable option.
I personally like to have a high protein to calorie ratio in my bars / supplements and indulge in real snacks and treats and still have them fit my calories and macros. You can have a healthy diet, and be in great shape either way, this is the beauty of flexible dieting.
