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There are a lot of good protein bars out there, but there are also a lot of bad protein bars. With so many bars our there that are consumed by millions of people I wanted to find the top worst popular protein bars. There are hundreds of other bars that didn’t make this list, but I wanted to focus on easy to find bars that everyone seems to be turning to.
Companies are great at marketing these bars, but that doesn’t mean they are good and we don’t want you to be fooled by their clever packaging.
There are so many protein bars out there that are full of processed ingredients that it can be a wonder how they can even be marketed as healthy. With some, you may as well just grab a Snickers bar and throw your goals down the drain.
We don’t all have a Morellifit Protein on hand all the time, and sometimes you may need to reach for a quick and easy snack while you are on the go. In these times, there is a handful… or two… of protein bars that you should avoid.
In fact, if you are eating protein bars, there is a good chance you are eating one of these unhealthy protein bars.
They even recommended most of these at the local supplement shop!
Although this bar has a few good things going for it. For instance, it is GMO-free, no artificial flavorings, and it is sweetened with monk fruit and stevia. These are the types of things you want to see in a bar. However, there are ingredients that ruin what it has going for it. Along with these good these, FitJoy also includes canola oil and soy lecithin. These are two ingredients you want to avoid as canola oil is known to contribute to kidney and liver problems due to the genetic modification, as well as heart disease [1, 2].
Yes, the Clif Bar is all organic, and that is a good thing, but that doesn’t make this a good bar. This bar still has a lot of sugar and a lot of carbs in every serving. In fact, it has 21 grams of sugar and 41 grams of carbs per bar! And only 9 grams of protein. That is crazy! Not to mention that it contains a lot of soy ingredients, such as soy lecithin, soy flour, and soybean oil, to name a few.
If you remember our blog discussing the dangers of soy, then you know why we want to avoid soy ingredients and the foods that contain them. Soy can inhibit protein digestion, impair pancreatic function, and disrupts the endocrine system. It has also been linked to increased risk of breast cancer in women [3, 4, 5, 6].
Power Crunch has some decent protein in it, as it contains hydrolyzed whey with micro peptides. Although this is not as good as grass-fed whey, it is not a bad protein to go with. The downside about this protein is there are only 13 grams in this bar, and if it is protein you are after, there are bars with more protein in them. The other downside of this bar is that it contains soy, which, again, you want to avoid.
⚡ Related: Learn why GRASS-FED is so much better than conventionally raised cows!
The Mission1 bars are sweetened with stevia, and the macros are pretty decent with a good ratio of carbs and protein. However, this bar does contain cornstarch, corn fiber, and sucralose. Cornstarch is essentially a highly processed carbohydrate that adds no nutritional value to your food. It has no fat, no protein, no minerals, and no vitamins.
We no don’t use sucralose to sweeten any of our products, including our protein, because sucralose can have disastrous affects on your health.
I know you’ve had one of these because we have all had one of these. This is one of the go-to bars for many people and is perhaps of the most popular. But that doesn’t make it a good bar.
The Quest Bar contains a decent macro set, but this bar still contains ingredients like palm oil and sucralose.
Palm oil is 100% fat and is known to increase LDL, which is the bad cholesterol that you want to decrease [7, 8]. Bad LDL can have adverse effects on the health of your heart, leading to disease and stroke.
Ok, this Combat Bar is delicious, but it is not clean or innovative as it claims on the package. It may have a decent protein to carb ratio, but it contains soy, sucralose, palm kernel oil, and vegetable glycerin, which is known to have side effects of nausea, headaches, and diarrhea if over consumed.
This is an alternative option if you are vegan and I like that the product is non-GMO. There is no soy, no day, no artificial sweeteners, and that is great! But when you look at the protein, it is less bioavailable than most other proteins and contains wheat flour.
Wheat flour can have adverse effects if you have a gluten intolerance or sensitivity. Plus, it can impair your body’s ability to absorb nutrients [9].
Plus, it is high in sugar (30 grams per cookie!) and has a bad protein to carb ratio with 16 grams of protein and 55 grams of carbs.
While this isn’t the worst bar on the list, there is absolutely nothing in this bar that I like. This bar is high in sugar, high in carbohydrates, and low in protein. This bar also contains soy ingredients, maltodextrin, and fructose.
Maltodextrin is a food additive with no nutritional value made from starch and is found in 60% of all packaged foods. It is used as a filler and preservative to extend the shelf life of food. It has many adverse effects, such as a higher risk of disease, a disruption in your gut health, and it has a high glycemic index, meaning it can quickly spike your blood sugar [10, 11]. It can also contribute to obesity and heart disease [12].
Fructose, on the other hand, is not naturally produced by our bodies and we cannot break it down in large amounts. In fact, the only organ that can metabolize it, in small quantities, is the liver. More often than not, fructose is stored by our livers until the liver is overloaded and then it is turned into fat (13). Overconsumption of fructose can even lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (14).
I included the Kroger bar because this is the traditional granola bar that you find at your local grocery store. Another popular brand is Nature Valley. I tried to be fair and went after the protein bar, rather than just another granola bar that people often grab for snacks. When I looked at the ingredient deck I found nothing but one bad ingredient after another. These bars contain palm kernel oil, soy lecithin, wheat, corn syrup, and canola oil.
You’ve seen why I don’t like any of these ingredients and why I think this is bad news. This is a junk bar.
This is a popular bar, and it has decent macros with 22 grams of protein, 25 grams of carbs, and 1 gram of sugar. The thing that brings this bar all the way down to the worst bar of them all are the artificial flavors and dyes. This bar contains corn starch, palm kernel oil, sucralose, soy lecithin, yellow 6 lake, red 40, blue 1 lake, red 3, and red 40 lake.
Not only does this bar contain harmful ingredients like corn starch, palm kernel oil, sucralose, and soy, but it also contains a whole host of artificial dyes. These dyes are so bad that many countries actually ban them!
⚡ Related: Learn why all over the world countries are banning these dyes!
These protein bars are filled with junk. While some may contain good ingredients, the sub-par and harmful ingredients that litter these bars just don’t make the cut.
Why waste your money on something that could be doing you more harm than good.
If you find yourself looking for a quick snack while you are out, be sure you are grabbing the best protein bar, rather than a candy bar… or candy bar-like protein bar…
Now that you know the WORST protein bars that you are probably eating, it is time to check out the BEST protein bars that you should be eating. Learn which bars you should make the switch to before you grab another one like those on the list above. Trust me, you’ll thank me later!
The best way to make sure you are getting enough protein is to supplement with the best quality whey protein, like Morellifit Protein.
That is until we get our own bars in…
Stay tuned
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