War of the bars: Probar in the lead

I'm been on the hunt for snacks that are low on fat, yet taste good and are made from ingredients that don't sound like they came from my chemistry lab. It is a bonus if they don't need to be refrigerated (much as I love yogurt), don't taste like metal or mud, don't melt in the car, don't disintegrate in a backpack and don't undo the effect of four workouts.

My love for bars started when I was a gym junkie about 7 years ago. But looking at the ingredient list for a traditional power bar makes me cringe.

A few months ago, the good folks at work started stocking Larabars. I love them for the simplicity of their ingredient list. "Dates Pecans Almonds" sums up the Pecan Pie bar. However, this bar derives 120 of its 240 calories from fat. With 14 fat grams and 16 sugar grams, I had better be working out a LOT to eat these. Non-GMO but not all bars are organic. Larabar Jocalat might be one of the yummiest things around.


Recently, work introduced another bar, which I have been loving. The ProBar fruition bars have a slightly longer ingredient list. The bar says "Certified Organic" (not USDA Organic) and top 3 ingredients are usually organic, but the rest are not. It is also vegan+non-GMO (I'm not vegan and I am providing that info just as an FYI). The thing I love about the bar is that it is better balanced nutritionally. I have the Peach bar sitting in front of me, and it has 160 calories, with a mere 20 from fat. However, we do have 21 gms of sugar. Choose your vice.


Lastly, I've also been treating myself to Mrs May's bars and crunches. These have whole crunchy nuts instead of the paste version that makes other bars. Much as I love them, they are the worst of the lot from a fat-% perspective. My favorite Mrs May product is their Cashew Crunch (not a bar) which comes in at 66% calories from fat. I think I had a heart attack right there.


Share your healthy and yummy finds with me! You will be rewarded with.. well, nothing, I guess :))

PS: Pictures taken from website of the product. Included for the benefit of people who don't read posts without pics ;-)