What protein bar is best?

What are good nutrition numbers for a protein bar?

• My mom made up her own recipe for homemade protein bars and she is thinking about selling them. What kinds of numbers do people who work out look for in a protein bar? Carbs? Protein? Fat? Sugar? Fiber?

• Answer:

  1. Does it have at least 3 grams of fiber? I try to make sure my own breakfast and snack choices contain 5 grams of fiber. Fiber helps our bodies in many ways, but in a bar, it will slow digestion and make the energy from the bar last longer. For testing purposes, since so few bars have 5 grams of fiber, I looked for those with at least 3 grams. 2. Does it have at least 5 grams of protein? I also try to make sure my breakfast and snack choices contain 5 grams of protein. This helps balance the carbohydrates, so the bar seems more satisfying and the energy lasts longer. Some bars I tested had 1 or 2 grams of protein, while others had 10 or more grams. 3. Does it contain less than 35% calories from sugar? I've got to warn you; not many bars meet this guideline. One of the bars my daughters really like (Nature's Choice Multigrain Raspberry) has 13 grams of sugar ¬which, at 120 calories a bar, comes out to 43% calories from sugar. I like to calculate the percentage of calories from sugar because different brands of bars differ dramatically in size and calories. Putting sugar into a percentage gives you a way to compare them fairly. 4. How much total fat and saturated fat does it contain? You definitely want some fat in the bar, so that it has a more satisfying taste, texture, and helps slow digestion a bit. But you don't want too much fat, and you certainly don't want any saturated fat if you can help it. I read labels for the bars I came across and tried to find some that followed my four keys to a better bar. I was able to find some bars with 3 or more grams of fiber, 5 or more grams of protein, lower amounts of fat, and no saturated fat. But it was the rare bar that had less than 30% calories from sugar! nfd♥