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Yes, Healthy Nutrition Bars Do Exist: Here are My Seven Favorites
Taylor Stolt, RDN, LD, CLT, IFNCP • July 20, 2021
Navigating nutrition bars can be tough, but I’m here to help!
In this blog:
- I reveal my seven favorite nutrition bars
- I explain why I love them
- I share my favorite flavors and coupon codes!
How to Shop for a Healthy Nutrition Bar
But first – If you haven’t read my previous blog, click here !
In my previous blog I explain the top five things to look for when shopping for a nutrition bar.
I hope you love my seven favorite bars too, but there may be healthy bars out there that you love that I didn’t mention. My previous blog will help you make that decision!
I love empowering my clients with the knowledge they need to navigate their food choices for years to come, and I hope these blogs empower you in the same way.
Why These Nutrition Bars are my Favorite
The moment we’ve all been waiting for – my top seven favorite bars! (plus a handful of honorable mentions)
Read to the end to see my absolute favorite!
What do I love about these bars?
- Nutrition Label: These bars have a nutrition label that falls in line with the top five factors I discussed – Sugar, Oils, Protein, Fiber, and Additives/Preservatives.
- Taste: I think we can all agree we wouldn’t enjoy a bar with great ingredients if it tastes like cardboard!
- Price: I appreciate quality ingredients and I know quality comes with a price tag, but I’m also not willing to spend $5 on a bar when I could make a high-quality meal for the same cost.
Top Seven Favorite Nutrition Bars
- Paleokrunch
- Grain-free bars with only 6 grams of unrefined sugar from honey and lots of healthy fats to keep your blood sugars stable and keep you feeling full and satisfied.
- Flavors I love: Original, pumpkin, banana chocolate chip, maple sweet potato, and tropical
- Original
- Sugar – 6 grams
- Fiber – 7 grams
- Protein – 7 grams
- Ingredients – Almonds, shredded coconut, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, coconut oil, honey
- Thunderbird
- I’ve been a Thunderbird fan for several years now, and my love for them has grown as they have released more and more delicious flavors!
- Flavors I love: Hazelnut coffee maca, chocolate raspberry espresso, chocolate cherry almond, and chocolate almond butter sea salt
- Use code “plateandcanvas” for 15% off your order!
- Hazelnut Coffee Maca
- Sugar – 13 grams natural sugar
- Fiber – 5 grams
- Protein – 4 grams
- Ingredients – Dates, hazelnuts, almonds, cacao butter, cacao powder, vanilla extract, chia seeds, coffee beans, maca powder, Himalayan pink salt
- Epic Bars
- Epic bars are basically like jerky, except not nearly as tough. They’re the perfect choice if you’re trying to keep sugar intake low!
- Flavors I love – chicken sesame BBQ, chicken sriracha, turkey almond cranberry, and beef barbacoa
- Turkey Almond Cranberry
- Sugar – 5 grams natural sugar
- Fiber – 2 grams
- Protein – 10 grams
- Ingredients – Turkey, almonds, cranberries (apple juice concentrate, cranberries), encapsulated lactic acid, sea salt, cultured celery powder, nutmeg, coriander, cumin, dried garlic, paprika, red pepper, dried onion
- Autumn’s Gold Cinnamon Almond granola bars
- I love pairing this with a hot matcha latte, perfect way to start the day!
- These are super affordable from Costco, and also available on Amazon – just make sure you get them directly from the distributor.
- They have a delicious low-sugar granola too
- Sugar – 6 grams added sugar
- Fiber – 3 grams
- Protein – 5 grams
- Ingredients – Almonds, pecans, maple syrup, organic honey, unsweetened coconut, pumpkin seeds, organic unrefined coconut oil, cinnamon, sea salt, vanilla extract
- Bearded Brothers
- Bearded Brothers offers bars that have simple ingredients but lots of flavor and great texture.
- Flavors I love: Mega Maca chocolate, coconut mango, and almond butter chocolate
- Mega
Maca Chocolate
- Sugar – 1 gram added sugar, 13 grams natural sugar
- Fiber – 5 grams
- Protein – 5 grams
- Ingredients – Almonds, dates, gluten-free rolled oats, cocoa, sea salt, pea protein
- GoRaw
- These bars feature sprouted seeds full of vitamins and minerals, healthy fats, and easy-to-digest protein.
- Flavors I love: dark chocolate sea salt sprouted trail mix bar, apple cinnamon sprouted trail mix bar, dark chocolate cherry sprouted trail mix bar, dark chocolate sprouted protein bar
- Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Sprouted Trail Mix Bar
- Sugar – 1 gram added sugar, 6 grams natural sugar
- Fiber – 4 grams
- Protein – 8 grams
- Ingredients – Sprouted pumpkin seeds, dates, cacao powder, dark chocolate (cocoa, coconut sugar, cocoa butter), coconut nectar, sea salt
- Gratisfied
- I discovered these bars last year and – GUYS. THEY’RE SO GOOD. Many of my clients have tried them, friends have tried them, family members have tried them – we’re all obsessed. This is more of a magical baked good than it is a bar. It’s a tiny bit more expensive than the others listed but I can promise you it’s worth every penny.
- Use code “PAC10” for 10% off your order!
- Flavors I love: My favorite is original, and I absolutely love pumpkin spice but it is seasonal
- Original
- Sugar – 2 grams added sugar
- Fiber – 3 grams
- Protein – 12 grams
- Ingredients – All natural almond butter, organic hemp hearts, organic sunflower seeds, organic pumpkin seeds, organic unsweetened shredded coconut, organic coconut nectar, avocado oil, cage-free egg, organic pea protein, cinnamon, Himalayan sea salt, vanilla bean powder, monk fruit powder
Honorable Mentions
These bars just missed the mark for being in my top five, but they still deserve a shoutout!
- Lara Bar – These bars have just a few simple ingredients, and I love all the variety of flavors they offer. Similar to Bearded Brothers, the sugar content is a little on the high side. I love using these as a pre-workout snack, or I pair half a bar with something that contains fat and protein like veggies and hummus or a handful of nuts.
- Kize – I appreciate that Kize offers vegan, dairy-free, and grain-free options. All of their bars are gluten-free and are sweetened with a small amount of unrefined sugar from honey. Great ingredients, just not my favorite when it comes to taste and texture. I love Kize’s mission to help those in need – they donate proceeds from every single purchase to support a community of 1,000 children in Haiti and to help serve the poor, hungry, and youth in the Oklahoma City area.
- Health Warrior pumpkin seed bars – The nutrition label for the this bar is impressive – 8 grams of protein, only 6 grams of sugar from honey, and it’s loaded with magnesium-rich pumpkin seeds. They’re good, but I’m a bigger fan of the GoRaw bars because they use sprouted seeds (which increases digestibility and absorption of nutrients) and I think they taste better!
- RX Bar – This bar has a solid amount of protein (typically 12 grams), healthy fats from nuts, and a moderate amount of natural sugar from dried fruit. The only downsides, in my opinion, are their super chewy texture and the fact that they contain “natural flavors” which is not a regulated term. But on their website they state the bars’ “natural flavors” only contain “ oils, essences and extracts from natural sources such as spices, fruits, plants or vegetables ” just to keep the taste consistent from bar to bar!
Unhealthy Nutrition Bars
Want to learn about the bars that you were probably tricked into thinking are healthy?
(hint-hint, they’re actually not)
Stay tuned for my next blog, and join my newsletter so you I can let you know as soon as it goes live.
And be sure to be sure to follow me on Instagram @plateandcanvas for more recipes and nutrition tips!
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