Protein bars are no longer a supplement dedicated to diehard gym rats, with awful taste and the consistency of a brick. Men, women, and even teenagers can commonly be seen eating protein bars. The taste and texture have improved dramatically over the years.
You’ve probably noticed that every time you search for the word “best” with any supplement that it leads to a countless array of top 10 lists in the results.
You may not know this, but the majority of those lists are not based on merit. As someone who has worked in the supplement industry I can tell you that supplement companies pay top dollar to be featured in those lists.
Oftentimes these lists are made by news outlets and other websites with high authority.
The shame of it all is that consumers are led to believe that these are legitimate rankings, where the brands that are truly the best rise to the top. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
Luckily, we are going to cut through the noise and showcase the best protein bar for the price. Not a top 10 or even a top 5. We’re taking a stand and picking just one. No more lengthy lists, no more hidden agendas, just a straightforward, honest breakdown of the best cost-effective protein bar on the market.
Criteria For The Most Cost-Effective Protein Bar
Simply throwing out the cheapest protein bar wouldn’t be an effective exercise, since quality is an important part as well. When choosing the best protein bar for the price, we took into consideration the following:
Price
Naturally, the cost of the protein bar is a major factor. But beyond that, you have to look at the cost per gram of protein. What good is a $2 bar if it only contains 9 grams of protein?
Availability is important as well. You don’t want to be at the mercy of an online retailer that is the only one who has a product. A widely available product is not only convenient, but also a candidate to be on sale at certain stores.
Macros
You want a protein bar with macros that are easy to fit into any diet. This means a reasonable amount of fat and carbs, with enough protein to make it a legitimate choice for muscle building and recovery.
Most protein bars nowadays reach the protein threshold, but can be so high in carbs and/or fats that it becomes a challenge to fit it into your macros. This is particularly evident for people who are dieting and eating in a calorie deficit.
Taste
There’s no reason to choke down a protein bar just because it’s cheap with good macros. Luckily, flavoring technology has come a long way. While taste is subjective, it’s reasonable to say that most protein bars are pretty good.
With that said, many of the best tasting bars are super high in calories. They are also so palatable that they leave you wanting more. But don’t worry, we have a bar that tastes great combined with quality macros to keep you on your diet.
Texture
While most supplement companies have the taste aspect figured out, texture can be an issue. Eating a protein bar shouldn’t double as a jaw workout. Exercising is hard enough, you shouldn’t have to strain to get through your mid afternoon snack.
Pure Protein: The Best Value Protein Bar
You’ve probably seen it before; Pure Protein bars are all over supermarket and supplement store shelves. They’ve been around for ages and continue to get the job done.
At $16 for a box of 12 bars, the value is unmatched. Even if you buy individual bars from the store, it’s always less than $2. As mentioned they’re found in almost every grocery outlet and convenience store.
Don’t let the price tag fool you into thinking they are skimping on quality.
Pure Protein bars are a blend of whey protein, whey protein isolate, milk protein and sometimes soy protein depending on the flavor. If you’re one of those people that avoid soy protein like the plague (despite it being a complete protein), then don’t worry because multiple flavors have no soy protein at all.
At 20 grams of high-quality protein per bar, it’s an easy way to hit your daily protein targets. Better yet, each bar contains 15-20 grams of carbs depending on which flavor you choose. That is easy to work with in almost every macro setting.
Fat comes in at around 5 grams per bar. The peanut butter flavors contain slightly more.
If you were bulking, you could easily eat two bars which would leave you at about 10 grams of fat, 40 grams of carbs, and 40 grams of protein. That’s a terrific ratio that won’t leave you scrambling later in the day because your macros are out of whack.
Pure Protein bars come in 8 flavors, and you can’t go wrong with any of them. Personally, I opt for chewy chocolate chip, lemon cake, or chocolate salted caramel. But if you gave me any flavor I wouldn’t be mad about it.
Changing For The Better: The New and Improved Pure Protein Bar
A reformulation usually has loyal customers up in arms, but this one was different. Neither the macros nor the taste of Pure Protein bars changed.
The texture, however, is much improved. Quite frankly, the texture wasn’t even bad beforehand. But the bars are slightly softer and chewier than before. This may have come hand-in-hand with the new packaging.
Better texture allows for a more favorable experience. As mentioned, there are plenty of bars on the market that can leave your jaw sore.
Conclusion
If you are an experienced supplement user, you may be surprised to find that Pure Protein bars are considered the best value.
They’ve stood the test of time, so much so that you may just breeze past them in the grocery store aisle as you look for more popular, flashier options like Quest or ONE. But when you consider availability, taste, macros, and of course, cost, it’s hard to argue that Pure Protein ranks at the top.
Recent Posts
Protein bar manufacturing has improved tremendously in the past decade. Companies can now formulate and flavor protein bars and other food products that rival desserts while maintaining a decent...
Protein bars are so ubiquitous in today’s world that you’d be hard pressed not to find one in any supermarket, convenience store, or gas station you walk into. Companies like Quest, MetRx, and...