Protein bars are enjoyed by many for their convenience in protein intake, but they can’t be considered a healthy food.
The origin of the protein bar dates back to the late 1980s. During that time, two long-distance runners living in the San Francisco Bay Area combined vitamins, oat bran, milk protein, and corn syrup to create the first protein bar, the “Power Bar.”
Since then, this protein bar has gained phenomenal popularity, being called a “snack for fitness maniacs and young intellectuals working in professional fields.” Today’s protein bars are widely loved as a healthy snack that can be easily bought and consumed anywhere, anytime.
However, experts say that protein bars are not that healthy. Since those with a balanced diet get their protein from meat, tofu, nuts, or legumes, there’s no need to eat protein bars specifically. This is also because protein bars contain not only protein but also a lot of sugar and salt.
Looking at the nutritional facts of most protein bars, you can easily find that they contain sugars like white sugar, fructose, syrup, and sweetened condensed milk (a food product made by adding sugar to milk and concentrating it).
Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University, said, “People instinctively associate protein with health,” and pointed out, “When people eat protein bars, they think they are doing something good for their health.”
Hanna Cutting-Jones, the head of the Food Research Program at the University of Oregon, also said about protein bars, “They can be considered a kind of ‘Frankenfood’ that is highly processed and contains a lot of sugar and salt.” Eric Rimm, a nutrition professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, said, “They are nothing more than candy bars with a lot of protein.”
These protein bars may be suitable for vegetarians who cannot get enough protein from their diet or for people who do intense workouts, but they argue that there is no need for ordinary people to eat them.
Therefore, it is best to consume unprocessed foods such as nuts, fish, chicken breast, and eggs to supplement protein.
They also advise that you should check their nutritional content if you have protein bars. If you eat protein bars as a snack or as a supplement after exercise, you should choose ones that have about 200 calories per serving, less than 5g of fat, and less than 5g of added sugar, and recommend products that contain 15-20g of protein per serving.
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