The One Ingredient You Absolutely Have To Double-Check Before Buying Protein Bars

Protein bars are an extremely convenient way to refuel after the gym or act as a replacement meal for a busy day on the go. Although they are easy to reach for and marketed as a healthy and nutritious protein-packed snack, hiding behind all that protein and marketing could be an unexpected dose of half a day's worth of sugar. In addition to huge amounts of added sweeteners, many protein bars are considered ultra-processed foods, which share a category with fast foods, candy, ice cream, and chips — none of which are nutritional powerhouses.

Of course some sugar and sweetness are necessary to make a protein bar palatable so they aren't chalky and offensive, but they do not necessarily need to taste like candy bars, which is something many brands are seeming to emulate. With flavors like birthday cake and chocolate chip cookie dough commonly seen from various brands, there are plenty of protein bars to satisfy your sweet tooth, but it is important to keep an eye on the amount of sugar listed on the nutrition label. The chocolate chip flavor of Gatorade's protein bar has 28 grams of added sugars to go with the advertised 20 grams of protein, and the cookies and creme flavor has even more sugar at 29 grams per bar. In comparison, a full sized Snickers candy bar contains 26 grams of sugar, which is 2 to 3 grams less sugar than the two Gatorade protein bars. 

There is a startling amount of added sugar in our food, so it is no surprise that excess sugar would even make its way into foods geared toward health. To put these nutritional label numbers in perspective, 1 teaspoon of sugar contains 4 grams of sugar, and a tablespoon of sugar has about 12 grams of sugar. Many people add about a teaspoon of sugar in their coffee, but eating a protein bar with 24 grams of sugar is the equivalent of adding 2 full tablespoons of sugar into a cup of coffee. The United States Department of Agriculture's dietary guidelines recommend that added sugars should only account 10% or less of daily calories for people ages 2 and over. So if you are eating about 2,000 calories per day, only 200 of those calories should come from sugar, which is about 50 grams of sugar per day maximum.

Many shelf-stable snacks on the market have shifted to marketing with an emphasis on protein, blurring the line between high-protein snacks and dessert, so finding a protein bar that has an appropriate ratio of protein to sugar can be challenging. When seeking out a protein bar, look for whole ingredients like nuts and seeds, which substantially higher amounts of protein without being ultra-processed or laden with sugar. Look for bars that have a minimum of 10 grams of protein per bar and ideally at least 5 grams of fiber, which will keep you feeling fuller for longer, and keep an eye out for the amount of added sugars.