WHY WE THINK IT’S HEALTHY:

Proteins are associated with health, strength, vigour, and muscles. Those who want to eat more of it but don’t want to munch on a chicken breast at the gym find that protein bars are a godsend.

WHY IT’S NOT:

It’s hard to generalize about protein bars because there are so many out there. Some protein bars are pretty good; most of them are junk. Take a look at the ingredient list and feast your eyes on the wonders of food chemical engineering. First, make sure that it’s a protein bar that contains at least 15 grams of protein per bar. Second, ensure that the first ingredient is a high-quality protein like hydrolyzed whey, whey isolates or micellar casein. Third, inspect the sugar and carb content and avoid anything with sucrose, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup or chocolate.

You might see a lot of words that end in “-ol” like xylitol, maltitol, sorbitol or glycerol. These are sugar alcohols that have fewer calories than carbs and don’t cause tooth decay, but they can cause intestinal discomfort in some people. Lastly, think of protein bars as a once-in-a-while convenience snack and never as a meal replacement. They are highly processed foods and can never replace a properly balanced meal.