I was lucky enough to receive a box of samples and flavors that contained both the Superfood Protein Bars and the Chia Bars. The Chia Bars are low in sugar and are filled with antioxidants and Omega 3s. The Superfood Protein Bars have five grams of fiber and 10 grams of plant based protein via a blend of chia, quinoa, oats, and pea crisps.

These Bars Are Worthwhile

I really liked these bars. The texture was soft and somewhat chewy upon opening. The Chia Bars provide more of the crunch that is unique to chia seeds, and the Superfood Protein Bars had some of the chia crunch as well.

According to the Health Warrior website, chia seeds provide more Omega 3 fatty acids than salmon per ounce and are critical to cell and tissue growth and that they also provide plant based protein to the system with a full amino profile. So, chia seeds are really good for you.

The bars range in price from a box of 15 for the Chia Bars at $15.99 and the Superfood Protein Bars are offered at 12 for $23.99. You won’t regret giving these a try.

More delicious product reviews:

High Protein, Low Sugar, Small Package

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I’ll be honest. I really don’t like protein bars. It’s difficult to find the right balance of protein, decent taste, and texture without a bunch of added sugar per serving. Detour Whey Protein Bars is a new brand to me and, after reviewing the nutrition facts, I was excited to give these a try.

Detour Bar Basics

I had an opportunity to try a few of the “Simple” and a few of the “ Smart” bars. The “Simple” bars contain 10-20 grams of whey protein, depending on the flavor. They are non-GMO and contain 4 grams of sugar (or less) per bar. The “Smart” bars are whole grain, gluten free, and also contain only approximately 4 grams of sugar with 10 grams of whey protein. These bars are more balanced than some I’ve found for those who are looking to lose weight or gain mass.

The “ Simple” bars have an outer coating and a soft center. The “Smart” bars are oatmeal based. While different in type, both bars have a texture that is appealing. Neither of the bars are too chewy or too sticky.

The bars are less than $2.00 each according to the website. There are a variety of options for purchase depending on the quantity desired.

My Take on Detour Bars

I really liked these protein bars. They are a great option if an athlete is looking for a bar that is a balanced snack or want something packable while hiking or biking. At about 150 calories per bar, Detour bars make an excellent lower calorie snack, especially when traveling or when other meals and snacks aren’t available.

If you are counting your macros, these bars have a good ratio of what you need for a post-workout snack. I ate the six bars as snacks for six consecutive days. Because these bars have a good protein-carbohydrate ratio, I felt satisfied after eating them post-workout. They pack well, especially the “Smart” bars. As with any protein bars, if you keep them in your gym bag or pocket for an extended period, they will crush. Overall, Detour bars are a good purchase, and definitely worth a try.

More fuel feedback:

Drinkable Nourishment: Bonafide Organic Bone Broth

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Protein bars can be a risky venture. In order to make them taste good but still have a nice-looking nutrition facts table, the list of additives can be a little scary. This trend has caused a lot of people to look for more natural alternatives, like the Pure Power Protein Bar.

I recently tried out a box of these bars, which are produced by Dr. Joseph Mercola. Dr. Mercola is an osteopath probably best known for writing two New York Times bestselling books and for his appearances on many national television and radio shows. He is opposed to biased health care and nutrition information, and an unreported portion of funds for all Mercola products goes to organizations that favor independent, unbiased health, such as Grassroots Health and the Fluoride Action Network.

The Pure Power Protein Bars are peanut butter-flavored, but they actually taste more peanut-y than peanut-buttery. This is because the peanut butter used to make the bars isn’t sweetened, which I actually like. The cane sugar comes through on its own to add sweetness to the bar, along with the delicious organic, non-dairy dark chocolate chips. All in all, I enjoyed the mild flavors, which made the bar pretty good in my opinion. In terms of texture, there is a mild chalkiness that you’ll get from any bar like this, but no one who eats protein bars regularly would mind. The bar is of the chewy variety, rather than crispy, but not at all difficult to chew.

The bar is certified organic, meaning every ingredient in it meets organic qualifications. The bulk of the bar is not composed of mystery ingredients, but rather foods you are familiar with, like tapioca, peanut butter, several kinds of non-soy proteins, and chocolate chips. The only ingredient you may not know is the last one: inulin. Inulin is a kind of fiber often found in plants that are low in starch.

Speaking of fiber, the bars boast four grams of fiber per fifty-gram bar, which is approximately eight percent of the structure of the bar. Compare that to a food like prunes, often eaten for their high-fiber content, in which roughly seven percent is composed of fiber. The bar also has fourteen grams of protein, which is pretty good considering the small size of the bar. Because of the peanuts, the bar also has some healthy fats.

Unfortunately, it has almost as much sugar, with twelve grams of sugar per bar. From a health perspective, that sugar will be buffered a bit by the fiber content of the bar, and at least it’s from organic sources. But all the same, sugar is sugar.

The bar is a bit on the expensive side, but you get what you pay for. With all organic and vegan food sources, the higher price is to be expected and shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone in the market for a product like this. Many consumers may also want to support Dr. Mercola’s mission. Keep in mind that although the bars are full of healthy ingredients, they are produced in a facility that also processes common allergens, so check out the allergy info if you have any extreme sensitivity to ingredients.

Anyone looking for a high quality, organic, and vegan protein bar need look no further. I recommend checking out the Pure Power Protein Bar to see if it’s the one you’ve been after.

Pure Power Protein Bars are available for $32.97 for 12 at Mercola.com.

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I’ll start off by saying these guys have a cool goal in mind. Making foods to keep athletes fed with high quality and healthy ingredients is a mission I can get behind. As you’ll see in the products I review, some of the items are on the expensive side of things, but for good reason. High quality ingredients like grass-fed beef and whey, organic ingredients, and the processes needed to make these foods aren’t cheap. You get what you pay for, and for the most part I found the foods both healthy and delicious. Let’s look at each that I tried.

Natural Beef Jerky – $6.59 for 2 oz. package

As a beef jerky enthusiast (or maybe fanatic is a better word) I was very excited about the jerky as well as the steak sticks (reviewed next). As a reviewer and jerky maker myself, I approached it with the eye of a skeptic and the palate of an aficionado.

Some of the jerky was a bit tough, in the way that jerky is usually tough, but much of it was very tender. Much more tender than the jerky you might be used to. It also had a lightly sweet and very interesting flavor that had me looking at the ingredients and planning my own next batch. Very good stuff, and I personally am a huge fan of using jerky as a healthy protein snack. Problem is, jerky is usually loaded with preservatives, salt, and sugar. While this has the salt necessary for making jerky, none of the natural additives are overdone.

Bravo Well Food Co. Now we just need bigger packages. 22 grams of protein per is not enough for a growing boy.

Natural Beef Steak Sticks – $7.69 for 3 oz. package

The steak sticks were a mixed bag for me, and I mean that metaphorically, not literally. The flavor was good. For some reason it tasted overly salty, although it has just about the same amount of salt as the jerky. The saltiness was fine ultimately, but unfortunately the sticks were tough. So much so that some were hard to eat.

At 39 grams of protein per bag, this makes a great protein snack, but the process needs some reworking to make them more edible. The good news is the flavor and intent is good enough to wait for this product line to grow with time. It seems like these guys are constantly evolving themselves as a company. I look forward to a new version of the steak.

Grass-Fed Whey Protein Bar – $24.99 for 6

I enjoyed the bar. It was cake-like in consistency, which I personally like better for bars than the sticky-gooey-chewy ones, or the ones that taste like they are half made out of chemicals. The flavor of it was enjoyable and when I was done I wanted more. Good sign.

Nutritionally, the bar has a fair amount of healthy fats, and 15 grams of protein from a variety of sources (almond, egg white, and whey, in order of percentage of the bar’s weight). The bar also sports a good 7 grams of fiber. The bar has a fair amount of sugar for taste, which I’m not keen on, but for this type of snack it’s par for the course. All in all I’d recommend the bar, but I’d love to see more protein. I’m sensitive to the fact that ingredient choices are very tough for a product like this, but as a snack for athletes, protein is paramount.

I’m looking forward to seeing what this company does with its product line going ahead. For jerky fans, the jerky is definitely worth checking out if you’re sick of the stuff at the store.

Natural Beef Jerky is available for $6.59, Natural Beef Steak Sticks are available for $7.69, and Grass-Fed Whey Protein Bars are available for $24.99/box at WellFoodCo.com.

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Rise Bars are best purchased one at a time. That was the lesson I learned when I was sent two cases of these little gems to try for this review. After I tore into my first Rise Bar, I felt like a little kid as his mother told him not to “spoil his supper.” Except that voice was my own mind, hoping I wouldn’t let myself finish of an entire case of them in one sitting.

Have no fear, I didn’t eat them all in one sitting. I couldn’t just have one, though. What’s the moral of the story? Rise Bars don’t fall short when it comes to taste. I tried both the Almond Honey Protein Bar and the Crunchy Carob Chip Protein Bar. My personal favorite was the almond honey option, but both were incredible.

Rise Bar’s Protein+ Bar product line is made with whey protein isolate (17g), so you can’t put this bar in the category of most fruit- and nut-based bars, given that there is a substantial amount of useful protein. Along with the benefit of protein, Rise Bar creates additional value by using a short list of ingredients. The Almond Honey Bar, for example, has just three ingredients, while the Crunchy Carob Chip Bar has five. Not only is the ingredient list minimalist, but none of the ingredients require a science background to pronounce.

Rise Bar also has a strict “no fly list” when it comes to ingredients. Rise Bars are free of gluten, preservatives, GMOs, soy, and peanuts. And, for those wondering, all the bars are Kosher, as well.

In terms of the consumer, Rise Bar definitely caters to the health conscious. In the packaged food world, there are just too many cost-cutting approaches that Rise Bar didn’t take in order to preserve the health of the consumer. For that I applaud them. In addition, the protein bars have universal relevance, but make a ton of sense specifically for active folks and athletes.

Given the market for protein and snack bars is quite extensive, I’d place Rise Bars in the top two or three I’ve ever come across. The taste is dangerously addicting and the real food label claim is a diamond in the rough, as far as I am concerned. Beware of having too many of these babies in the pantry, however, because this high performance bar might cause a consequently low performance addiction in no time. Given that these are sweetened naturally with honey/agave, I’ll give the Rise Bar a thumbs up, with an “enjoy tesponsibly” disclaimer.

Rise Bars (12 count box) are available for $27.48 at RiseBar.com.

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