The P90X nutrition guide says you should be eating one of their Peak Performance bars every day. That’s 90 bars over the span of the program or 7 and a half boxes worth (12 in a box). At $29 dollars a box including shipping, that’s over $230 bucks you’re spending on one of your daily snacks! If I’m going to drop that kind of money during this program, I want to make sure I’m getting the best bar I can get. Instead of just trusting the marketing department of Beachbody, I decided to do my own analysis of which bar is the best for me, as we know marketing is big in the companies and they always announce great products with things like scaffold boards, but is always good to inform yourself as well. Here are a handful of protein bar reviews. There is definitely no shortage of high protein bars on the market. They’ve got got 20g to 30g of protein plastered all over the packaging. The protein even varies within the same product line from flavor to flavor. To the casual observer, the bar with the highest protein must be the best. But there are a lot of other things to factor in when making your selection. For one thing, the size of the bars very greatly. Some of the tout 20 grams of protein but the bar is only 50 grams in size while another will claim 32 grams of protein, but the bar is 85 grams in size. You’re obviously getting more of everything in a larger bar including calories, carbs and fat. So which one is best? That’s a bit tough to figure out while you’re standing in the supermarket isle or nutrition store. So I’m going to do the dirty work for you. I’ve purchased over 20 protein bars and I’ve collected the nutritional information from each one. I’ve used a formula to calculate all of the nutrition elements in relation to 1 gram. That way it gives you an accurate measurement of how each bar relates to another regardless of size. For example, the bar that advertises 20 grams of protein for a 50 gram bar has a protein per gram rating of .40 while the bar showing 32 grams of protein for a 85 gram bar has a protein per gram rating of .38. Therefore the bar with the lower amount of protein on the wrapper gives you more protein per weight.
Protein Bar Comparison Charts
If you want to cut to the chase, click here to see the ,BEST BARS YOU CAN BUY. 
ProteinBarPerGram This is a document that gives the nutritional data for 23 protein bars. Data is displayed in a point per gram format .
ProteinBar60Gram This is a document that gives the nutritional data for 23 protein bars. Data is displayed as if each bar were a 60 gram bar. 60 grams is the size of the P90X Peak Performance bars, so you can easily compare.
Top Pick
Pure Protein – Chocolate Deluxe
Serving Size 50g, Calories 180, Calories from fat 40, Total Fat 4.5g, Saturated Fat 3g, Cholesterol 15mg, Sodium 75mg, Potassium 115mg, Total Carbs 17g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 2g, Protein 20g Pretty good tasting bars. The chocolate flavoring isn’t the most accurate. It definitely tastes artificial. It’s also a chewy bar that leaves a lot stuck in your teeth afterward.. You can get them in a small (50g) or large (78g) version. This bar excels in nearly all of the categories. Only the cholesterol tips over a bit into the red. This is a contender for the best protein bar I’ve had.
Pure Protein – Chewy Chocolate Chip
Serving Size 50g, Calories 200, Calories from fat 45, Total Fat 5g, Saturated Fat 3g, Cholesterol 10mg, Sodium 170mg, Potassium 40mg, Total Carbs 18g, Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 3g, Protein 20g Tastes good, but not as good as the chocolate. The nutrional value is also not quite up to the level of the chocolate version, but still very good. Also comes in a 78 gram version.
Pure Protein – Chocolate Peanut Butter
Serving Size 50g, Calories 200, Calories from fat 60, Total Fat 6g, Saturated Fat 3g, Cholesterol 10mg, Sodium 200mg, Potassium 140mg, Total Carbs 16g, Dietary Fiber 1g, Sugars 2g, Protein 20g Yummy! Great tasting bar with great nutritional value. It’s odd that it doesn’t have as much protein as the Chocolate Deluxe version.
Pure Protein – Smores
Serving Size 50g, Calories 180, Calories from fat 45, Total Fat 5g, Saturated Fat 3.5g, Cholesterol 10mg, Sodium 130mg, Potassium 40mg, Total Carbs 20g, Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 2g, Protein 19g A small bar, though it does come in a 78g version. This one wasn’t my favorite. I guess it does taste like s’mores a little bit, but not much.
PowerBar ProteinPlus High Protein Bar – Chocolate Brownie
Serving Size 90g, Calories 360, Calories from fat 100, Total Fat 11g, Saturated Fat 4.5g, Cholesterol 5mg, Sodium 240mg, Potassium (not listed), Total Carbs 33g, Dietary Fiber <1g, Sugars 30g, Protein 30g This is a big bar, weighting in at 90 grams. The texture of the bar is pretty chewy in the middle. It takes you a while to chew this one up before it goes down. It looks like a brownie inside just like the flavor says, but the taste is more like a brownie that’s been made with low fat alternatives to grandma’s recipe and then left to set out for a few days. Which isn’t to say it’s bad! The taste is quite acceptable. I don’t think I’ll be craving this bar, which can be a good thing in itself. The size of the bar makes it a pretty filling bar. It certainly satisfies the appetite, but leaves your mouth pretty dry afterward.
PowerBar ProteinPlus High Protein Bar – Dulce De Leche
Serving Size 90g, Calories 360, Calories from fat 100, Total Fat 11g, Saturated Fat 4.5, Cholesterol 5mg, Sodium 240mg, Potassium (not listed), Total Carbs 35g, Dietary Fiber 1g, Sugars 32g, Protein 30g I can’t speak to the accuracy of the flavoring as I don’t think I’ve ever had Dulce De Leche before, but it tastes good! The PowerBars have some good stuff going on.The only drawback is the high sugar
PowerBar ProteinPlus High Protein Bar – Dark Chocolate Toffee Nut
Serving Size 78g, Calories 310, Calories from fat 80, Total Fat 9g, Saturated Fat 3.5g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 280mg, Potassium (not listed), Total Carbs 35g, Dietary Fiber 1g, Sugars 17g, Protein23g This one was a bit tough. I don’t know if I just got a bad one or not because the other PowerBars aren’t like that. This one also didn’t have much flavor. It’s low on fat, but the rest of the nutritional information isn’t up to par as the rest of the Powerbar items.
Met-Rx Protein Plus – Chocolate Chocolate Chunk
Serving Size 85g, Calories 310, Calories from fat 80, Total Fat 9g, Saturated Fat 8g, Cholesterol 5mg, Sodium 200mg, Potassium 160mg, Total Carbs 32g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 1g, Protein 32g Quite tasty. It was a little bit hard in the middle and a tad bit dry overall. But that just help you make sure you’re getting your daily water dosage! This bar has the least sugar of all of the bars and a high amount of protein.
Met-Rx Protein Plus – Mud Pie Fusion
Serving Size 85g, Calories 300, Calories from fat 80, Total Fat 9g, Saturated Fat 7g, Cholesterol 5mg, Sodium 130mg, Potassium 100mg, Total Carbs 32g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 3g, Protein 32g This is an interesting bar. It’s big. It’s got a lay of marshmallow-like substance on the top and a rather tough cake center. Yet another good tasting bar with a bit of something different to it. This bar ranks pretty high in the nutrition department as well. I like it!
Detour Lower Sugar – Chocolate Creamy Peanut Butter
Serving Size 85g, Calories 350, Calories from fat 110, Total Fat 12g, Saturated Fat 5g, Cholesterol 30mg, Sodium 350mg, Potassium 180mg, Total Carbs 30g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 2g, Protein 30g This bar tasted horrible! And it’s so big! That’s torture. It was melting at room temperature and made a mess everywhere. It was very hard in the center after getting through the melted chocolate on the outside. It left a funny taste in my mouth as well, kind of mediciny. At least it has low sugar content. It also ranks pretty high in fat content. I don’t recommend.
Detour Oatmeal – Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Serving Size 120g, Calories 440, Calories from fat 60, Total Fat 7g, Saturated Fat 3g, Cholesterol 15mg, Sodium 210mg, Potassium 300mg, Total Carbs 63g, Dietary Fiber 8g, Sugars 12g, Protein 30g This was a pretty good bar. I like oatmeal, so that was a plus. The cookie dough flavor wasn’t very pronounced and left a chalky aftertaste. And this bar is MASSIVE at 120g. It’s way over the top on carbs and low on protein. If you pick up one of these bars, try splitting it over two snacks. It seems this one falls more into the class of a meal replacement bar. Only attempt in P90X Phase 3
Promax – Double Fudge Brownie
Serving Size 75g, Calories 280, Calories from fat 60, Total Fat 7g, Saturated Fat 6g, Cholesterol 5mg, Sodium 180mg, Potassium 460mg, Total Carbs 38g, Dietary Fiber 3g, Sugars 28g, Protein 20g This is a really good tasting bar. Nearly one of the best I’ve tasted. It’s a very soft bar and the chocolate definitely tastes chocolatey. But that good taste isn’t free. This bar is very high in carbs and sugars, but low on protein.
Clif Builder’s – Chocolate
Serving Size 68g, Calories 270, Calories from fat 70, Total Fat 8g, Saturated Fat 5g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 230mg, Potassium 220mg, Total Carbs 30g, Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 20g, Protein 20g This bar tasted great! It’s an average sized bar that is quite filling. It is soft on the outside and crunchy on the inside. There’s just something about a crunchy bar that’s satisfying. I was satiated after eating this bar. This is a pretty good bar, but you can do better as far as nutrition goes.
Clif Builder’s – Peanut Butter
Serving Size 68g, Calories 270, Calories from fat 70, Total Fat 8g, Saturated Fat 5g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 310mg, Potassium 210mg, Total Carbs 30g, Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 20g, Protein 20g Both of the Clif bars taste great. This one is also soft on the outside and crunchy inside. I don’t think it’s as good as the chocolate version, but that might be because the peanut butter flavoring often gives me indigestion. This is a pretty good bar, but you can do better as far as nutrition goes.
Conclusion
So after all of that, which bar should you buy? The P90X Peak Performance bars that the folks at BeachBody recommend for you X’ers are OK, but there are definitely better alternatives out there.There are two brands of bars that I think stand out above the rest of the crowd. Those the Pure Protein bars. They both offer great taste and great nutrition. The Premier Nutrition bars can be bought in a variety pack that’s generally cheaper than buying specific flavors. The Pure Protein have a vast array of flavors to chose from. Keep in mind that changing the flavor changes the nutritional content as well! I also just notice that Amazon has a Subscribe and Save
deal where you get 15% off and free shipping if you schedule future orders of a product. So if you know that you’ll go through 24 bars in a month, you can just set your order to ship another 2 boxes of 12 every 4 weeks, get the bars much cheaper, and have them delivered to your door. Not bad! I hope you get some value out of this data and keeps you at least Fairly Fit. I’m going to have a stomach ache.
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