For athletes and carbohydrate savers
With the word “protein” printed in bold, many protein bars are advertised as a healthy snack. Their presentation is primarily aimed at people who do sports and want to do something good for their muscles. Or to those who want to replace carbohydrates with protein. Do the bars bring anything there?
Up to 16 grams of sugar and 17 grams of fat
The Swiss consumer magazine Saldo had twelve protein bars tested in the laboratory. They are also available from us. Pleasing: Problematic mineral oil residues were not an issue. However, the nutritional values varied greatly: per piece they contained 4 to 17 grams of fat, less than 1 gram to 16 grams of sugar.
A check of protein-rich foods by Stiftung Warentest also confirmed that foods marketed as high-protein – such as bread, pudding, rice pudding, skyr, cream cheese – can unexpectedly contain a lot of fat and calories.
With 10 to 23 grams of protein
After all, the protein content ranged from 10 to 23 grams per piece, which covers about one-fifth to half of a woman’s needs of 60 kilograms.
The testers can recommend five
Saldo gave two bars a very good rating: the protein bars from Lidl (coconut) for 2.79 euros* each and those from Chiefs (salty caramel) for 2.29 euros.
Three bars got the grade Good: Barebells (Hazelnut & Nougat) for 2.39 euros, Sponsor (Choco Brownie) for 2.30 euros and Grenade (Salted Peanut) for 2.30 euros. All prices were determined at the end of September 2022.
Raw Bite and two more only insufficient
The bottom three in the balance test include these three: Roo’Bar (high protein choc chip & vanilla) for 1.70 euros, Be-Kind (protein crunchy penaut butter) for 2.69 euros and Raw Bite (organic protein) for 1.95 euros – all per piece.
These bars had the most fat or sugar – and rather little protein in comparison.
Extra protein unnecessary even for athletes
In principle, protein bars are not necessary. People in this country are well supplied with high-quality protein, as the National Consumption Study II shows. Conventional protein-rich foods are even sufficient for competitive athletes.
Tip: Chicken, salmon, quark, Emmental cheese, chickpeas, tofu and wholemeal pasta are high in protein.
* Corrected on 11/2/2022
