Protein Quest Bars – a Nutritionist’s Review
Quest Bars – A Nutritionist’s Review
I always recommend homemade food where possible, but if you need to keep a stock of things to grab & go, Quest bars might be the next best thing.
Sometimes we don’t have time, are out and about, in a hurry, and what does the convenience store have to offer?
Cheap commercial chocolate and sugary and high carb cereal bars, both full of things your Grandma would never recognise as food, and neither will help you with your quest (pun intended) for good health, strength, and reduced body fat.
There are hundreds of protein bars from virtually every sports nutrition manufacturer you can think of, but whilst they may fit the bill nutritionally, they don’t always hit the spot taste wise, so for this reason I tend to make my own.
Then I hear rave reviews about Quest bars, and wonder what the fuss is about.
INGREDIENTS
Whey Protein Isolate
Generally recognized as the best protein source available, whey isolate has an incredible amino acid profile that delivers highly usable protein to your body that has been shown to increase muscle mass, aid in the loss of body fat, enhance immune function and much more. It’s one of the most expensive proteins available, many times the cost of soy protein.
Milk Protein Isolate
Another extremely high quality protein that is slow-digesting and expensive. Many bars use gelatin (which is very cheap) to pump up their protein count even though it’s not considered a complete protein, which milk protein isolate is.
IMO Fibre (Isomalto-Oligosaccharide)
In order for Quest Bars to be usable as a complete meal, we wanted to ensure that they contained enough fiber to really matter. Almost every ounce of carbohydrate in our bars comes from fiber, which will keep your insulin levels low and your stomach satisfied. Fiber has been shown to do many things such as controlling hunger, improving digestive health and preventing certain diseases.
IMO is a fiber derived from plant sources that is very similar to the better known chicory root fiber. The two fiber sources are almost identical in taste, feel and texture but with one minor exception: IMO does not cause any intestinal upset whatsoever even for people with very sensitive stomachs. We use it to make sure that Quest bars can be complete meals for use whenever you want something convenient.
Almond and Peanut Butters
Nut butters are nature’s candy – delicious while being low in carbs and packed with healthy fats. This helps give Quest Bars their soft, chewy texture and out of this world flavor. We add nothing to our nut butters and that keeps them Trans fat free.
Almonds, Peanuts, Cashews
A great source of proteins, vitamins, antioxidants and fats. Need we say more?
Sea Salt, Natural Flavours
Added to create the taste we’re quickly becoming famous for.
Lo Han Guo
A plant that’s been used as a sweetener in China for over 1,000 years. It only takes a TINY amount as it’s 300 times sweeter than sugar.
Stevia
Stevia is an herb in the Chrysanthemum family which grows wild as a small shrub in many parts of the world. The glycosides in its leaves, account for its sweetness and it has been used as a sweetener in many countries for many years.
Erthritol
While Erythritol is classified as a sugar alcohol it is ENTIRELY different than all of the others. It does not upset stomachs, it contains only 0.2 calories per gram and has little to no impact on blood sugar. We know it’s important to give you control over your nutrition which is why select QuestBars are sweetened with Stevia and Erythritol, and our Original Line is sweetened with Sucralose.
Sucralose
Sucralose is generally recognized as the best artificial sweetener available. It’s over 600 times sweeter than sugar so it’s used in almost microscopic amounts.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
High protein, low carb, fibre included – these do what they say on the tin in that they are a minimally processed, natural based, high protein tasty and convenient snack for when you can’t have something homemade.
You can even bake and make things out of Quest bars – just pop them in a medium oven for a few minutes until they soften up, or leave a little longer to go slightly crispy on the outside.
Quest bars are by far the best protein bars I have ever tried both nutritionally and taste wise, and I don’t like many protein bars (they have a weird texture I find odd). There are so many flavours to choose from too, there’s bound to be your fave combo there somewhere!