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 By: Matt Canning
I have been reviewing a number of protein/energy bars in the recent past and at this point have tried numerous bars and now know how bars will compare to many others since I have tried so many. Below I will list the claims of the GeniSoy bars and assess each point individually and discuss how it holds up:
Now to analyze each of these product highlights individually in greater detail:
GeniSoy bars contain 14 grams of soy protein per bar, which is particularly relevant for vegans and other people wishing to consume soy protein as a protein source. Another bar which is high in soy protein is Clif Bars. If you are seeking soy protein, either bar comes highly recommended. Related Soy Protein Articles:
I have never heard of this particular process of preserving natural levels of isoflavones and will research it starting now. As far as isoflavones are concerned, research on the inclusion of them in food differs radically, so I have yet to draw a conclusion whether or not they should be sought out in supplements and food items, and as it is now I would rather avoid them until I do further research on the matter.
Antioxidants are something which I find important to consume and it is great that GeniSoy bars are antioxidant and vitamin rich. Battling free radicals in the body is very important.
The Zero cholesterol of GeniSoy bars is something that some people may seek out in food and supplements and consider to be very important, but I do not concern myself much with claims like that. The cholesterol in food is not directly related to cholesterol in your body. That is oversimplifying a complex issue and there is much more to it than that. However, I am not a big fan of aspartame for a myriad of reasons. It is a toxic chemical which I wish to avoid at all costs. Related Sweeteners Articles:
As for other artificial flavors, I generally seek food items and supplements which have none, although that is pretty hard to avoid. Both of these qualities are very important to me in a protein bar.
GeniSoy bars can be purchased in the following flavors at the Bodybuilding.com Supplement Superstore:
Interestingly, the flavor that I tried is not available on Bodybuilding.com as I purchased it in a health food store. The flavor I tried was "Chocolate Mint". I felt that it tasted great and I definitely want to check out all of the other flavors available.
On the basis of nutritional content and taste, GeniSoy bars get my approval for sure. In terms of price, you can order 12 bars for $12.49 which is a quite reasonable price. That works out to $1.04 per bar which is quite reasonable. At 14 grams of protein and 240 calories per bar, GeniSoy is just slightly less than what I would consider ideal for a protein bar. Ideally, I prefer bars which have 300 calories and 20 grams of protein. Normally bars like that are slightly more expensive in terms of cost per bar, so I can't really complain about the price since it pretty well balances out and makes GeniSoy bars pretty inexpensive in terms of overall value in the protein/energy bar market. Overall I can recommend this bar most definitely and reward it an A. Overall Grade: A
Premier 1 Twisted bars are one of many protein/energy bars that I have reviewed in recent times. Below are some of the product highlights which will be detailed with some expansion of each point where I state my point of view:
I tried the vanilla flavor and I thought it was great (more on this below in the "Taste" category. After trying it, I am interested in checking out the other flavors to see if they are of the same quality.
15 grams of protein is a fair amount of protein although I prefer bars which have around 20 grams. That is still a fair amount of protein for a bar which I considered to be pretty light tasting (at only 190 calories). The bar did not taste very heavy to me at all (heavy, much like a steak feels upon eating it).
I agree that the bars are quite flavorful, although normally it is the carbohydrate profile of a bar or supplement item which will be cited as a source of time-released energy.
The Premier 1 Twisted bars are another protein bar in a long line that I have sampled so far which I would definitely give an A in terms of taste. No complaints here, and I should also point out that the bars are very light tasting as opposed to the numerous higher calorie/heavier tasting bars I have tried recently. I sampled the vanilla flavor which I enjoyed a lot, and it tasted more like a granola bar than a normal protein bar, in that there was no aftertaste whatsoever, not even a minor one.
In terms of taste, I can recommend the Premier 1 Twisted bars. They fall a little short in terms of the overall protein and caloric content I prefer in a bar, and would be appropriate for those seeking a lighter bar. The price for six bars is $7.99 which works out to $1.33 per bar, which is a pretty good price, but not particularly great in my opinion for a bar so light in calories. Worth a shot depending on your goals though, and a bar I will try again to sample the other flavors. Having said that, I still maintain that I prefer a bar richer in calories. A good bar in particular if you eat light. Taste Grade: A
South Beach Diet cereal bars are the latest in a long list of protein/energy bars which I have sampled in recent history. Once again, I will analyze various product claims below and discuss each one individually as well as other factors to determine the overall value and quality of the product.
When I ate the cereal bars, the first thing I thought was that these bars are completely distinct from any other bar I ever tried. Rather than considering the bars to be a regular protein bar, I felt that they were more like a light granola bar, which is essentially what they are, albeit high on the protein side amongst granola bars. They are light in calories, and I do agree that they make a great breakfast snack or a good snack for those who are on-the-go as the claim states. Related Breakfast Articles:
This summarizes my thoughts on the bar pretty well - they are indeed normal cereal bars in taste/texture and ease of consumption, but are lower in sugar and higher in protein than normal bars making them desirable to consume for those interested in bodybuilding, but also for those wishing to lose weight and for those who are otherwise health conscious individuals.
Although I do not personally care much for the South Beach Diet or other similar diets, I will agree with the claim above that these bars are friendly to the diet. The reason why I disapprove of such diets is because they are fad diets and achieving your physique goals has little to do with quick dieting and everything to do with broader lifestyle changes which encompass both nutrition and training.
Again, this claim is more meaningful to someone who actually attributes a lot of merit to fad diet, and I certainly do not. That said, if the diet interests you, a supplement such as this one which is in line with the goals of the diet should also be of interest to you.
I would also agree with this last statement. The small meal described above is a good example of a nice little meal to include in your healthy overall diet.
The South Beach Diet cereal bars come in the flavors below:
The flavor I purchased was peanut butter, and I enjoyed it. As I said, it tasted and felt more like a granola bar than a protein/energy bar. It did not feel as "heavy" as other protein bars I tried, due to the lower amount of protein and overall calories per bar in comparison to the protein bars. With 140 calories per bar, and 10 grams of protein, the bars are roughly half of these values compared to other protein bars on the market. So I would classify this under granola bars and not so much protein bars. On the grand spectrum, granola bars are closer to candy bars than protein bars are, although the overall nutritional content of the South Beach Diet bars are pretty good. The bars had a good taste and texture, and the peanut flavor was evenly dispersed throughout the bar and it does not stick to the roof of your mouth as other peanut butter products and of course peanut butter itself is known to do.
I enjoyed this product overall but must emphasize that these bars are more along the lines of granola bar than protein bar, as they are very light, and perhaps more suitable for those wishing to lose weight rather than those enthusiastic bodybuilders wishing to bulk up. The peanut butter flavor tasted great in my opinion, and I would tend to agree that any flavor of the bars would be perfect with a piece of fruit or cup of vegetable juice for a quick and light snack. Again, that emphasizes the benefit of these bars for dieting individuals or other weight loss enthusiasts as opposed to bodybuilders who will want a higher calorie diet. You can get a box of five bars for $4.99 at the link below which works out to $1 per bar, which is fairly reasonable, although cheaper bars are available if you look at the cost using a cost per calorie approach. All in all, a worthwhile bar depending on your goals, although a bit too light for my tastes. As such, I would award this bar a B, and given my goals, will seek out heavier bars in the future. Overall Grade: B
The Clif Nectar Cacao bars are one of many protein/energy bars that I have tried recently, including Clif Bars which I enjoyed. I will go over various bits of information about the Clif Nectar Cacao bars and discuss my point of view and expand the review in additional categories below, finally summarizing the totality of my views in the Overall Review section at the very bottom of the page.
Each bar is light in calories at only 160 per bar. They contain six grams of total fat, 27 grams of total carbs, and three grams of protein. As you can see protein is low, and sugar is high at 18 grams in total. Sodium is 0 which is a good thing, and the bar does have some vitamins and minerals.
Overall, this is not my ideal protein/energy bar because I am bulking up at the moment and prefer bars to be around 300 calories in total and to have about 20 grams of protein in each bar. Now to discuss some of the specific product claims and information listed below:
It is a relatively recent health craze, perhaps one in the past decade or so, to seek out and consume organic foods and other such health items over and above those food items farmed using traditional agriculture methods. While I do not give this craze any particular credence and feel that traditional foods and their faults are trumped up erroneously in order to fuel this market. That said, I am very much in acceptance of free market principles and have no problem with people selling hot air, snake oil, or any other type of product for that matter. Why? Simply because it allows the capitalist mechanism to work and over time this does indeed tend towards perfection. I am not ruling out the organic industry, simply saying that products claiming to be organic are nothing special to me personally, since I do not necessarily seek to include them in my diet.
Product claims with spelling or grammatical errors are slightly concerning to me. As you can see, "good" is spelled wrong ("goof"). What I usually think about when I see typographical errors on supplement product information pages or on advertisements is whether or not those same errors carry over to the quality of the product. It is a minor spelling mistake, but these things are important to keep in mind as a general rule since my reasoning above is logical. I'm not saying that spelling mistakes are guaranteed to ensure poor product quality, but that it may reflect on a broader issue; that being that the finer details of the products are not given any attention. This detail is in the FAQ section on the Clif Nectar Cacao Bar Product Page: [ Q ] Are CLIF Nectar bars kosher? [ A ] CLIF Nectar bars are Kosher Dairy. CLIF Nectar does not contain any dairy ingredients, however, it is produced on the same manufacturing equipment as some other products that do contain dairy ingredients. Therefore, CLIF Nectar must be labeled as Kosher Dairy. There is more information on Kosher food items available on Wikipedia.
I enjoyed the bars, although they were not my favorite bar, they were not too bad either. The aspect I enjoyed the most about the taste of the bars was the fruit in each bar. It's hard to identity exactly what I did not enjoy about the taste of the bars, but I would say it was the general taste that it was a health bar - health bars (like nitric oxide supplements), have a distinct taste and I would not say it is an enjoyable one at that. Although not horrible tasting, it just has a unique taste whereby you can essentially taste the nutritional content.
While I did enjoy the Clif Nectar Cacao bars, I would have to say that overall, they are not my type of bar. I say this based on a number of considerations which are important to me, and that I would deem to be important to the average consumer or at the least, to the average consumer with similar goals as myself. In terms of nutritional content, the Clif Nectar Cacao bars are simply too low in protein and too low in overall calories for my goals. I seek to gain muscle mass and prefer bars which contain roughly 300 calories in total and 20 grams of protein each. These bars fall short of that expectation and by a considerable margin regarding protein. The cost of the bars are $15.99 for a box of nine which works out to $1.78 a bar which is a little steep for bars which are so light, at least a little steep for someone like me who does not want bars to be so light to begin with. So in that respect it is kind of adding insult to injury to have to pay more for bars which bring me further from my goals and not closer. The bars are healthy and the "Dark Chocolate Walnut" flavor tastes pretty good, and if you are seeking a light or an organic bar, then by all means look into this one. If you have other goals, then I would advise you to check out other bars. My overall grade for this bar would be a C+. Overall Grade: C+
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