A full review of the original refrigerated protein bar.
The Perfect Bar was the first refrigerated protein bar. They require refrigeration because Perfect Bars do not contain artificial preservatives. The company prides itself with this fact and they certainly should. There aren?t many other brands that can make a similar claim.
Today we have all kinds of protein bars to choose from at the grocery store and it seems each week there is a new one on the shelf. Even gas stations and conveniences stores have a wide variety to choose from.
While there are many brands to choose from, your selection is slim when looking to buy a refrigerated protein bar. With this in mind, let?s take a look at the original refrigerated protein bar and answer some of your questions. Are Perfect Bars healthy? What are the Perfect Bar Ingredients?
Perfect Bar Nutrition Facts (Peanut Butter Bar):
Before we dive into the nutrition facts of the peanut butter protein bar, it?s important to note there are many different flavors to choose from. Each bar will have different ingredients and nutrition facts, but they are all very similar. Today, our analysis will focus on the Peanut Butter Perfect Bar.
- Calories: 330
- Calories From Fat: 160
- Total Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.5g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 13g
- Cholesterol: 15mg
- Sodium: 60mg
- Potassium: 480mg
- Total Carbohydrates: 26g
- Dietary Fiber: 4g
- Sugars: 18g
- Protein: 17g
Perfect Bar Ingredients
What are the Peanut Butter Perfect Bar Ingredients? According to the official Perfect Bar website, the ingredients in this bar are as follows:
Organic Peanut Butter, Organic Honey, Organic Nonfat Dry Milk, Organic Dried Whole Egg Powder, Organic Rice Protein, Organic Sunflower Lecithin, Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Flax Seed Oil, Organic Sesame Seed Oil, Organic Olive Oil, Organic Pumpkin Seed Oil, Dried Whole Food Powders (Organic Kale, Organic Flax Seed, Organic Rose Hip, Organic Orange, Organic Lemon, Organic Papaya, Organic Tomato, Organic Apple, Organic Alfalfa, Organic Celery, Organic Kelp, Organic Dulse, Organic Carrot, Organic Spinach).
ALLERGEN WARNING: CONTAINS PEANUTS, MILK AND EGGS, PRODUCED ON EQUIPMENT ALSO HANDLING ALMONDS AND OTHER TREE NUTS. MAY CONTAIN OCCASIONAL NUT SHELLS.
After looking at a few of these ingredients, you may be wondering what some of them are. We can help. Below we break-down some of these uncommon ingredients.
- Organic Sunflower Lecithin: To make sunflower lecithin, manufacturers dehydrate sunflowers and separate them into three parts: gum, oil and solids. Lecithin is from the gum. Sunflower lecithin is a natural fat emulsifier, similar to soy lecithin.
- Organic Rose Hip: Rose hips comes from? Yep you guessed it, roses. It comes from the round area of the flower, right below the petals. Rose hip contains large amounts of vitamin C, but a lot of it can be destroyed when processing it.
- Organic Dulse: Dulse is red seaweed. Over the past many years, dulse is beginning to get labeled as a superfood. Dulse contains high levels of potassium, calcium and many other vitamins and minerals like Vitamin B12.
What We Think: Are Perfect Bars Healthy?
After taking a look at this nutrition label you may be thinking about how healthy this protein bar is compared to others on the market. Compared to others, yes, this is one of the healthier protein bars you can buy.
With this in mind, you have to ask yourself a few questions. Do I care about how much sugar is in my protein bar? Do I care about how much protein is in my protein bar?
The Peanut Butter Perfect Bar has one of the highest levels of protein compared to its counterparts. The Chocolate Walnut Brownie Perfect Bar has 20g of sugar and 10g of protein. With those numbers, you aren?t looking at a protein bar anymore. That is a glorified candy bar.
Perfect Bar isn?t the only company making bars with these kind of numbers. Almost of protein, energy and granola bar maker is guilty of the same. Why is this a big deal you ask? Well, you?re about to find out.
Our Side Note on Sugar
Too much processed sugar in your diet can cause many health issues. While this bar does not contain as much processed sugars as other flavors, you still get processed sugar from the peanut butter and honey.
The other flavors are loaded with sugar from ingredients like: cane sugar, chocolate, dark chocolate and cocoa.
According to the American Heart Association, women should eat up to 100 calories of sugar per day and men should eat up 150 calories per day.
Potential Side Effects of Eating too Much Sugar
- Becoming overweight
- Your skin can age faster
- Kidney damage
- Diabetes
- Erectile dysfunction
- Fatty liver disease
- Joint pain
- Tooth decay
- Heart disease
This is just a start. You can read more about each of these side effects here.
Looking at the numbers above, it?s important to note that eating one of these protein bars puts you well over half the daily recommended amount of added sugar to consume. In the long-term, you have to ask yourself, or a medical professional how much sugar should I be eating and should I be eating Perfect Bars?
What are Your Alternatives?
While you don?t necessarily have to eliminate Perfect Bars from your diet, there are plenty of alternatives to get ?easy? protein in your diet. Some of these alternatives include:
- Protein powders
- Smoothies
- Eggs
- Nuts
This short answer is: it?s up to you. Each person has different dietary guidelines and lifestyles they follow.
The ingredients are extremely healthy and each bar is certified organic. Our only issue is with the amount of sugar. Eating one of these everyday may not be the greatest idea, but every once in awhile will not hurt.
Just like most things in life, you don?t want to overdo it. Problems can arise when you eat too much of something, exercise too much or too little etc. Next time you?re at the store, take a look at what else they offer and make sure to read your labels.
One of the best places to start improving your diet is to read the nutrition labels and ingredient labels of what you buy. This can make it harder to shop, but it?s worth it in the long-run.
Learn more about other health news and products here.
