Review of: Pure Protein Nutrition Bar

This bar is among the best available. And it has a pleasant taste.

I've been using some type of protein bar, meal bar, or nutrition bar for more than 20 years. These products are not ideal, nutritionally. But they are easily portable and that's what makes them great if they also pass certain other tests.

These types of bars are to healthy meals what mobile phones are to desktop systems. That's a very good analogy. Think of how much easier it is to do most computing tasks on a desktop rather than a phone. What makes the phone useful is you can take it with you. If somehow you could make your 24-inch monitor and your powerful desktop fit into your pocket, then you wouldn't want to use the mobile phone. Or if you're sitting in front of that computer, the phone just can't compare (for most functions).

One limitation of the bars is that to stabilize the protein, it's usually hydrolyzed. If not stabilized by that process, another process is used and no matter the process there is some degradation of the protein. This is the trade-off made to have portable protein. Try carrying a glass of milk around at room temperature for a day and you'll understand why this trade-off is necessary. It's a worth-while trade-off if you are traveling or otherwise away from your normal sources of quality nutrition and need something. One situation where this type of bar is indispensible is air travel. Airlines don't, as far as I know, offer food fit for human consumption. You have to bring your own, and this bar is the best solution available.

The main problem with these types of bars generally is they are stuffed with corn syrup and other toxins, plus most have sugar and other garbage added. The reason for this is to make the bars taste better to those whose normal diet is limited to the normal two flavors that appeal to the typical American palate (over-sweetened and rancid fats).

I've looked at the bars from every major supplement manufacturer who offers them, this poisoning of the product is standard practice. Not only does it make the bars addictive to the nutritionally-depraved, it also makes them cheaper to produce so the manufacturer's profits are larger. I don't understand why people are so willing to throw away their training just to ride the sugar train, but that is often the case. Not just with bars, but also with meal shakes and other supplements whose ingredients panel should have a big skull and crossbones on it.

Now with that background in mind, I will say that Pure Protein is a brand I trust because they have never joined the "debauchery of the nutrition bars" insanity. They are among the very, very few who make a good nutrition bar. I used one of their products for many years until they reluctantly discontinued it due to low sales. I wrote them about this and their response was they felt they had a great product, but the feedback they got was people didn't like the taste. That problem goes back to what I said earlier about those two tastes that the typical American palate is so limited to.

IMO, if you find a nutritionally good bar and the taste doesn't fit your conditioned sugar OCD for food, then the solution is to switch to a more sensible, more inclusive diet. You'll find that the bars will taste just fine.

Bill Phillips famously dinned protein bars back in his EAS days, when that company was struggling with the taste vs. safety thing in its own product offerings. He said while a bar doesn't have to "taste like kerosene" it's never going to be really delicious if it's a bar that supports the goal of having your best body. EAS made some good bars, and the taste was just fine to me. But they didn't taste like Hostess Ding Dongs or whatever it is the sugar-addicted expect "nutrition" to taste like.

So what about this particular bar? In keeping with its long tradition, Pure Protein made sure this bar is actually safe to eat. I reviewed the ingredients panel before ordering these, and was not surprised that this company yet again respects the bodies of its customers with yet another good product formulation.

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