✔️ Choose wholesome ingredients. Flip to the ingredient list and look for whole ingredients at the top, like nuts and fruits, instead of added sugars, says Davis.
✔️ Check the sugar. The lower the better, but Davis recommends staying below 12 grams of sugar per bar. Plus, be sure to pay extra attention to the type of sugar if you tend to have stomach issues, says Mangieri. Many brands opt to use sugar alcohols (like sorbitol, xylitol, erythritol, and maltitol) to add sweetness without increasing carbohydrate content. These can occasionally cause gas and bloating, so avoid them if you experience gastrointestinal discomfort.
✔️ Find your ideal calorie range: For a snack between meals or post-workout, stick to bars between 180 and 250 calories, says Davis. If you plan to use a protein bar as an occasional meal replacement, aim for a bar (or include additional calories) to reach around 400 calories, Gans says.
✔️ Pack in the protein: Your protein bar should have between six to 12 grams of protein to keep you full and help build muscle, says Karen Ansel, M.S., R.D.N., C.D.N., author of Healing Superfoods For Anti-Aging. Gans suggests aiming for a minimum of 10 grams of protein if using as a meal replacement.
✔️ Feel full with fiber: Ansel suggests looking for at least two to three grams of fiber to make your bar more satiating and help slow the release of sugar into your system. To encourage this, Gans says a good rule of thumb is to find a bar that has more grams of fiber than grams of added sugar.