My taste tests of protein drinks and bars

[mickeymammoth 0]

Hi all,

I'm pre-op, and my homework was to find Protein drinks that were edible for the liquid diet phase. I also thought I'd test some Protein Bars for an on-the-go meal.

Criteria: I am avoiding artificial and low-calorie sweeteners (including stevia). I think they might make me fatter by stimulating my appetite. This is very hard to do in the diet world!!! I'm also avoiding sugar alcohols for the same reason, also GI upset.

Protein Drinks:

I tried Odwalla, Naked, and Mix1. I also tried a slimfast one, but noticed later that it had splenda.

Winner: Naked Protein Zone banana chocolate.

This drink actually tasted great, and I would drink it in real life! It has 16g protein for 8 oz. (1/2 bottle) and 240 calories. It uses a mix of whey and soy Proteins. I've heard that whey is better than soy, in that it's easier for the body to absorb and is more of a complete food.

Runner Up: Naked Protein Zone. Not as good as the choc-banana, but OK fruity flavor.

Also worth buying: Mix1 has a set of nice fruit-flavored drinks (using whey protein). They are 15g protein in 11 oz. (1 bottle) and 200 calories. I thought the Blueberry-vanilla and Mango-Papaya flavors were the best. They almost taste like a yogurt drink, but they don't have any yogurt in them. The berry and lime were OK, but I couldn't imagine drinking a whole bottle. The Tangerine was yucky; tasted like a chewable Vitamin.

I'll probably get these too, for variety: Odwalla SuperProtein chocolate, and vanilla D'almondo are edible. They aren't as good as the Naked ones, though, and they are only soy protein. 10g protein in 8 oz. (1/2 bottle) and 190 calories. The Original flavor was yuck (I didn't try the Chai one, since I don't like tea).

The slimfast high protein chocolate one (with splenda) was yucky anyway.

Protein Bars:

I tried Clif Builder's Bars, Labrada Sweet & Salty Lean Body Granola Bars, Snickers Marathon bar (Doh! Splenda!), Balance Bare Sweet & Salty (Doh! Maltitol), PowerBar ProteinPlus, PowerBar Performance Bar (Maltodextrin?), Special K Protein Meal bar (Doh! Sorbitol), Slim Fast Protein Meal Bar (Maltodextrin?), Odwalla SuperProtein.

Winner: Labrada Sweet & Salty Lean Body Granola Bar, Peanuts and Chocolate. 20g protein (mix of soy and whey and nuts), 340 calories, 11g fat. This is a bit more caloric, but it tastes great.

The Almonds 'N Yogurt flavor was pretty good too.

Runner Up: Clif Builder's Bar. This tastes pretty good, and is all natural. Soy protein only, though. 20g protein, 270 calories, 8g fat. I liked Cookies and cream the best, but they're all edible.

The PowerBar Performance was pretty good, but it was only 9g of protein. I'm not sure how I feel about Maltodextrin.

The PowerBar ProteinPlus had an icky aftertaste. Same with special K, and SlimFast.

I almost liked the Odwalla bar, but it was cloyingly sweet.

I loved the Balance Bare bar, but it wasn't super high in protein and it had maltitol, and that made me a little gassy.

The Snickers Marathon bar was tasty, but then I noticed it had splenda. If you're not averse to Splenda, it's really yummy.

[georgia girl 35]

Where did you buy the Naked Protein Shakes? I think I may have seen them in Walmart before but I'm not sure...

[mickeymammoth 0]

I doubt you'll find Naked in WalMart; they are often carried in their own case like Odwalla. They're all fresh juices so are perishable, and also not cheap. I get them at the grocery store.

[mickeymammoth 0]

So I found a bunch of new Protein bars to try. I don't know if these will be a regular part of my diet or not, but they might be good on the run meals.

These were all around 10-12g of Protein, but the calorie counts were generally lower than some other bars, so you have to take that into consideration.

Winners: Detour Biker and Detour Runner bars. My favorite flavors were chocolate Chip Cookie and Lemon Yogurt. I didn't care for chocolate Peanut Butter, Toffee Almond, or Raspberry Chocolate. These are approx. 200 calories with 12g protein. 3.5g - 7g fat.

I thought the Kashi GoLean Rolls were OK, but kind of bland. The Balance apricot mango was good, but the texture was too hard to chew for me. Detour core strength and Karma bars were yucky.

Edited July 2, 2008 by mickeymammoth

[mickeymammoth 0]

Just for completeness, I found the following tasty bars:

Zone Perfect chocolate Mint and Fudge Graham.

PayDay Pro. It's a Payday bar, with more Protein and less fat and sugar! Yay!

Didn't like the Fruitified Zone Perfect bars, or the MET-Rx Big 100 Colossal bar.

[georgia girl 35]

I found the Naked Protein zone chocolate banana at wal-mart. I have to say, I wasn't a big fan of it. I didn't care for the taste and it had too many calories and not enough Protein for me. It also cost almost $4.00 for one bottle.

I really like the Low Carb slim fast shakes. They have 20 grams of protein per can. A fellow bandster (losingjusme maybe?) recommended putting them in the freezer for about 30 minutes and I love it that way. It kinda taste like a frappuccino without all the work.