You know you need your protein and you’re on the go. Why not a healthy protein bar? They’re usually pretty tasty, and they are billed as so healthy with labels like “high protein,” “organic energy bar,” and “sugar free.”

But you’ve got to watch out for the marketing. Most of these things are really just candy bars. And that’s not just an opinion, we’re working off legitimate criteria here! Here’s what distinguishes a protein bar from a candy bar:

• 20g of protein minimum
• Fewer than 150% net carbs over grams of protein (example would be if you had 10 g of protein, you can’t have more than 15 g of sugar)
• Less sugar than protein
• More fat than protein
• The fewest number of ingredients (this is negotiable in terms of real numbers if those ingredients are actual food, i.e., it has 4 different kinds of berries, 5 different kinds of seeds, etc.)

One quick explanation. Net carbs are total carbs minus fiber. 10 grams of carbohydrates is essentially the same as 10 grams of sugar UNLESS it’s offset by fiber. The reason for this is that fiber makes you digest foods more slowly and reduces the chances of it being stored as body fat.

So determining whether or not a protein bar has more protein than sugar is a simple formula:

sugar + carbs – fiber = total sugar

So off we go!

Clif Bar

Let’s start off with your standard Clif Bar. These are rather popular (and to be fair, they’re billed as “energy” bars and not protein bars) and relatively inexpensive. But of the bars we’ll review today, they’re the least healthy.

• 21 g of sugar
• 43 g of carbs
• 5g of fiber

According to our calculation, that works out to 59 g of sugar. As a reference, the American Heart Association recommends that the most sugar you eat per day is 37.5 g for men and 25 g for women. So for the ladies, a Clif Bar is more than double your daily sugar allowance.

Lastly, it’s only got 10 g of protein and 3 g of good fats (contrasted with 2.5 g of bad fats).

That is a candy bar, folks.

thinkThin High Protein Bar

This one is billed as all sorts of healthy, with 0 g sugar right there on the front of the package. Closer examination reveals:

• 10 g sugar alcohol (this is chemically altered sugar from berries that absorbs less easily into the body and don’t have to be labeled as sugar legally, but it’s still sugar)
• 25 g of carbs
• 1 g of fiber

Run it through the sugar calculator and you come up with 34 g sugar. Contrast that with 20 g of protein and 5 g of good fat and we’re getting closer to our goal, but it’s still a candy bar.

Pure Bliss Organics Acai Coconut Energy Bar

This bar has a lot going on for it in the sourcing department. It’s non-GMO, USDA Organic, vegetarian and gluten free. But let’s do the math:

• 11 g of sugar
• 29 g of carbs
• 4 g of fiber

That stacks up to 36 g of sugar total. Contrasted with only 5 g of protein and 6 g of healthy fats, this one is almost as bad as the Clif Bar. It goes to show, just because something is organic, non-GMO and anything else, it still doesn’t mean it’s healthy.

Probar Base

Here’s another one with a lot going on for it in the sourcing department. Non-GMO and gluten free, it also has a full 20 g of protein. That’s a decent amount for sure. Running it through the ringer:

• 16 g of sugar
• 33 g carbs
• 6 g fiber

That stacks up to 43 g of sugar. Quite a bit. Less than half as much protein and only 3 g of unsaturated fat. It’s still a glorified candy bar.

ML Essential Bar

This bar is designed and distributed by Maximized Living, an organization to which I belong and offers the world one of the best overall perspectives and toolsets on health, whether it’s nutrition, exercise or chiropractic care. So let’s have a look at their bar!

• 4 g of sugar
• 13 g of carbs
• 6 g of protein

That adds up to a total of 11 g of sugar. By far, this is the lowest sugar content we have so far. In the protein department, it’s only 6 g. But don’t forget about healthy, unsaturated fats, which is what makes this bar worth it: 11.5 g. So by our criteria, we have to put it in the candy bar pile because there is more sugar than protein ((but only by 2 g!). But in my opinion, the healthy fats more than make up for that. Besides, these are by far the lowest numbers we’ve seen so far in terms of sugar and carbs.

Epic Bar

Check. This. Out. I’ll tell you right now: we have a winner. This is such a unique idea. The Epic Bar is foundation-ally made out of meat. If you get the beef or bison version, it’s organic and grass-fed. It’s almost like jerky, but not really. It’s interesting, and tastes quite good. I ate one the other day, not realizing it has walnuts in it (I’m allergic), so that wasn’t fun–be warned. But it does taste good. Let’s have a look at the label:

• 8 g sugar
• 11 g of carbs
• 1 g of fiber

Tally it up and we’re at 18 g of sugar. Offset that with 9 g of protein and 5 g of unsaturated fat and we’re pretty close!

But the winner is definitely the ML Essential Bar, especially because you get all those good fats included.

Thanks for reading; more reviews certainly to come!