How to Pick a Healthy Snack Bar

Let’s get one thing clear right away: snack bars are great. They can make a super healthy snack. And, most importantly, they’re easy. Who doesn’t want easy?!

You know by now that I’m all about anything easy – especially when it comes to snacks. Unlike meals where you miiiight want to spend 20 minutes or so whipping something up in the kitchen, snacks are served best when convenient… AKA, ready to go.

You also already know snacks are important to eat between meals. And if you don’t, read this.

I love snack bars because they’re as convenient as it gets. Hungry at 3pm in the middle of a Zoom meeting? You can easily whip one out. Running errands and need some sustenance to bring with you? Throw one in your bag. You get the point.

But, how do you pick one that’s actually filling? And healthy? We’ve all probably been there: you’re hungry. You’re proud of yourself for having a bar on hand and eat it as a snack. But then, you’re still hungry. Said bar did not do its job.

There are a few things I recommend in snack bars to make sure they give you the nutrients you need in order to actually keep you full. And don’t worry, I won’t leave you hanging either: I’m also sharing with you some of my favorite bars that fit these requirements and do the trick.

What to look for in a snack bar

1. Protein

Having protein in any meal or snack helps to keep you full. Have you ever had something like an apple as a snack only to be super hungry 20 minutes later? In theory, great snack. But in execution, you’re missing that crucial protein.

I recommend bars that have about 5 grams of protein or more in the entire bar. This isn’t a strict number – there are some great bars have about 4 grams of protein in them – but in general, it’s a good guideline to follow.

You don’t need much more than that either. In fact, any snack bar that has 15-20 grams or so of protein is probably getting its protein from some type of protein powder or supplement. Not necessarily a bad thing, but also, not completely necessary. 

2. Fiber

Like protein, fiber is key to help keep you full. Just like an apple alone won’t keep you full, neither will a little spoonful of peanut butter: you need fiber.

Fiber also comes with plenty of health benefits: it helps to regulate blood sugar, its super heart healthy and even helps to keep you regular (you know, prevent constipation).

And, like, protein, I recommend looking for bars with about 5 grams of fiber or more. Again, this is not a strict number, just a guideline. About 5-10 grams of fiber per bar is perfect.

I actually really would not recommend getting much more than 10 grams of fiber in a snack bar. Not only is there is there little chance this amount is coming from actual food (instead, it’s probably coming from unnecessary powders), but also, more than that much fiber in such a small amount of food is a sure way to give yourself one heck of a stomachache.

3. Added Sugar

When it comes to sugar, there’s no number to go by. Instead, I recommend looking at the amount of added sugar relative to the fiber in the bar.

Keep in mind: many bars will contain natural sugar from things like dates or other fruit. This is totally fine! We’re not looking at this number in the total, because again, that sugar is naturally occurring from fruit.

Instead, look at the amount of added sugar in the bar. This will come from things like chocolate, honey, or just straight up sugar – for a very important reason: to make the bar taste good. No one wants to eat something that looks great nutritionally but doesn’t actually taste good.

I recommend looking for the total of added sugar to be equal to or less than the total amount of fiber. So, if a bar has about 6 grams of fiber, look for it to have about 6 grams or less or added sugar.

Again, this isn’t a hard rule. I’d never write a bar off completely because it had 6 grams of fiber and 7 grams of added sugar. We don’t do hard rules around here – just the best we can 🙂

The top 10 healthy snack bars

Here are some of my favorite bars that meet these guidelines and, more importantly, taste good. None of these are sponsored or affiliate links – they’re just here to help you. I do and have worked with a few of these brands, but that’s because I genuinely love their products (I promise, no one is sponsoring me to add them to this list!).

In no particular order*:

1.    KIND Nut Bars (based off Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Flavor): 6g protein, 7g fiber, 4g added sugar

2.    Vital Proteins Collagen Bar (based off Peanut Butter Chocolate flavor): 17g protein, 6g fiber, 2g added sugar 

3.    Naturally Clean Eats Bar (based off Almond Blueberry Crumble flavor): 7g protein, 11g fiber, 0g added sugar

4.    think! Plantbased High Protein Bar (based off Chocolate Mint flavor): 13g protein, 3g fiber, 5g added sugar

5.    Larabar (based off Apple Pie flavor): 4g protein, 4g fiber, 0g added sugar

 6.   KIND Breakfast Bars (based off Peanut Butter flavor): 5g protein, 5g fiber, 6g added sugar

7.    Corebars (based off Lemon Poppyseed flavor): 6g protein, 7g fiber, 0g added sugar

8.    RXBars (based off Chocolate Coconut flavor): 12g protein, 5g fiber, 0g added sugar

9.    R Bar Protein Bars (based off Matcha Orange flavor): 10g protein, 5g fiber, 12g added sugar

10.  Zing Bars (based off Double Nut Brownie flavor): 10g protein, 9g fiber, N/A added sugar (not listed)

*Note that most of these bars will vary nutritionally flavor. The flavors were chosen literally at random to show you a mix of flavors offered with each bar. Even if the nutrition facts change slightly by flavor, remember, we’re going by general guidelines – not hard rules – so they’ll likely still fit the bill.

HAPPY SNACKING!

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Want more tips on easy, convenient and realistic healthy eating? Check out my membership program, All Foods Fit, with 12 thorough lessons to teach easy ways to create a healthy relationship with food. Or, check out my e-book, 7 Days to Make All Foods Fit, to learn a step by step guide to create a healthier relationship with food in just 7 days.