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These days, many of us rush from task to task with little time to breathe in between. This can make it tricky to eat a healthy, balanced diet. Thankfully, many quick grab-and-go food options can help keep you fueled on the go.
Meal replacement bars are an excellent option for getting a quick, nutritionally balanced meal during a busy day when you don’t have time to prepare a full breakfast, lunch, or dinner. At The Meal Kit Review, we’re breaking down the best meal replacement bars to stay healthy and energized even on your busiest days.
Can Meal Replacement Bars Satisfy Daily Nutrition Needs?
If chosen carefully, meal replacement bars are a great, quick, portable option for helping busy people meet their nutritional needs. It is important to ensure that the best meal replacement bars offer a balanced profile of essential nutrients.
A quality meal replacement bar should offer adequate protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals to make an effective supplement to your daily meals or serve as a meal replacement when needed. Eating various foods is important, so meal replacement bars should be used in moderation alongside other quick and ready-meal options to ensure a balanced diet that satisfies your nutritional needs.
Best 7 Meal Replacement Bars You Should Try
Finding a nutritionally balanced meal replacement bar can be difficult, which is why we’ve curated a selection of the best protein bars for meal replacement. Considering important factors like taste, nutritional content, and customer feedback, these are the best meal replacement bars to try:
RXBAR
RXBAR uses recipes that are so simple that they list every whole food ingredient right on the front of the package. These simple bars offer a high-protein snack in delicious flavors like Strawberry, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Sea Salt, and more.
Quest Nutrition Protein Bar
Quest bars are a popular choice for athletes and fitness enthusiasts for a reason. These bars pack in a ton of protein and flavor, with many delicious options that taste like desserts. Quest bars are considered some of the best-tasting protein bars on the market and make a great snack for a quick boost on a busy day.
Kind Protein Bars
Kind bars are a great option if you’re looking for a protein bar that offers a good balance of protein, fiber, and healthy fat. They offer many delicious flavors and varieties with whole ingredients, including nuts, chocolate, and healthy seeds.
Larabar
Larabar emphasizes real, whole-food ingredients in simple but delicious combinations. Their bars are naturally sweetened and available in various satisfying flavors to suit different tastes, like Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Banana Bread, and Lemon Bar. Larabar offers many high-fiber, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free protein bars.
Clif Builder’s Protein Bar
Clif Builder’s protein bars are designed with active people in mind. They are ideal post-workout fuel to re-energize and meet protein goals with plant-based proteins and amino acids. They offer delicious protein bar flavors, including Chocolate Mint and Cookies ‘N Cream.
NuGo Slim
NuGo Slim offers a low-sugar protein bar with high protein content for people monitoring their sugar intake. These lower-calorie protein bars are a satisfying snack for people monitoring their weight. They come in many tasty flavors like Crunch Peanut Butter and Raspberry Truffle.
Orgain Organic Protein Bar
As the name suggests, Orgain wants to support your muscle gains using organic and plant-based ingredients. These non-GMO snack bars are nutritious yet delicious, with flavors like Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.
What to Look For in a Meal Replacement Bar?
There are many important factors to consider when looking for a meal replacement bar. The best bar for you depends on your dietary needs, nutrition goals, and flavor preferences.
Nutritional Balance
When using a protein bar as a meal replacement or supplement, it’s important to choose options with enough protein, fiber, and healthy fat to satisfy you. Depending on your goals, you’ll want to look for a bar that offers 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat. If gaining muscle is your goal, you may want to adjust for a slightly higher protein ratio.
Quality Ingredients
The best meal replacement bars on the market use whole food ingredients like dates, nuts, and egg whites, with minimal additives or preservatives. This ensures that the bars offer the best nutrition and health without unnecessary extra ingredients.
Fiber Content
When replacing meals with protein bars, you want to ensure you’ll feel full. Fiber promotes feeling full while also supporting healthy digestion. A good range to look for is around 5-10 grams of fiber per bar, depending on your personal needs and other sources of fiber in your diet.
Low Added Sugars
Protein bars with a lot of added sugar can cause energy spikes and crashes – the opposite of what you want to fuel your busy day! Try to look for meal replacement bars with limited added sugars to get consistent, balanced energy. When reviewing the ingredient list for your bar, look for keywords like syrup or words ending in “ose” (fructose, sucrose, etc.), which generally indicate added sugar.
Are There Any Meal Kits That Include Meal Replacement Bars?
These days, many meal kit services on the market offer different add-ons that may include meal replacement bars as snacks. Some examples of meal kits with protein bars as add-ons include Factor and Hungryroot. These offerings let you supplement traditional meal kits with on-the-go options to help keep nutrition easy and convenient.
Bottom Line
Overall, meal replacement bars can be a great supplement to a healthy and balanced diet. They offer a great way to get a nutritionally balanced snack or meal when you’re on the go and don’t have time to prepare a full meal.
Remember that you don’t want to rely on protein bars alone, it’s important to include them in moderation while still enjoying fresh fruits, vegetables, and more substantial meals. Protein bars can be a great option for keeping your energy up and can even support weight management when used carefully as part of your diet. Consider your personal dietary needs and goals when choosing a protein bar to help pick the right ingredients and macronutrient balance for you.
Some great ways to include meal replacement bars in your diet are having them for breakfast on the way to work or using them to refuel after a workout so you can keep your energy up between meals.
