Optimum Nutrition Opti-Bar Protein Bar Review

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Each 60 gram Optimum Nutrition Opti-Bar provides your body with 20 g of protein, 20 g of carbohydrates, 9 g of fat, and 250 calories. They’re also a good source of dietary fiber, with 10 g per bar (40% of RDA).

But unlike most protein powders, there’s no creatine, L-glutamine, or BCAAs. So can they still be an effective source of pre-workout and post-workout nutrition?

In this review we’ll compare O.N. Opti-Bars to two other top-rated protein bars; MusclePharm Combat Crunch, and MuscleTech Mission1.

Comparisons include the levels of protein, carbs, and fats, as well as the cost per serving, flavors, customer feedback, and total calories.

This is to guarantee you only buy the best protein bar for your current diet and fitness goal. Whether that’s weight loss, lean muscle gain, bulking, or simply to boost your daily protein intake.

Optimum Nutrition Opti-Bar Ingredients

Each Opti-Bar delivers 20 g of protein, using a blend of milk protein isolate and whey protein isolate. The fact that one hundred percent of protein comes from isolate sources means you enjoy a much more purer protein.

One of its key selling points is the high level of fiber in relation to sugar content. With 10 grams of dietary fiber per bar, and just a few grams of sugar, it’s a much healthier option compared to the original protein bars from Promax (1 g of fiber and 30 g of sugar).

Calorie content is moderate, kept lower thanks to the low carb recipe. Fat content (9 g) is a little higher than some protein bars we’ve reviewed (Pure Protein Bar: 5g, thinkThins: 8 g), but this is somewhat dependent on the flavor. Cookies N Creme is 9 g of fat per bar, while Chocolate Brownie and Choc Chip Cookie Dough flavors deliver just 7 g.

The overall taste and texture of the bars is excellent, whichever flavor you choose. Optimum Nutrition have clearly called on their experience with creating industry-leading whey protein powders before first marketing these protein bars in 2016.

What’s in Opti-Bar Protein Bars?

Protein Blend
Milk Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Isolate

Weight loss or weight gain?

Opti-Bar protein bars are designed to assist with the support of lean muscle growth and recovery, as part of a regular exercise and nutrition program.

Protein bars for weight loss are difficult to find. Your best option is finding a high protein, low calorie, low carb protein bar that helps put your body in a caloric deficit each day.

Opti-Bars contain more fat (9 g) than most other protein bars, which pushes up the calorie count (9 calories per gram of fat).

If weight loss is your goal, check out Quest Protein Bars. They contain just 6 g of fat, 20 g of protein and as few as 170 calories.

For weight gain, you’ll need to consume sufficient protein and enough calories from healthy foods to put your body in a daily caloric surplus. For this, MET-Rx Big 100 (30 g protein, 400 cals) could be a better option.

Who are they designed for?

Runners, weightlifters, athletes, or anyone looking for a quick and easy way to increase their protein intake.

When is the best time to eat an Opti-Bar?

While it may not look like one of the best low carb protein bars on the market, with just 20 g per serving, it’s well below the likes of Promax Protein Bars (40 g), thinkThins (25 g), and even RXBARs (22 g).

This makes them a much better option for later in the day, or at times when you’re less active. Perhaps as a mid-morning snack, but preferably not in place of a casein protein shake late at night, which is better for slow protein absorption.

With just 1 g of sugars per bar, you can also be sure that the carbs are coming from a healthy source.

O.N. Opti-Bars vs. Combat Crunch

O.N. Opti-Bars vs. MuscleTech Mission1

What flavors and sizes are available?

Optimum Nutrition Opti-Bars have a serving size of 60 g per bar, with 12 protein bars per box.

At the time of writing this review, the best value for money actually from the White Chocolate Raspberry Flavor. These bars were priced at $1.33 per serving, compared to $1.67 for the Chocolate Brownie flavor. That’s why we always recommend calculating the average cost per serving, across all flavors and sizes, before making a final buying decision.

If they’re a similar price when you come to buy (less than $20 per box), it’s actually a great deal. MusclePharm Combat Crunch and MuscleTech Mission1 are both usually more expensive, although they do have a few more grams of carbohydrates and 40-50 fewer calories.

Flavors

Save money with Amazon

If you’re looking to save money on your monthly supplement order, you might want to consider the Amazon Subscribe & Save program.

Subscribe & Save allows you to unlock savings of up to 15% on a wide range of sports nutrition products, including MuscleTech Mission1 Clean Protein.

You can save 5% with a subscription to 1 product, or save the full 15% by subscribing to 5 products, provided they’re all delivered to the same address. The delivery schedule can be set from monthly, up to once every 6 months.

Although 5 products might sound a lot, if you already supplement with a protein powder, multivitamin, creatine, BCAA, and glutamine, the savings can soon add up. But it’s best to order before you run out of your current supplements, because Amazon set the day of the month each order is sent (same day each month e.g. 14th.).

Who are Optimum Nutrition?

With over 30 years in the sports nutrition industry, Optimum Nutrition currently produces some of the bestselling sports nutrition products in the world. These have been designed to improve your strength and recovery, health and wellness, and help increase your protein intake, such as their Gold Standard 100% Whey.

To find out more about their protein powders, bars, ready to drinks, BCAAs, glutamine, pre-workout supplements, creatine, multivitamins, and weight loss products, we recommend our Optimum Nutrition buying guide. This includes a summary of the health benefits you can expect from each product, which sizes and flavors are available, and dosages for the top ingredients.

We’ve also added in-depth reviews and comparisons with other top rated nutrition companies, to guarantee you only buy the best supplement for your fitness goals.