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Each Pure Protein Bar provides your body with 20 g of protein, 24 g of carbohydrates, 5 g of fat, and 200 calories. They’re also low in sugar, with just 3 g per bar.
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 Pure to two other top-rated protein bars; MET-Rx Big 100, 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 help you find the number one 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.
Pure Protein Bar Ingredients
If you’re looking for a low carb protein bar that’s also low in fat, Pure Protein have some of the best protein bars on the market.
With just 5 g of fat per bar, the calories are kept low without sacrificing the protein that helps strengthen and rebuild muscles after intense workouts.
The protein blend is mostly isolates, which ensures you’re getting closer to 90% pure protein content, compared to 80% with concentrates. But to help keep the price low, the milk protein isolate and whey protein isolate have been combined with whey protein concentrate.
Unlike the MET-rX Big 100 and thinkThins, Pure Protein Bars contain no casein. This means you can expect the protein to digest more quickly.
Casein protein is a slow digesting protein that’s better for taking before going to bed, to help boost muscle recovery and prevent muscle breakdown while you go without meals for an extended period of time. Most people that use casein choose a casein protein powder instead of bars or RTDs.
The only real downside is the low level of dietary fiber. Although 2 grams is average for protein bars, some, like MusclePharm Combat Crunch (12 g) and MuscleTech Mission1 (17 g) have significantly more.
What’s in Pure Protein Bars?
| Ingredient | Amount per Serving | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 200 | |
| Total Fat | 10 g | 15% |
| Saturated Fat | 4.5 g | 23% |
| Cholesterol | 15 mg | 5% |
| Sodium | 310 mg | 13% |
| Total Carbohydrates | 24 g | 8% |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g | 8% |
| Sugars | 3 g | |
| Protein | 20 g | 40% |
Protein Blend
Whey Protein Concentrate, Whey Protein Isolate, Milk Protein Isolate
Each Pure Protein Bar also contains milk, soy, peanut and tree nut ingredients.
Pure Protein Bar – Product Summary
- Case of 12 2.75-ounce chocolate peanut butter-flavored protein bars
- Provides over 15 essential nutrients
- Helps you deal with the hunger pangs that may occur while following a low-carb diet
- Provides 20 grams of protein per bar
- Individually wrapped for added convenience
Weight loss or weight gain?
Pure 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.
Pure Protein Bars meet this criteria, but if you need more dietary fiber (16 g vs. 2 g), you may also want to check out Quest Protein Bars. They contain just 6 g of fat, 20 g of protein and as few as 170 calories.
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 take it?
The low carb content of Pure Protein Bars means they’re best suited for post-workout nutrition, or as mid-morning/mid-afternoon snacks. Just 8 g of net carbs may not be enough to fuel high-intensity resistance workouts, which is why we wouldn’t recommend one of these bars alone as a pre-workout meal.
You can also enjoy one as a nutritious snack anytime throughout the day. But as a general guide, whether you’re looking to diet or add lean muscle, carb intake should be drastically reduced after 5-7pm.
Pure Protein Bars vs. MET-Rx Big 100
*Based on a box of 12. Correct at time of writing.
Pure Protein Bars vs. MuscleTech Mission1
*Based on a box of 12. Correct at time of writing.
What flavors and sizes are available?
With a serving size of 50 g per bar, each box provides you with either 6 or 12 servings.
At the time of writing this review, the best value for money comes from the box of 12, where each bar was priced at $1.47. This is compared to $2.39 per bar for the box of 12. Savings like these are why we always recommend calculating the average cost per serving before making a final buying decision.
Flavors
- Chocolate Peanut Butter
- Chewy Chocolate Chip
- Chocolate Deluxe
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 the Pure Protein Gluten Free protein bars (selected flavors only).
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 Pure Protein?
Pure Protein offer a range of high quality nutritional supplements, with ingredients and formulas that support optimal body function, strength, and lean mass.
Their current product line includes post-workout protein shake RTDs, protein powders, and protein bars as a healthy snack option. Depending on the flavour, each bar typically provides around 200 calories, 20 grams of protein, and less than 5 grams of sugar.
Most of their protein powders and bars already have hundreds of highly rated reviews on Amazon. Some of the most recent bestsellers include the Pure Protein Shake RTD (frosty chocolate flavour) and the Pure Protein Chocolate Deluxe protein bars.
Review Overview
Overall Review Rating
4.5 / 5
So, are Pure Protein Bars worth buying?
In terms of a low carb protein bar, there's none better than Quest Bars (5g net carbs per bar). But with just 18g of carbs per bar (16g net carbs), Pure Protein bars contain less than thinkThins (25g), MusclePharm Combat Crunch (25g), MET-Rx Big 100 (47g) and dozens of others.
Because they're so low in fat (5g), they're also one of the best low-calorie protein bars on the market. Of all the protein bars we've reviewed, they were one of only two that provides you with 200 calories or less, yet still delivers 20g+ of protein per serving (Quest Bars being the other).
In terms of value for money, at the time of writing this review, a box of 12 bars cost $17.59 ($1.47 per bar). That was much cheaper than Quest Bars ($2.00 per bar) and RXBAR Whole Food Protein Bars ($2.17 per bar).
The price has been kept lower with the use of whey concentrates in the protein blend, but the quality kept high as it still includes milk and whey protein isolates.
Overall, Pure Protein Bars don't have the same dietary fiber content (2g) as Quest Bars (16g) or MuscleTech Mission1 Clean (17g), but they're still excellent value for money.
Low in carbs, calories, and sugars, but high in protein, they're an excellent high protein snack for anyone looking to lose weight or gain lean muscle.
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