PROBARs Review Cont’d
Jul 15th, 2008 by Lindsay
Here is our latest review for the flavors we’ve recently taste tested.
Apple Cinnamon Crunch - this bar was quite delicious but apples and cinnamon go so well together, that really shouldn’t be a surprise.
Sesame Goji - this bar was edible but I on the scale of 1 to 10 its is a square 5. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it and I probably wouldn’t eat it again.
Koka Moka - This one was disgusting. I even tried it when I was starving, so you know it’s bad. Then again, I was never a coffee or dark chocolate lover so I could just be unfairly biased!
Kettle Corn - This was a huge let down! I love popcorn and esp. kettlecorn, so I was majorally bummed when I opened the wrapper and instead of finding “popcorn” I found unusually big kernals of corn in the bar. Boo! The bar was okay, it was really coconutty as all their bars are and even though I like coconut I don’t believe it belongs in everything…
(old reviews from June)
Maple Pecan - Scott loved this bar, not surprising since he loves pecans and pure maple syrup. I thought the bar was good but tasted very coconut-y which threw me off. I love coconut but not with maple. I checked the ingredients and raw coconut was #5 on the list. That explains that.
Cherry Pretzel - This is the one of two bars I’ve been dying to try. Cherries? Chocolate? Pretzels? yes please.! It was tasty. However, I was quite disappointed to read that a product proclaiming to be “healthy” and “made from 15 whole foods” had all-purpose flour in it. Unbleached wheat flour is not a whole food, PROBAR. I’m sure the “pretzels” are to blame but they do make whole wheat pretzels nowadays. Boo!
Cocoa Pistachio - We both liked this bar but it’s hard to find a chocolate-nut pairing that tastes bad 
Plus we’re both pistachio lovers so this bar had quite the advantage!!
Cran-Lemon Twister -I love lemons and cranberries. The thought of these flavors coming together made me drool a little. Unfortunatly, the wonderful cran-lemon flavor was muttled by the nuts and coconuts (why is the coconut in every bar!). Bummer. I ended up picking out all the dried cranberries and they was delightful.
Thoughts: The average PROBAR has about 400 calories, 20g fat, 200mg sodium, 20g of sugar & 8g of protein. I know they’re supposed to be a “meal replacement” but I don’t think any of our “meals” have that much fat, sugar and sodium. Calories and protein - maybe. We have both liked what we’ve had so far and agree we may load up on them when traveling and vegan food may be scarce… but so far we don’t think we’ll buy them regularly as the bars don’t seem to jive with our dietary preferences.
Another problem we both have is that brown rice syrup is the first or second ingredient. While we appreciate the sticy substance is necessary to hold all the goodness together, why do they also need to add more sweeteners such as evaporated cane juice? I have a mighty sweet tooth and the bars don’t come across as overly sweet, its just something I observed. Then again, its better than HFCS!
The maple pecan one definitely sounds the most palatable to me.
Did you mean to write 2g of fat? Because that doesn’t seem like much to me for 400 calories! Can’t wait to see you so I can try them, too!
They all sound good to me (I don’t mind coconut). . . these days, coconut is being touted as a powerful health food, so maybe that’s why it’s in them all! But it does sound like they’re heavy on the sweeteners. . . which may not really be necessary.
I too often get annoyed that most of bars have evaporated cane juice and/or brown rice syrup. I understand most Americans need sugar in their food to enjoy it, but come on! Like you said, do they really need it? But they are better than HFCS at least. I guess if you really needed energy right then like in the middle of a race then the sugar would be good, but most of the time probably not necessary.
And maple syrup is so awesome!
I love your reviews. They are extremely informative and beneficial to us all. However, I’m really bummed that you didn’t find the yummy goodness you would want from a snack bar. And what’s up with all that coconut?
Sorry if I already left you this comment, but my computer has been a little weird lately & I honestly don’t remember. Also - I’m from http://www.thesummertreecafe.blogspot.com & I’m leaving the URL here b/c I’m having trouble with OpenID…
You said in your profile that 300-400 crunches per day for 30 days would result in great abs if the person was slim. Is a BMI of 17 or 18 low enough to warrant such results? I want abs!
Maria, I try to be honest which I’m sure PROBAR is hating right now… but thank you
I think they will be great for trips abroad or long airplane and car rides, but they won’t be a “staple” in my diet.
Katie,
(I apologize ahead of time, this is going to be a long response!)
300+ crunches for 30 days certainly helped me attain the abs I wanted and I was at about 17% body fat when I went did it, but there were other factors that helped me get my abs.
For instance, during that 30 day period, I also ate very heathfully - mostly veggies and fruits, no sweets or treats, no refined sugar, limited amounts of salt, limited “breads” (and when I did eat them, they were sprouted or whole wheat) and I was also working out the rest of my body every day during those 30 days. I pretty much put myself on a self-inflicted “boot camp” for those 30 days. I think it also helped that I was very active/eating healthy before I dove in to it.
I’m not trying to discourage you, because I think sexy abs are attainable, I just want to be clear that doing a certain # of crunches for 30 days, even on a slim person, will not necessarily = 6 pack.
For a 6 pack or in the alternative, a tight, flat, firm stomach, you have to eat right every day, exercise your entire body regularly and make a point to avoid refined carbs and salts. (Salt causes water retension in your midsection). Sadly, there is no short cut!! but beign hardcore for 30 days got me to a good point and since then I’ve just “maintained” it.
As for body fat, you have to reduce overall body fat for abs to show, but don’t get caught up in the numbers. I was about 17% body fat at the time but 17% fat looks different on every body and people carry fat in different places. I’ve never carried fat in my stomach (I carry it in my thighs and on my back) so while I still have some softness on my legs, I can still manage to have a firm stomach…
I guess what I’m saying is, 300-400 crunches for a month is not a recipe for a guaranteed sixpack, but doing that combined with my healthy lifestlye, it certainly helped me get the stomach I wanted. I think sexy abs are very attainable but there is no short cuts, they take work and dedication. If I overeat, eat something salty or skip on doing ab work for a few days, they don’t look as great. I hope this helps!
Hi Lindsay,
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy the bars. I am a competitive ultra runner and cyclist and I eat the bars during races and during training. The extra protein and fat grams are a necessity for training athletes. Maybe meal-replacement is a better term if you are super active and when it’s not used as a supplement in a regular diet. I’m also a fan of the original flavors. Try out the Superfood Slam or WholeBerry Blast, those are my favorites. Thanks for the posting.
Lori,
When I run long distances (10-26.2 miles) I eat those GU’s. I love them! Esp. the Vanilla Bean one. I think if I tried to eat one of these heavy bars while running I’d puke… but maybe I’ll try one on my next long bike ride. I’m training for an Iron Man and have been enjoying the recipes by Brendan Brazier in The THRIVE diet book to fuel my trainings — everything is centered around dates, mmm. His ‘energy bites’ rock. So do all his “sports drinks” recipes - I’ll never use yucky unhealthy gatorade ever again!
Oh & I tried all the original flavors (incl. Super Slam and Whole Berry) back in November 2007 and thought they were disgusting (one made me puke a little) — that’s how I ended up testing the new flavors out, actually. When PROBAR sent me the samples, they incl. all of the original flavors, which I plan to try again since November was a long time ago and they may have changed… but so far I’m underwhelmed even with the new flavors…
I guess everyone just has different “taste” preferences… and opinions on whats healthy or useful… I don’t really find these bars to be good for training or meal replacements, but of course are better than nothing when you’re in a bind and are vegan!
Still, I’m glad you like them and can use them — I know others do too, they’re just not for me
Hi Lindsay,
Thanks for responding.
Best of luck in the IronMan!
I think I saw that you also tried Larabars–did you ever say what you thought of them? I can’t get enough of them–they have no added sugars-most of the bars just have three or four ingredients. Their calories range around 200 and have about 10g of fat. Their cherry and apple cinamon flavors are amazing.
Thanks so much for the reviews - I agree that 400 cal is really high. I eat the boomi bars which are much less and they are great.
I’m SOOOoooo glad that I’m not the only person disappointed in the newest ProBar line. I was sooooo excited for the kettle corn and it wasn’t that good–for the price. I do have to say I LOVE the koka moka ones…if you like coffee or carob chips, its delish! I don’t think their new ones are as good as their old ones. There were soo many more whole foods nuts and seeds…at least I thought so.
Probar kettle corn? What is the world coming to? I have yet to find ANY kettle corn product that doesn’t taste weird or they just cut corners. I make the stuff a couple of days a week.
Velma’s "Wicked Delicious" Kettle Corn popcorn