Quest bars are one of the latest trends within the protein-powered world. While they claim to have 20 grams of protein, low carb content and zero junk ingredients, the question stands here: are Quest bars healthy?
What are Quest bars?
Quest bars are the newest kind of protein bar on the market, and they sure live up to their title. The mission of Quest is to "revolutionize food and make clean eating fun." What started with two flavors has evolved into 24 flavors of healthy fun.
What's inside of a Quest bar?
While the list of ingredients isn't terribly long, the list contains quite a few of the wrong ingredients. According to Quest, sea salt, stevia, erythriotol, sucralose, protein, corn fiber, palm oil, calcium carbonate and gums are among the highest ingredients on the list.
Of that list, 30% of the ingredients are high intensity sweetners. Typically, these sweetners lead to craving more sugar and sweeter foods. Gums, like xanthan gum, are highly processed. While they aren't terrible for your body, they aren't the best either.
What do nutrition experts say?
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Breakfast Criminals, an online healthy eating blog, has interviewed 6 nutrition experts on what they say about Quest bars. In short, 6/6 experts decided that they would not recommend Quest bars to cliental or friends/family.
Willow Jarosh, a registered dietation, believes that "the emphasis on using these bars to avoid eating a food that you truly want/enjoy can lead to unsatisfied eating and a feeling that it's 'wrong' to have food that you enjoy."
But it's also the ingredients. Again, 6/6 experts agreed that Quest bars are not considered clean eating, due to the amount of highly processed ingredients.
Are there healthy alternatives?
The healthiest alternatives to Quest bars include nuts like peanuts, cashews or peanut butter. Both of these options are full of natural proteins and typically not packed with highly processed ingredients.
If you're looking for the bar option, look into KIND bars or Clif bars, both protein packed options that are just as tasty.
As a whole...
Quest bars may not be considered the healthiest of all snacks. While they may have a high protein content, they also have a high content of sweetner and many highly processed ingredients. Consider looking into alternatives to this bar.