Are Protein Bars Actually Good For Protein?

You wouldn’t buy a brand-new shirt just because one of the buttons fell off.

That’s a bad deal.

So why would you grab a “high-protein” snack loaded with carbs and fat when what you really want is the protein?

Probably because you don’t even realize you’re doing it. Let’s fix that once and for all.

One of the best parts of coaching our 1-on-1 nutrition clients is giving them the knowledge and confidence to stop falling for clever packaging and misleading claims.

Alright, here’s the crash course.

Every calorie you eat comes from one of three macronutrients:

Protein – 4 calories per gram
Carbohydrates – 4 calories per gram
Fat – 9 calories per gram

The problem?

Most foods marketed as “high protein” actually get the majority of their calories from carbs and fat—not protein.

The good news?

Food companies have to disclose how many grams of each macronutrient are in a serving. And there’s a simple way to tell if something is truly high in protein.

Here’s the rule:

Take the grams of protein in a serving and multiply by 10.

If that number is greater than the total calories in the serving, it’s high in protein.

Example: A 100-calorie snack pack of almonds with 3g of protein:

3 × 10 = 30.

That’s way less than 100 calories… Ouch.

Once you start looking at labels this way, you’ll realize most processed snacks and “protein bars” are calorie-heavy and protein-light.

Some processed exceptions worth keeping in your rotation: low-fat cottage cheese, Greek/Icelandic yogurt, Fairlife milk, sugar-free jerky, and protein powder.

Want to go deeper and learn how to spot “net carb” tricks too?

Watch THIS video on our YouTube channel.

And if you’re ready to cut through the nonsense, lose fat, build muscle, and feel confident without living on a miserable diet…

That’s exactly what we do with our 5-Step Nutrition Freedom Framework.

Click the button below, and I’ll be in touch today.