A couple of weeks ago I was asked if I fancied trying some bars made by the company Natural Balance Foods. Of course, being a food lover, and just just having started a new term at uni so needing healthy snacks, I said yes! I got to choose the type of bars I wanted to try and after spending rather a long time browsing their products I decided to go for their protein bars.
The flavour I went for was oat crunch flapjack and I think it was a pretty good choice. The flapjack is lovely and moist, and within the oats there are little crispy pieces which add a delicious crunch. I went for the protein bars because I feel that I could do with a little more protein in my life, especially as I’m trying to get to the gym more often and I want to start strength training again.
The bars have 10g of protein in them which isn’t bad for a bar that essentially tastes like a treat. Another reason for my choice was that they were the best bars in terms of sugar – 14.8g. Although that is still pretty high it was by far the best, if you keep an eye on your sugar intake it’s worth noting that some of the other flavoured bars contain up to 25g. The payoff for the higher sugar level is of course the tastiness of the bars!
Pros:
- 10g of protein per bar.
- Good size for a mid-morning/afternoon snack, the bars fit easily in your bag.
- Natural ingredients, no added nasties!
- Great tasting, interesting flavour.
Cons:
- Although moist they have a tendency to crumble so can be a bit messy!
- Fairly high in sugar.
All in all I really like these bars, for what I want in a snack and with my sweet tooth I can’t really fault them. In fact, I’d love to try another flavour! If you are looking for a tasty, pretty healthy and easily portable snack then I would definitely recommend these, they’re probably my favourite out of these sorts of bars. Plus judging by the positive comments I got when I posted a photo of them on Instagram, lots of you are keen on them too!
Have you ever tried any Natural Balance Foods bars (Nakd/Trek)?
What is your favourite protein bar?
What is your portable snack of choice?
I have not tried them and would like to, they do look tasty!
My favorite protein bar/ snack bar would have to be Larabars…they are tasty adn all natural you have to to them!
I do like trail mix but my favorite protable snack would be smoked salmon..
I’ve never had a Larabar but I’ve heard a lot about them! Smoked salmon is so delicious, do you eat it on it’s own or with something else?
This is one of my favourite bars: I always buy it if I find it in the shop! I thik the other flavour is a berry one which I don’t like, but I would love if they made other flavours, maybe a chocolate one? I love anything with oats in them, and usually avoid flapjacks because of the sugar, but with this bar I feel like I’m having a flapjack but with an extra protein boost!
A chocolate flavoured version would be amazing! I’m with you there, I don’t want to eat a bar if it’s basically like eating a chocolate bar but this does feel a bit better
I’ve never heard of these bars. They sound pretty delicious though!
They’re great
these bars look mighty delish! but i don’t think they’re available where i live. i love bars as a portable snack because they’re so easy to bring with and they’re so good. the only con is sometimes they’re just so high in calories. my favorite bars are luna & think thin. but i’m always on the lookout for new bars!
They might only be available in the UK. These aren’t too bad calorie-wise, they’re about 200 calories a bar and they’re super filling!
I love Clif Builder bars for my protein bars–but it’s the same issue, LOTS of sugar. So I look at them as a treat/candy bar/cookie alternative rather than something I would eat regularly or use in place of quality/whole foods.
Yeah I’m with you there, I wouldn’t want to eat these two often. I’d rather keep my sugar eating for when I bake!
These look delicious! I don’t think we have them in the states, but I will keep an eye out.
Yeah unfortunately I think you’re right, although you guys have heaps more bars than we do in the UK!
I am a big fan of the Nakds (both the orignals and the newer ones) and I do prefer them over the Treks! The Treks aren’t half bad though and if you are really caught short, Treks’ are a bit more substantial than the small Nakds.
I’m on a nut fix at the moment so they’re what I’m grabbing for snacks! Hope you are doing okay m’dear! xxx
I don’t like the raw ones as I think they taste a lot like dates and I’m not a fan, but I like the others. Yes I agree, these are really filling! Thank you lovely
These bars look great!! Awesome review!
Thanks Brittany!
These bars sound amazing! I’m STILL searching for a naturally delicious protein bar. The most important thing in a protein bar to me is that there aren’t any processed artificial sugars. Most of them try to be “low in sugar” and “sugar-free” and replacing natural sugars like honey and maple syrup with some weird chemical name I’ve never heard of. These look pretty natural and the flavor sounds delicious.
I think it’s a difficult one! Companies have to try to balance health with flavour and a fairly long shelf life. Although these have 15g of sugar, there are no strange unknown ingredients that you can’t recognise which is always good!
I love these – I bought one today after reading your post (haven’t eaten it yet though – saving it for when I really need a sweet treat)
They do make a lovely sweet treat
I love these bars, yum!