Analysis: The Best Healthy, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Protein Bars You Can Buy on Amazon
I find myself in this position every year: Home for the holidays, stomach growling, rifling through my parents’ pantry to find something that fits the eating philosophies I’ve adopted as an adult. It’s a battlefield in there, me ducking and dodging the highly-processed, highly-palatable snacks of my youth. Pop-tarts, Honey Buns, cereal, Cheez-Its, Oreos, Doritos, fruit snacks; the nostalgia for these foods is so powerful.
But these days, I know how poor those packaged goods will make me feel. So I compromise by reaching for whatever protein bar selection my parents have around. This year, I pulled a “Macrobar” out of my mom’s pantry. Over my shoulder, she pipes in that it was the internet’s top recommendation for gluten- and dairy-free protein bars. After a quick once-over of the ingredients, I knew there was a gap on the web.
With 240 calories and 12g added sugar for just 10 measly grams of protein, this couldn’t be the best the web had to offer when it comes to gluten free, dairy free protein bars. I put the hunch to the test, and thankfully, I was right. Read on for what I believe to be the best gluten-free, dairy-free, low-sugar, and holistically healthy protein bars you can easily get on Amazon.
The best gluten & dairy-free healthy protein bars
Why eat protein bars?
Protein bars are a great option to have around for:
Traveling
Storing in your work bag
A 3pm snack
A pre or post-workout
Protein bars might be especially good options for those that could use help meeting their daily protein needs. It’s recommended that, at minimum, adults should get 0.36g of protein per pound of body weight every day. And that’s just the minimum requirement, for sedentary adults. For someone like myself who gets 10K steps every day, I should be getting well over 50g of protein per day. I often have about 10 to 15 grams of protein per meal, so on a lighter day, I may be well under my recommended daily intake. A 15 gram protein bar can help get me the rest of the way.
Do keep in mind that even the healthiest protein bar is still technically a highly-processed food and should usually take the place of a snack or a meal, due to their caloric density. In writing this article, I made the mistake of sampling too many bars per day and saw weight start to pack on, despite a relatively conscious diet otherwise. Call me Regina George.
One easy way to mitigate a calorie bomb? Break a protein bar in half for a light, 100-calorie snack.
Selection criteria
Anything on the topic of health is going to involve an amount of subjectivity, so I wanted to transparently lay out my personal definition of “holistically healthy” when it comes to protein bars. I’m looking for bars with:
Around 200 calories
Less than 5 grams of added sugar
Around 15g protein (in order to be considered a protein bar, it needs at least 12g)
Dairy & gluten free
Minimal & pronounceable ingredients (ideally, less than 15)
Bonus points if they’ve got superfoods in the ingredient list
You’ll notice that I’m not paying much attention to fat, sodium, total carbs, or micronutrients in this analysis. If those areas are of concern to you, please do additional research on this list. The National Institute for Fitness and Sport offers additional advice on how to pick the best protein bar.
Analyzing the options
To limit the scope of this research to a day, I decided to only look at protein bar options available on Amazon. I located some ~20 options and then analyzed their ingredients and nutrition labels for the above criteria.
Knowing that there are new protein bars coming on the market all the time, my hope is that anyone reading this can learn to inspect an ingredient list and nutrition facts panel prior to buying.
Take a look at the three nutrition panels below. How do you feel about them?
More ingredients than I like to see (~25), but all fairly pronounceable. Calories and macros are on point, and there’s no added sugar,
A slightly shorter ingredient list & familiar words, though far from natural, whole ingredients. Strong macros with no added sugar or allergens.
Easily the shortest and most familiar list of whole-food ingredients I’ve come across in a protein bar.
Scoring the gluten & dairy free protein bars on the market
Using my above criteria and package inspection strategies, I plotted all of the bars that met my standards in a scoring sheet:
The overall winners
While I would eat any one of these protein bars, each has their pros and cons depending on your unique goals. I’ve loosely arranged them from best to worst (in my book).
No Cow
Pro: Best across calories, protein, fiber, and sugar. Nice texture & can be found at Whole Foods.
Con: 2nd highest cost at $3/bar and almost none of the ingredients are “natural.” Some may find the taste chalky.
IQ
Pro: Strong on calories, fiber, sugar, cost. Tasty enough.
Con: 2nd highest ingredient count (though many are superfoods like flax, cocoa, almonds, coconut oil, lion’s mane). Some may find the taste a bit bland.
Ty found this brand after a bit of recent research & has a recurring order coming to the house. If you know Ty, you’ll know he has ultra high standards when it comes to food.
Aloha
Pro: Least expensive option, modest ingredient list of pronounceable things, strong protein and fiber. Tasty as heck.
Con: Highest in calories and most added sugar (3g)
Aloha bars were the tastiest and cheapest option I found!
Misfits
Pro: Strong on calories, protein, fiber, sugar, and cost. Tasty enough & can be found at Trader Joes.
Con: Most ingredients on the list, many unnatural. Some may find the taste chalky.
RX
Pro: Least ingredients & no added sugar
Con: Lowest category of protein & fiber. I personally find them way to chewy for comfort.
Chewiness aside, these made an appearance on my 2018 “kitchen staples” for mindful eating grocery list!
Feel
Pro: Good protein to calorie ratio and impressive amount of superfoods in the ingredient list
Con: Most expensive, lowest fiber (5g), and most added sugar (3g)
This is the one bar I’ve yet to taste test. Let us know if you’ve tried them in the comments?
I was most underwhelmed with the taste of Amrita bars.
Amrita
Pro: Strong protein and impressive amount of superfoods, decently low sugar (1g added) and affordable.
Con: Highest in calories and lower on fiber (6g). Super underwhelming taste & texture.
The category winners
The below list should help you settle on a bar based on any more specific criteria you might be trying to optimize for.
Most protein & fiber: No Cow
At an impressive 20g of protein and 16g of fiber, with zero added sugar and just 190 calories, this bar is likely to keep you full well until your next meal.
Highest superfood content: IQ, Feel, Amrita
Though on the longer side for ingredient lists (14-19 total), these bars boast superfoods like chia/flax/pumpkin/sunflower seeds, spices, real nuts and fruits, coconut oil, cocoa, and even lion’s mane.
Most affordable: Aloha
Coming in at just $1.90 per bar on Amazon (compared to the priciest, Feel’s $4 bars), these bars are best for those trying not to break the bank with their health habits. For those interested, I’ve written at length on eating mindfully on a budget.
Most delicious: Aloha
Once I discovered these bars in my taste test, I had to try every flavor (in the name of research, of course). With the most calories of any bar on the list (240), they taste like candy and would make a great dessert replacement.
Fewest ingredients: RX
For those trying to eat as close to nature as possible, reach for the Rx bar with its six simple ingredients that you likely stock in your own kitchen (eggs, nuts, chocolate, dates, salt).
Some of the notable losers
What I found particularly frustrating on this journey was how many misleading blog posts you’ll find on the internet about the healthfulness of certain gluten-free, dairy-free bars. Plenty of the list toppers offer a dismal amount of protein and a disappointing level of added sugar for a 200-calorie bar. Here’s a few brands I advise you pass on:
Macrobar: Not enough protein (10g) & too much added sugar (12g)
Zing: Not enough protein (10g) & too much added sugar (5g)
Mezcla: Not enough protein (10g) & too much added sugar (5g)
Good!: Too much added sugar (9g)
Kind Protein: Too much added sugar (6g)
This post is about more than just protein bars. It’s about growing our own awareness of the small decisions we make each day about what we put into our bodies. We live in a world rife with weird ingredients and deceptive marketing when it comes to food; anyone interested in investing in and protecting their health can benefit from a little more mindfulness when it comes to what we put in our bodies. Before my next trip home, I’ll be sending a box of IQ bars ahead of me.
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