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Saw Robert and Oscar mention "quality" protein bars as a snack in another thread and figured people can exchange notes.. I already learned that anything processed (anything with a label really) is not recommended, so all suggestions will be taken in perspective. Having diabetics in the family, I am very concerned with carb impact on insulin levels.

MANY people have recommended Quest bars. The best flavors were Choc PB, Cinnamon Roll, Mix Berry, PB Supreme. Apple pie is debatable, but the rest I wouldn’t give to my dog. I have to note that all of them are very chewy, so grab a bottle of water. Check out ingredients here: http://www.questproteinbar.com/
VPX has a line called Zero Impact. These are 40g of protein each. All flavors were decent. Check out ingredients here: http://www.vpxsports.com/muscle-building-supplements/zero-impact-protein-bars

Has anyone tried Detour or AST Vyo-Pro bars? They are next on the list to try.
Anyone has thoughts on the ingredients above? Red flags and such…


PS
These are for emergency snacks. Personally, I keep greek yogurt and fruits in the fridge, but need a stick-in-your-pocket-and-run-out snack at times.

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Since you have a family history of diabetes, you probably want to go with a low-carb bar. Many of them taste like cardboard. In order to make them taste better, many manufacturers will stoop to duboius methods.

Looking at the ingredient list of the AST bar, I see the top ingredient after whey is Maltitol. This is a sugar alcohol and can still affect your blood sugar levels. It's not a carb so it isn't listed in the macronutrients but it can still cause issues. I also see Canola Oil, Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil and Aspartame. I have concerns over all these. Quest may have more carbs but most is fibre. The main ingredients after whey are fruit and nuts. The bars are generally made of food, not chemicals. They do have artificial sweeteners, but are usually stevia or sucralose which seem to have a better reputation than aspartame.

I just looked at the zero-impact bars. They also look like chemical soup. They are supposed to not impact blood sugar but they do have sugar. Any sugar that doesn't affect blood sugar must be metabolized in the liver the same way alcohol and fructose are metabolized. This can even be worse for you that the blood sugar effect. You can tell who has a problem with that since they all have pot bellies.

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Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

This is great stuff, Stuward.

So the least of all these evils is the Quest, right?

Like you said, it took me about a week to completely forget about grains! I don't even do them post-workout anymore. Only pre-workout I'd have a modest amount of complex grains such is good quality al-dente whole wheat pasta, or boiled buckwheat. The rest are exclusively veggies and some fruits.

When I get home I will dig up a recipe for homemade protein bars and post it here and see what y'all think.

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I've read dozens of recipes, but none looked quite as practical as this one (perhaps I have a picture bias). Less complication=better chance to replicate macros as desired. What do you guys think:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=130661043&page=1

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Looks nice. We could get a cookbook thread now that's cooking has been a subject of talk for few weeks.
I'll be probably testing those some day. Instead of peanuts I will most likely use Walnuts, since they contain slightly better ratio of Omega 3 and 6.

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Prove the impossible!

I'd definitely agree on that! Esp since there is peanut butter already. One concern raised in the thread was milk. No one answered definitively. What do you think? (in terms of how long they would last in the fridge and how long each is safe to keep/carry around outside the fridge)

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PHD diet whey bars are good. Good quality stuff in them and not much sugar at all

Another good looking recipe

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