Product Review and GIVEAWAY: PROBAR

PROBAR sent me some of their CORE Protein Bar to sample and review... and the best part?  To give away!!


PROBAR has this to say about their CORE bar:

Looking for a protein bar that resembles nature rather than a science experiment? Good. Because we've packed 20 grams of plant protein and plenty of real, recognizable ingredients into this bar. And it does more than build your strength – it boasts chia seeds for hydration and recovery too.

Well, let me tell you a little bit more about them.  

Flavors include:

Cookie Dough

Peanut Butter Chocolate

Brownie Crisp

Mint Chocolate

As you can see, the bar has a chocolate coating.  I think of this bar as a "recovery food" for post workout and intense runs.  Maybe it's best that this bar is waiting for you at home or at least out of the hot sun and not in your fuel belt or fanny pack.  After carrying the bar with me and the mild temperatures of a May morning run in the Pacific Northwest, my coating was a tad bit gooey.  It left my fingers with a light coating of chocolate.  It wasn't as bad as a Hershey's bar, but I'd hate to see what would happen if it was left in a hot car after a trail run or something like that.  

Aside from this characteristic of the bar, it has some pretty neat things going for it.
First off, they are Vegan and certified Gluten-Free.
Each bar has at least 20g of plant protein (soy isolate protein.  There are 21g for the "Cookie Dough" bar).  The high protein makes this bar ideal after a hard workout or a long run as a "recovery snack".  

The "Mint Chocolate" was packed with flavor, and each bar is also packed with quality ingredients.  Each bar contains chia and flax seeds that have a long list of health benefits including providing a source of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids.

 However, one of the things on my long list of ingredients to avoid is palm kernel oil and other palm oils.  You can click HERE to read some examples why, but that is a whole other soapbox for another day.  Back to the point...  

The average calories for these bars is 290 ("Mint Chocolate is 280 calories), 17-14g of sugar from sources such as organic tapioca syrup, organic dried cane syrup and organic agave syrup.  That's a lot of sugar!  At least the sources are organic, however I'd love for them to be certified organic.  (The PROBAR Fuel is certified organic, and you better believe I'll be buying a pack of those!  So, stay tuned for that review...)

Overall, the bar is very delicious.  I tasted the "Mint Chocolate" and found that it was true to it's name.  There is more mint to it than chocolate.  The bar is chewy, without being tough like many protein bars out there.  The texture is more of a crisp type of "chewy", like eating a chocolate covered rice cake or something like that.  I loved it, but I have my eye on the "Peanut Butter Chocolate" in the future.  Is there a better marriage than P.B. and chocolate?  I don't think so....  

Have you tried a PROBAR CORE bar or other PROBAR products?  Tell me what you thought of them.  If you have a favorite "recovery snack" post race/long run or workout, I'd love to hear about it. I'm always looking for new product recommendations I can learn about and share with others.

Now for the exciting part!  Enter HERE if you'd like to try and win a PROBAR CORE Bar.
Can't wait to try them yourself?  Well, my lucky readers get a 40% off discount your first order.  Visit PROBAR and type in the code you see in the rain puddle below at checkout.