Nutrition Review: Perfect Bar

No, really it is.  That’s not just its name.  After stumbling onto this organic, natural protein bar, I don’t think I will ever go back to any of the others I have tried in the past.

Thing is, I am one of those folks who really needs protein, both before, during and after my workouts, especially the long ones. I found this out the hard way.  I kept feeling like total crap after my workouts and especially after my races.  It kind of came to a head at the Chucktown Showdown two years ago.  It was hotter than bullets in that special Southern humidity kind of way.  I thought I was super-hydrated, and all evidence indicated that was true, if you know what I mean. I had a great race and even made it to the podium in my class. But afterward, I felt awful. I felt like I was super dehydrated, even though I had been consistently drinking water and Scratch Labs drink mix.  Perplexed, I mentioned it to my doctor a week or so later.  She grilled me about what I had eaten that day, then shook her head.  “You didn’t have nearly enough protein on board!”  She encouraged me to ramp up my protein intake before and after races and during if they were more than a hour long.

I haven’t been sick like that since.

Looking for the Best Bar

So, I am always looking for a better protein bar to have on hand for a quick ingestion when I need it.

After this year’s Paddle Imua on Maui, I was rummaging around in the cool Bluesmiths swag bag. I saw some sort of bar in the bottom, and and I didn’t think much about it. It wasn’t in a wrapper I was familiar with.  But during the long, long, long, interminable flight home, I was hungry and so I decided to try it.

It was a peanut butter flavored Perfect Bar. But it tasted like homemade fudge. Sort of. Peanut butter forward, not Vitamin taste forward. It was creamy, for the most part, but with some chunky pieces of nuts. Now, this particular bar was, well, kind of flat because it had been rolling around in my carry-on, but it was filling.  I was impressed. I saved the wrapper.

As soon as I got home, I checked out Perfect Bar’s website and learned they are made in San Diego, by the Keith family. Dr. Bud Keith was, as the site says “a health food guy before anyone said ‘health food’.” The bars, which come in several awesome flavors, are non-GMO and are made with organic honey and 20 whole “super foods”and are both Kosher and Gluten free. That’s why there’s no plastic, vitamin taste!  And, you won’t find them next to the Clif Bars in the grocery store, nope. They are in the fridge! That tells you something.

But made in San Diego?

My heart sank. No way I can find them out here in North Carolina. But the website has a handy retail locator and I was thrilled to learn Whole Foods carries them!!!  And in recent foray into Costco, I discovered I can buy them there as well! SCORE!!

I stocked up and was happy to learn that when they aren’t living at the bottom of a carry on, they are quite thick- beefy even.  Every since, I’ve been having one with my coffee and juice in the morning for breakfast. Usually the carob chip flavor. At 310 calories and 16 grams of protein, I am good to go until lunch. Seriously.  I keep one on hand to have right after my workouts.  I have since discovered the 200 calorie “light” version – Cranberry Crunch.  Also very tasty.

Perfect Bars come in several other flavors, including almond butter, almond coconut, almond Acai, and fruit and nut.  And, they make mini versions of the peanut and almond butter flavors which have 100 calories and five grams of protein per bar.  Haven’t seen those here yet, but I’d love to get my hands on some because they would be PERFECT (see what I did there?) for the Chattajack 31 race.

Now every time time I go to WholeFoods, I stock up – I buy them by the eight-bar package. Sometime two packages at a time.  Hoping to send a message to the good folks at WholeFoods so they won’t stop carrying them.

If you are looking for a protein bar that tastes like it was made in your own kitchen, and not in a vitamin factory, then you owe it to yourself to check out Perfect Bar!