REVIEW – I love to eat, but in the past, I didn’t make the best choices for what I put in my body. I paid for it by becoming diabetic. Luckily, I’ve been able to control it with diet and no drugs. To help with this, I’ve stopped eating pop tarts and candy bars for breakfast and now eat a LOT of protein bars. I like protein bars because they require no prep and contain… protein. But, they can also contain a lot of sugar which I obviously don’t need, so I seek out better options, and the latest bars that I’ve had the opportunity to try are from IQBAR.
What is it?
IQBAR sells vegan plant-based protein bars that are Keto-friendly and are available in 7 different flavors.
I was sent a sampler pack with all 7 flavors that include Peanut Butter Chip, Chocolate Sea Salt, Wild Blueberry, Almond Butter Chip, Matcha Chai, Lemon Blueberry, and Banana Nut.
Ingredients
Each bar is gluten free, non GMO, soy free, dairy free, has no sugar alcohols, and is kosher. They also include some extra nutrients for your brain 😉 See above. Each bar also has 12g of protein, 3g net carbs, and fiber.
And here is a list of ingredients for the Chocolate Sea Salt bar. The other bars have slightly different ingredients.
Chocolate Sea Salt Ingredients: Almonds, Soluble Tapioca Fiber, Allulose, Pea Protein, Protein Crisps (Pea Protein, Tapioca Starch), Chocolate Chips (Chocolate, Allulose, Cocoa Butter, Stevia Extract), Water, Cocoa Powder, Natural Flavors, Flaxseeds, Gum Acacia, Cocoa Extract, Coconut Oil, Sea Salt, Sunflower Lecithin, Stevia Extract, Lion’s Mane Extract, Vitamin E
But how do they taste?
I enjoyed all of the flavors except for Lemon Blueberry, and Banana Nut because I just don’t care for those flavors. The bars are chewy with crunchy bits distributed throughout. I like that they aren’t overly sweet but full of flavor.
What I like
- They don’t contain artificial sweeteners like Sucralose and Aspartame
- They use plant protein instead of soy or whey
What I’d change
- Nothing
Final thoughts
I gobbled down all the bars within a few days and as I mentioned above, there were only 2 flavors that weren’t to my taste. These bars have clean ingredients if you’re trying to stay away from soy, whey, and artificial sweeteners like sucralose. They also are low in carbs which is something I look at due to my diabetes. They work great as a snack or as a meal replacement. I eat them for breakfast. Some may consider them to be a little pricey as they end up being about $2 a bar. But you can save a little (10%) if you subscribe either on the IQBAR website or Amazon.
Price: $14.99 (7 bar sampler), $24.99 (12 bars), cheaper if you subscribe
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by IQBAR.
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How do they combar to the Mezcla bars?
John, they are about the same when it comes to calories and protein, but the IQBARs have fewer carbs per bar which is important if you’re on the KETO diet.
Julie,
I think it’s important to call out that these bars used to be made with erithrytol, a sugar alcohol that many reviewers criticized as it causes digestive upset for many people.
The new formulations do not use any sugar alcohols for sweetening.
I also noticed they no longer use rice flour, which has probably lowered the glycemic index from previous formulations.
Cynthia, Interesting. I didn’t know the history of the ingredients. I reviewed them as they are currently formulated.
I was unable to find a calorie count anywhere including the IQ website. Can you let us know how many calories the bars are?
Alan, I realized that I forgot that info and just added it to my review. The bars are 150-160 calories.
These bars appear to have 9g net carbs (Total Carbs – Dietary Fiber) since there are no sugar alcohols to subtract. How did you reach the figure of 3g net carbs? Also, and this is just me being pedantic as the father of a type-1 (T1) diabetic teen, you didn’t get diabetes from poor food choices. Perhaps, because of poor dietary choices, you developed type-2 diabetes. The exact cause of type-1 diabetes (or juvenile diabetes) is unknown but it is not the result of poor nutrition. Thanks.
Hi Josh,
Yes, I’m a type 2 diabetic. I didn’t say I was type 1. And yes, I do know the difference 🙂 As for net carbs, here is their explanation for how they arrived at 3g.
Thanks for the reply. I didn’t notice the allulose in the ingredients. Now that you’re watching carbs, be careful with allulose. Too much (usually over 50g/day) can sometimes cause… gastric distress 😉 .
Sorry if I came across as snippy about the diabetes. It wasn’t directed at you, more at your readers. You’d be surprised how many people say to my teen, “You have diabetes? How much sugar did you eat?!?”
Keep up the good work! Love your site.
Josh, I completely understand 🙂 I don’t have to worry eating more allulose because I don’t have any more IQBars 😉 Ha!
Josh,
I fully understand why you made the comment you did and for the reasons you did.
I have developed type 2 for exactly the same reasons Julie did, but am also a trained first responder and recognizing type 1 issues is part of our training.
The number of people who simply do not understand the different profiles, effects and causes of these are amazing, and likewise the number of people who don’t understand the treatment is staggering…….and gotta say, the synthetic glucose for emergency hypo is horrible stuff !!
Love the bars but not a fan of Allulose , I would rather have a small amount of good old sugar. Allulose def causes diarrhea and is worse for me due to having gastric bypass. I’m also a type 2 diabetic.
Sorry to hear that you have problem with Allulose. I’m lucky that I don’t have that problem and I found that my local Walmart carries these bars so I enjoy them frequently.