Snacking Saturday: The Simply Bar

20th October 2012
Now, I’m no athlete (or even remotely sporty) but I do find protein filled snack bars have an importance place in my diet; long day travelling or a crazy shift at work? These make a powerful dent in my appetite and provide energy and nutrition to last me until I can get a proper meal. When Simply Bar got in touch to announce that their bars had finally made it to UK shores and offered me a sample I was keen to try them out, swung by the short ingredients list and fabulous sounding flavours.

Here’s what they have to say:

“Our product is like no other snack bar on the market. The Simply Bar­­ is a high protein, low sugar, low fat, low glycemic bar with only a handful of natural ingredients. Founder Cathy Richards created the Simply Bars after experiencing difficulties finding snacks that didn’t upset her stomach. She has Crohn’s Disease.

Each bar contains 16 g protein, paired with 2-4g of fat, under 3 g of sugar, 4 g of fiber, and 160 calories or less. Each bar is based on Non GMO soy crisps along organic brown rice syrup. All the cocoa bars are made with organic cocoa mass (we promise this is easy to digest). Check out how The Simply Bar compares to other bars on the market. http://www.thesimplybar.co.uk/compare.html

Loved by many, The Simple Bar makes a great snack for athletes (pre and post workout), vegans, health conscience individuals and those suffering from Celiac, Crohn’s and  IBS.  In addition to it being a great snack, The Simply Bar is gluten free, low GI, dairy free, Kosher and easy-to-digest”

As you can see from the photo at the top of the post the packaging is neat, clean and simple clearly stating what the bar promises and what it delivers. I was sent three of the four flavours available and my thoughts are as follows:

Lemon Coconut: I expected to hate this bar to be honest. I’m not a fan of lemon flavoured anything but in the spirt of fairness I gave this a go whilst travelling up to London on Tuesday knowing I’d need something to hold me over until we could grab a late dinner. The verdict? I loved it! Sometimes I surprise myself, honestly. The lemon flavour was delicate and didn’t overshadow the sweet distinct flavour of the coconut. The bar didn’t leave my mouth dry like some protein bars have done and I would go as far as to say this was my favourite of the bunch. 5/5

Chocolate Peanut Butter: Anyone who knows me by now would expect me to have loved this bar. I didn’t dislike it but it wasn’t my favourite. The peanut butter flavour wasn’t very strong and there was a slight drying edge to the bar. I may have just had one that had been stored too long (these arrived a couple of weeks ago) so I wouldn’t rule it out in the future. It was perfectly edible and still enjoyable, I think I had allowed the flavours to set my expectations too high. This bar saw me through a horrible afternoon at work keeping my blood sugar steady and my energy flowing. 3/5

Cinnamon Pecan: One word, YUM! This could almost replace the Lemon Coconut as my top bar, I love cinnamon, and combined with the pecans this was wonderfully autumnal and really enjoyable. I don’t really know what else I can add to that except try it! 4/5

Most importantly for me, these bars lived up to their promise of being suitable for those with IBS as often new to me foods can trigger that off. Vegans, Coeliacs and low GI folk can enjoy these too which has to be a good thing. At no more than 160 calories per bar these are great if you are on a weight loss diet, or if like me your on a weight gain plan then they make a good addition to another snack (bananas are a good pairing, as is popcorn and biscuits; I’ve tried all three combos!).

You can buy the bars online and I’ve heard on the grapevine that they are looking to launch in to UK retailers soon.

These aren’t cheap, a sample box of 8 bars will cost almost £15 but that’s comparable to other protein bars on the market and the list of ingredients I can pronounce plus the fact you probably wouldn’t eat these every day makes it worth it to me!

Have you tried the Simply Bar yet? Got any other protein packed snacks to share?

xxx

Posted in food, snacking

Permalink 5 Comments

5 comments for “Snacking Saturday: The Simply Bar”

  1. Minnie Seibt

    Hey dear thanks for your comment on my blog! Feel Free to join my GIVEAWAY this week. It ends soon you can win 2 stunning Olive+Pipe bracelets! 🙂

  2. Pony Chops

    Eeeek they’re vegan, this makes me so happy! I’ve gotta try the lemon coconut one!!

  3. baileycakes

    I really need to get more protein in to my diet and these sounds really yummy, but the price tag definitely puts me off a bit!
    Apparently mars milkshakes are full of protein, my boyfriends mate is a gym instructor and he swears by them!
    xoxo

  4. Hazel

    These would be an excellent breakfast for me. I can’t face food until at least an hour after waking. The price would be the only thing to put me off, I’d certainly try them if I could buy them individually.

  5. ♥ Sadie ♥

    These sound great, will have to try them x