In my quest to find the best protein bar on the market, today I’m breaking down the Love Good Fats Rich Chocolate Caramel bar.
But first things first…
According to their website:
Love Good Fats was born out of one woman’s pursuit to empower others to embrace a totally new way of eating.
Suzie Yorke, our founder, spent years cutting fat out of her diet only to find that she felt worse than before! After a little research, she learned that sugar and carbs might actually be the culprit. She immediately shifted to a high-fat, low-carb diet, and never felt better.
The only problem was the serious lack of satisfying snacks. She wondered, was it possible to create convenient foods that satisfied her taste buds and embraced this new way of eating?
You bet! Suzie got to work crafting her undeniably delicious, truffle-like bars with good fats, plenty of fiber, and only 1-2g of sugar. With that, Love Good Fats began.
So, high protein high fat low sugar bar. Got it.
But is it any good?
Well… only one way to find out.
Let’s put these ingredients into an easy to read list.
As might already know, the FDA requires food manufacturers to list their ingredients in order by weight.
So, the Love Good Fats bar is full of protein and sugar alcohol (glycerine)… and more sugar alcohol (maltitol)? It’s good that they have 20 grams of protein from rice and pea, but what’s with all the sugar alcohol?
Just look at the macros.
Protein: 20 grams (from collagen, casein, whey, and soy)
Carbs: 20 grams
Fiber: 2 grams
Sugar Alcohol: 15 grams (from glycerine and maltitol)
Net Carbs = 3 grams
Just replacing sugar with sugar alcohol isn’t the answer.
More importantly, I thought this was a Keto bar? Why else would you name your company “Love Good Fats”?
But this bar is high protein (20g) and high sugar alcohol (15g).
Not high fat.
This isn’t even keto. So what is this bar?
If only there were a better way to create protein bars that aren’t just candy bars in disguise. (Foreshadowing)
Anyway, let’s break down the rest of the ingredients:
Glycerine: Glycerin helps preserve moisture, prevents sugar crystallization, and adds bulk, smoothness, softness, sweetness, and texture to foods. But it’s a sugar alcohol which means too much of it can give you gut problems.
Maltitol: Maltitol is a sugar alcohol that companies use to sweeten their products without using sugar. It has fewer calories and a lower GI than sugar but just like sugar, it doesn’t have any nutritional value. Basically junk.
But maltitol has another problem: diarrhea.
According to this 2019 paper: “the excessive consumption of polyols causes gastrointestinal symptoms and laxative effects in healthy patients.”
Polydextrose: Polydextrose is basically a carbohydrate. Manufacturers use it as a bulking agent, stabilizer, thickener, and humectant. But most importantly, it can be used to replace sugar, starch, or fat while reducing calories in the food (because you can’t digest it).
Palm Fat: Palm oil is the cheapest oil you can buy and almost all of it is unsustainable. So, even though Love Good Fats says their palm oil is RSPO certified (i.e. sustainably sourced), you should still think again.
According to Ethical Consumer, RSPO certifications don’t mean much because of poor auditing, low standards, and lack of penalties.
Love Good Fats claims to be a keto bar that’s low in sugar. In reality, it’s a high protein, high sugar alcohol bar (glycerine and maltitol). Even the fat comes from palm oil. Plus, they don’t provide any nutrition except protein: no micronutrients.
So, I can’t recommend it.
But if you’re looking for a real protein bar without sugar alcohols and sourced from 100% real food ingredients, see below. 👇
Unearth the cleanest protein bars you can buy right now. (Some might even have superfoods)
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