Anabars are popular protein bars that took the market by storm with it’s launch in March 2021.
These protein bars are made with peanut butter and are marketed as the best-tasting protein bars.
These protein bars come in various flavors, including Frosted Strawberry Cake and Milk Chocolate Monster Cookie.
And while Anabars do taste super delicious, are they healthy?
Short answer: Anabars are not healthy because they are high in sugar, low in fiber and contain highly processed ingredients and artificial flavors and colors. Also, they are not vegan-friendly.
Read on to find out more about Anabars, including their ingredients, sugar, protein, fiber, sodium content and more.
So let’s start.
Read also: Are Ready Clean Bars Healthy? Everything You Need To Know
What are Anabars made up of?
Anabars come in various flavors. Therefore, the exact ingredients can vary depending on the flavor.
In general, Anabars are made from peanut butter as the base ingredient.
The peanut butter is made up of Peanuts, sugar, and 2% or less of fully hydrogenated vegetable oils like cottonseed, soybean, and rapeseed and dextrose, salt, molasses, and monoglycerides.
Other common ingredients that you’ll find across various flavors include:
- Honey
- Whey protein isolate
- Brown rice syrup
- Soy lecithin (an emulsifier)
- Natural flavors
- White chocolate (sugar, vegetable oil – palm kernel oil, hydrogenated palm kernel and cottonseed oils, nonfat dry milk, milk, glyceryl-lacto esters of fatty acids, salt, and artificial flavor)
- Whey crisps (whey protein concentrate, rice flour and/or corn starch)
- Corn starch
- Salt
- Artificial flavor
- Artificial colors
Anabars have a very long list of ingredients.
It seems like the company has used every ingredient present on the planet to make these bars taste delicious.
However, many of the ingredients in Anabars are not healthy.
Anabars contain many highly processed and unhealthy ingredients such as hydrogenated oils, maltodextrin, dextrose, glucose syrup, corn syrup, enriched flour and soy lecithin.
Some flavors are also artificially flavored and packed with artificial colors.
If you have allergies or food sensitivities, you must be extra cautious while reading the ingredients label.
Furthermore, it’s also worth noting that Anabars contain bioengineered food ingredients.
How much sugar is in Anabars?
Anabars are high in sugar-containing 16 to 22g per bar, depending on the flavor.
White chocolate cookies & creme are the flavor with the least sugar(16g), while Milk chocolate campfire s’mores are the flavor with the most sugar(22g).
Most of the sugar in Anabars is added sugar, coming from many sources such as sugar, inverted sugar, glucose, corn syrup, molasses, dextrose and honey.
According to American Heart Association, the daily sugar limit for men is 36g, while for women is 24g.
A single bar of Anabars provides 44 to 61% of the daily sugar limit for men and 66 to 91% for women.
That’s really a big amount of daily sugar.
Here is the table showing the sugar content of all Anabars flavors.
| Anabar flavor | Added sugar(g) | Total sugar(g) |
|---|---|---|
| Frosted strawberry cupcake | 19 | 21 |
| Milk chocolate monster cookie crunch | 16 | 18 |
| White chocolate cookies & creme | 15 | 16 |
| Milk chocolate campfire s’mores | 21 | 22 |
| White chocolate fruity cereal crunch | 15 | 19 |
| White chocolate cinnamon swirl crunch | 15 | 17 |
Are Anabars high in protein?
Anabars are high in protein, with each bar(65g) packing a powerful punch of 20g.
The protein in Anabars comes from a combination of sources, including peanuts, whey protein isolate, whey protein concentrate, and milk.
If compared, Anabars have more protein than Kind bars, Outright bars and Power Crunch whey protein bars.
Moreover, these protein bars can be a great addition to your post-workout snacks.
Here is the table comparing the Anabars protein content to the most popular protein bars.
| Protein bar brand | Protein(g) |
|---|---|
| Anabars | 20 |
| Kind | 12 |
| One | 20 |
| Pure | 19-21 |
| Outright Peanut butter bars | 14-17 |
| Power crunch | 13-20 |
| Quest | 18-21 |
| No cow (original) | 20-22 |
How much fiber is in Anabars?
Anabars are extremely low in fiber containing 1 to 2g per bar(65g), depending on the flavor.
Most flavors have just 1g of fiber per bar. Due to this, they might not be satiating for some people.
Fiber is an essential part of the diet as it helps you feel satisfied, promotes digestive health, and controls blood sugar levels.
Unfortunately, Anabars doesn’t contain even 5% of the daily recommended fiber for adults.
Are Anabars good for diabetics? Anabars are not good for diabetics as they are high in sugar and low in fiber, which increases the risk of blood sugar spikes.
Here is the table showing the fiber content of all Anabars flavors.
| Anabar flavor | Fiber(g) |
|---|---|
| Frosted strawberry cupcake | 1 |
| Milk chocolate monster cookie crunch | 1 |
| White chocolate cookies & creme | 2 |
| Milk chocolate campfire s’mores | 1 |
| White chocolate fruity cereal crunch | 1 |
| White chocolate cinnamon swirl crunch | 1 |
How much sodium is in Anabars?
Anabars are low in sodium containing 105 to 150mg per bar(65g), depending on the flavor.
That’s about 7 to 10% of the daily ideal sodium limit(1500mg) set by the American Heart Association.
Sodium is an essential part of the diet, but too much of it can result in heart-related issues.
However, with Anabars, you don’t have to worry about excess sodium consumption.
This is especially good for those limiting their sodium intake.
Here is the table showing the sodium content of all Anabars flavors.
| Anabar flavor | Sodium(mg) |
|---|---|
| Frosted strawberry cupcake | 105 |
| Milk chocolate monster cookie crunch | 115 |
| White chocolate cookies & creme | 150 |
| Milk chocolate campfire s’mores | 125 |
| White chocolate fruity cereal crunch | 140 |
| White chocolate cinnamon swirl crunch | 125 |
Does Anabars contain artificial colors?
Most of the Anabars flavors are packed with artificial colors such as Titanium dioxide, Red lake 40, Blue 1, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 3 and Blue 2.
These artificial colors make the Anabars look visually appealing. However, the consumption of these colors has been linked to potential health concerns.
For example, colors like Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 are contaminated with carcinogens like benzidine and p-Cresidine.
On the other hand, colors like Blue 1 and Blue 2 have been found to cause hypersensitivity reactions(especially in children)[1].
Furthermore, these artificial colors have also been linked to allergic reactions such as hives, rashes, swelling, and skin reactions in some people[2].
Although artificial colors are present in food products in safe amounts, consuming them in excess can result in unwanted health issues in the long run.
The flavors free from artificial colors are White chocolate cookies & creme and White chocolate cinnamon swirl crunch.
Are Anabars good for weight loss?
Anabars may be a tempting treat for your taste buds, but they are not the best choice for weight loss.
They are packed with processed ingredients and have a high sugar and calorie content while being low in fiber. This combination makes them not good for those trying to lose weight.
A single bar of Anabars contains anywhere from 270 to 290 calories. While this might not seem too high, it’s important to consider that weight loss relies on creating a calorie deficit.
If compared to other popular bars, Anabars have more calories. Most protein bars in the market usually come with around 200 calories.
Although eating Anabars once in a while won’t significantly impact your weight goals, they are not a good choice as a regular snack.
Remember that weight loss does not depend only on one food but on overall diet and lifestyle.
Are Anabars gluten-free?
Anabars comes in both gluten-free and non-gluten-free flavors.
The non-gluten-free flavors include:
- Milk chocolate monster cookie crunch
- White chocolate cookies & creme
- Milk chocolate campfire s’mores
- White chocolate cinnamon swirl crunch
These flavors contain wheat flour as a gluten-based ingredient.
On the other hand, the gluten-free flavors include:
- Frosted strawberry cupcake
- White chocolate fruity cereal crunch
It’s important to note that Anabars are manufactured in a facility that processes wheat. This means there might be trace amounts of gluten due to cross-contamination in gluten-free flavors.
Are Anabars vegan?
Anabars are not vegan as they contain several milk-based ingredients such as nonfat dry milk, milk solids and whey protein.
They also contain honey, which is not considered vegan by most people and is a topic of debate within the vegan community.
But that’s not all.
If you’re a vegetarian, these bars may not be suitable for you, as these are manufactured in a facility that processes eggs.
Final words
Anabars may be one of the best-tasting high protein bars in the market, but they are not healthy.
There are many reasons for this, such as:
- They are high in sugar and calories,
- They are low in fiber.
- They contain highly processed ingredients such as hydrogenated oils.
- They contain artificial flavors and colors.
- They are not vegan friendly
- Most flavors are not gluten-free.
Still, you can consume Anabars occasionally because of their high protein and low sodium.
But these bars are not worthy of becoming your regular protein bars.
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