iSatori Eat Smart Bar VS leading brands

[schizm76]

Process: Had a co-worker (out of my view) open each of the bars and put into its own baggie...and then label each baggie & corresponding wrapper with A, B, C, D. Then gave them back to me (wrappers kept in a brown bag)

Day 1: multi bar sampling – initial thoughts

Bar A: semi-sweet/bitter side; choc taste ok, kinda tastes like a generic choc bar (like those you get at Christmas/Easter time instead of Hershey/Nestle)

Bar B: Tight nugget ‘base’, light choc coating; def. better tasting than bar a. good taste caramel/peanut taste.

Bar C: composed of what looks like coco krispies. ‘lighter’ bar than a or b. no bad aftertaste, good.

Bar D: tight nougat, stronger choc flavor coated in peanuts, like a peanut cluster, def messier & crumbier to eat of the 4, disadvantage.

Rank based on taste sample (1-4; 1 being fav to least fav)
1. B
2. C
3. D
4. A

Days 2-5 Eating one bar a day – Results

Bar D: Breaks apart while eating it; kind of have to bite down then shift the bar side to side to get a bite (which prolly leaves some choc sticking to my front teeth for people to stare while talking to me, not cool!! ) not all that filling; left me wanting to eat more.

Bar B: Solid/compacted – good sized bar. Doesn’t crumble when eating them. Awesome peanut/caramel flavor. Filling enough to sastify hunger, good after taste.

Bar A: substantially smaller bar than the others. Reminds me of a Star Crunch mixed with a 100 grand bar. Dryer than the other bars; easy to get bite taken. Covered In quite a bit of chocolate though so it really feels/tastes like I’m eating a candy bar, which isn’t all the much of a positive. Not filing, satisfied? Eh, I could still go for something else.

Bar C: ah, the puffed up coco krispies tastier cousin. Just enough choc coating as to not over power the overall taste, very nice. Great taste and surprisingly didn’t crumble or fall apart while eating it.

Rank based on eating a full serving:
1. C
2. B
3. D
4. A

Was very tough to choose between C&B...each had their own advantage, B being a bigger and heavier bar, left me feeling satisfied borderline full....whereas C was much lighter, still well sized, satisfied not overly full....both were resistant to falling apart and both didn’t have to work to hard to get bite...ultimately, I chose C, b/c. what’s the purpose of a bar? A between the meal snack, not a meal replacement....so that gave bar C the slight advantage, plus I used to LOVE coco Krispies as a kid and is a nice kick back to all the bowls I downed as a kid.

Bars Revealed:
A = Supreme Caramel Nut Choc
B= Detour Caramel Peanut
C= iSatori Eat smart Choc Peanut caramel crunch
D= Oh Yeah Choc/Caramel

Profile Ranking:
What I look for in a Protein bar...obviously protein...I like to see at least 25-30g of ‘quality’ protein per bar... with a form of whey as the main protein listed....I prefer lower carb bars just b/c I generally like to keep carb levels lower in between meals...and as the day goes by....fat content, as long as the carb content is in the 15-25g level, I’m ok with a bar having up to 12-15g of fat...I def hate seeing HFCS listed in the ingredients, although not a deal breaker, b/c I have to be economical first...

iSatori Eat smart- Choc Peanut Carm. Crunch
Cals: 330
Fat: 12g
(sat fat – 5g)
Carb: 33g
(fiber 5g; sugar alcohol 6g)
Pro: 27g
Highlights: Whey pro matrix [ (whey protein crisp (rice flour, whey Pro Isolate, whey Pro con., Calcium carbonate), whey pro hydrolysate], Soy crisps...A Vitamin/mineral blend....NO HFCS.

Thoughts: carbs higher than I would normally want in a protein bar, but after reducing the fiber & sugar alcohol it then becomes 22grams, def something I could live with. Protein matrix, not sure about the rice flour being top of the list (meaning greater quantity), but Whey Isolate is always nice to see as the top protein source...the added Vit/mineral blend is an added bonus.

Oh Yeah- Choc & caramel
Cals 380
Fat: 19
(sat 7g)
Carb: 31g
(fiber 4g/sugar alcohol 15g)
Pro: 26g
Highlights: Peanuts #1 ingredient (?) then a protein blend (Whey pro Isolate, Soy protein isolate, milk protein Isolate, milk protein concentrate, calcium caseinate)...flavors, sweeteners....flavors, preservatives, NO HFCS.

Thoughts: fat grams much, much higher than I’d like to see & I have a jar of peanuts in my pantry, if I wanted to be snacking on peanuts, I’d save the $ and just grabs handful of them....digestible carbs are just at 12g, that wins points for me...protein a good mix from a variety of sources, again Whey Isolate at the top, nice.

Detour- Choc Caramel
Cals 300
Fat: 8
(sat fat 4)
Carb: 26
(Fiber 2)
Pro: 30g
Highlights: Designer whey protein (‘the’ designer whey brand, nice!!) (Whey pro concentrate, Pduf Whey pro Isolate, Hydrolyzed Whey Protein), Soy protein Isolate...has ‘Glycerlean: 99.7% USP Glycerine, Taurine, Luecine, CLA]....DOES have HFCS.

Thoughts: seeing the designer whey brand def gives it points...but then their first protein is whey concentrate, would prefer Isolate, but it’s all good...also added in taurine, luecine & CLA...although probably not in any effective doseages, still ‘nice’ to see it in there....very disappointed in seeing the HFCS though....Ahhh, Detour....why...why!! Only has 2 grams fiber and sugar makes up the rest of the remaining 24 grams, not bad overall and actually makes it more of a ‘natural’ bar than using 0 cal sweeteners and/or sugar alcohols, but it has the highest carb content of the 4 bars.

Supreme Caramel Nut Choc
Cals: 390
Fat: 15
(sat fat 8)
Carbs: 36
(Fiber 1g, Sugar Alcohol: 27g!)
Protein: 30g
Highlights: Supreme pro blend (Whey pro isolate, Whey pro concentrate, milk protein isolate)....oils, flavors, sweeteners...flaxseed oil...no other ‘extras’ added.

Thoughts: pretty straight forward, am surprised about the amount of sugar alcohol though...seems like I recall reading that if you eat too much of those in one sitting you’ll wind up with the runs, but don’t recall the threshold...but taking that and the fiber out of the picture, leaves just 8 grams of carbs per bar, makes for a very attractive in between snack...and whey isolate takes the lead in the protein mix, nice.

Cost Analysis rank:
1. Oh Yea: box of 12 $22.99 or $1.92 EA
2. Detour: box of 12 $23.99 or $2.00 EA
3. iSatori: box of 9 $20.99 or $2.33 EA
4. Supreme: box of 12 $27.99 or $2.33 EA

Final Rank w/all factors considered:

1. iSatori
2. Detour
3. Supreme
4. Oh Yeah

Reasoning: The high fat content and #1 ingredient of peanuts in the Oh yeah plus the ‘crumbliness of eating it’ pretty much placed it last based on those factors alone.....Supreme, although I thought ranked slightly higher in the profile of the detour bar (Supreme has a pretty straight forward/basic bar, turn off is the higher sugar alcohol content, low fiber content), I liked Detour better overall in terms of enjoyment/convenience, plus the added ‘extra nutrients’ (CLA, Leucine & Taurine), Designer whey name, it has the drawback of using HFCS, but added benefit being more cost effective per bar...iSatori, although coming in with a tie as being the most expensive bar of the lot, I feel encompasses a great blend of nutrients, quality protein sources, good fiber content, more natural ingredients, tastes great, doesn’t make a mess when eating it. The slightly higher preferred carb content makes it almost an isocaloric bar, which although I typically look to eat lower carbs in between meals, the overall positives vastly outweighs this factor in the bigger picture.

Thank You iSatori/OMS for the fun opportunity in participating in this review!

[dalrsmith]

This is a really good review!!!!!! Love the content man.

[schizm76]

This is a really good review!!!!!! Love the content man.

thanks Dallas!....I really had to avoid reading your review until I was done with mine to avoid any sub conscious 'stealing' But you really did a suuuupurb job man!!

[dalrsmith]

thanks Dallas!....I really had to avoid reading your review until I was done with mine to avoid any sub conscious 'stealing' But you really did a suuuupurb job man!!

Thanks so much. Haha, yeah I wanted to write mine really quick so I wouldn't have any other reviewers's biasesness.