Monday, June 24, 2013

REVIEW: Met-Rx Protein Plus Protein Bar Creamy Cookie Crisp

My quest to find the world's yummiest, healthiest protein bar has led me to my local CVS, where I decided to pick up a Protein Plus Creamy Cookie Crisp Protein Bar from Met-Rx. One bar cost me $2.77.
A fairly large protein bar, Met-Rx's Creamy Cookie Crisp clocks in at 3.17 oz, or 90g. This is almost twice as large as most protein bars I have encountered thus far. This big size leads the bar to be a bit higher in calories (320 altogether), but also higher in protein (30 whopping grams of the good stuff!) This nearly ties with Protein Bar's ProteinPlus' record-breaking protein-to-calorie ratio. (ProteinPlus Bars have 1 gram of protein for every 10.5 calories; Met-Rx's Creamy Cookie Crisp has 1 gram for every 10.67 calories.)
This protein bar has 11g of fat, 8g of saturated fat, 0g of trans fat, <5mg of cholesterol, 310mg of sodium, 400mg of potassium, 36g of carbohydrates, 4g of dietary fiber, 7g of sugar, 20g of sugar alcohol, 30g of protein (as I've stated before), 30% of your Vitamin A, 30% of  your Vitamin C, 40% of your Calcium, 45% of your Iron, 40% of your Vitamin E, 35% of your Riboflavin, 35% of your Niacin... Let's just say this protein bar comes with fair amounts of several essential vitamins, alright? Otherwise, I'd be typing all day...



So, I guess for best results, I'm supposed to drink "8 fl. ounces of water with this bar..." Best results for what? ...Most likely muscle-regrowth, but they could be a bit more specific here. There is also a warning on this label: "This product contains sugar alcohols, which may cause gastrointestinal discomfort. Excessive consumption may have a laxative effect." What would be considered "excessive" here? The whole bar? Should I only eat half to be safe? ...Nah, they wouldn't make a bar this big if they knew it wouldn't be good for ya'... righttttt...?
Oh, I remember this one time whem I bought a bag of sugar-free jelly beans... Had the same exact warning about gastrointestinal discomfort. I didn't listen. Ate the whole bag. Ohhhhh man... That was the worst. My stomach felt so bound up... It was hell. Same thing happened when I accidentally used too much sugar-free pancake syrup. All you can do is hold your stomach in your hands and wait for it to be over. It's terrible. So I hope the same thing doesn't happen here.


Sniff sniff... This bar has a sophisticated, dark-chocolatey aroma. It's very big too. The first bite of this Creamy Cookie Crisp bar is very soft. There are two layers on the inside of this bar: The top, smaller layer is a pale-yellow color. This part of the bar is very chewy, like cookie dough. It's also quite creamy (Guess this is where the "Creamy" in this bar's name comes from). However, the top layer is very mild and provides no significant flavoring to the bar.
The bottom, bigger layer of the bar is a dark, chocolate-brown. A good crunch to this part. Compared to the top, this crispy layer is sweet and has a decent chocolatey taste. There are tiny, shiny chocolate chip pieces speckled throughout the bottom part of the protein bar. I prefer the crunchy, chocolate area of this bar more than the chewy, cookie dough part.
This Met-Rx bar is also encased by a chocolate shell. This shell is thin and mild, but still tasty enough, I suppose. But it's still very mild. In fact, I'd say this whole bar is rather mild altogether. Not very impressive. The whole taste is pretty vague... It's not like I'm proclaiming, "Oh! This tastes just like cookies!" inside my head or anything. The flavor is just too subtle to pin down and name. Thankfully, this bar doesn't suffer from "bitter-itis," an affliction that plagues so many protein bars, especially the ones that are actually good for you.


So, I don't know if I'm exactly "wowed" by this Met-Rx bar... It's got great nutritional stats, sure- I mean, just look at that great deal of protein- but if I was getting it just for the flavor factor? I'd pass. Too boring. Too vague. Too subtle. Too mild. Am I getting through to anyone? I'll be honest; don't buy this bar unless all you're looking to do is improve your muscles. It's NOT a tasty protein bar, and it's NOT worth the high price. Skip it, unless you're a serious body-builder. Or protein fanatic. I'm not going to purchase this one again.

Nutrition: 9/10
Taste: 4/10
Price: 3/10
Originality: 3/10
RiRi Rates Met-Rx's Protein Plus Protein Bar Creamy Cookie Crisp as: 4.5/10

Till' next time, this has been RiRi Ri-Porting!

2 comments:

  1. Have you tried Life Choice protein bars? Saw them on sale at Walmart so picked up the chocolate mint. It is the first protein bar I actually ENJOY eating. Or, I have had so many bad ones lately and haven't had a real candy bar in so long, I've tricked myself into enjoying it at least.

    I see online they are $3.68 for a box of 5 -- I'm not sure if I paid this or less.

    Choc mint 190 cal/20g protein/18g carb... think I am going to go pick up the peanut butter extreme (210/21/14) tonight. I know people are looking for different "stats" in a protein bar, but I just really focus on protein > carbs so pretty happy with this find.

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    1. No, I haven't had the chance to try those ones out yet! I'll be sure to stop and check for them next time I find myself at Walmart... or anywhere else that sells protein bars, for that matter! You never know where they'll turn up. I'd really like to try them. Not a fan of Chocolate Mint, but I'd gladly taste any others.

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