Buying guide for Best Quest bars
Health and wellness foods make up a nearly $800 billion global market. Protein products like Quest bars are competing in this hotly contested market that includes many different brands offering their versions of convenient, on-the-go nutrition. Quest bars stand out on grocery store shelves, and not just because of their colorful packaging. There’s a reason they’ve built a dedicated following since their introduction in 2010.
For those on a keto-type diet, Quest bars are a familiar staple for a low-carb, high-protein snack or meal replacement. But they’re also a good option for anyone looking for supplemental protein.
With so many competing protein bars available, a good buying guide and curated recommendations can help you find the right Quest protein bar for your health and nutrition goals.
How to buy the best Quest bars
Why protein bars are popular
Protein bars are a convenient, tasty way to meet your daily protein needs. But protein by itself in powdered or liquid form tastes…blah. So protein bar makers add ingredients like peanut butter to bulk up the bar and chocolate, fruit, and sugars for sweetness to hide the bland flavor and sometimes gritty texture of the protein.
Protein bars vs. energy bars
Protein bars provide a significant percentage of the recommended daily allowance of protein. This amount varies between brands and products, even in Quest bars. Some of its bars have 8 grams of protein, while others offer 21 grams.
Energy bars by definition provide extra energy, usually in the form of quick-to-digest sugars. These days, energy bars offer a more metabolism-friendly blend of ingredients so that you get simple and complex carbohydrates in each bite. That’s perfect for endurance athletes who need energy immediately and along the way.
Protein and energy bars have long been confused with each other in the fitness-foods market. It’s easy to understand because protein supplements alone don’t taste very good. The earliest form of protein bar, a protein “fudge” sold by weightlifter Bob Hoffman in the early 1950s, added honey and peanut butter to make the product more palatable. Protein bars in the 1980s were loaded with far more sugar than protein.
Manufacturers (and fitness trainers) have decided to focus on balance. Today, most bars, including Quest bars, blend carbohydrates and protein to provide a tasty but energizing product.
Protein in Quest bars
The protein content of Quest bars varies depending on each bar’s size and type.
- Quest Protein Bars: 20 to 21 grams
- Quest Hero Bars: 15 to 18 grams (These bars are softer and sweeter.)
- Quest Minis: 8 grams (These bars are half the size of others.)
- Quest Snack Bars: 10 grams (These bars were developed with flavor in mind.)
Build muscle
Protein bars can help you build muscle if they’re used as part of an eating and training program that focuses on muscle building. Having more muscle can help you lose weight because muscles burn more calories than fat, even in a resting state. Protein bars by themselves don’t aid weight loss.
A supplement, not a diet
A protein bar is a supplement to a healthy diet, not a replacement for one. One a day is fine for most people. Protein bars add calories to your daily diet. The ingredients, such as whey and added fiber, can cause digestive upset, especially if you eat more than one at a time.
If you’re participating in a specific training program with a professional trainer and/or nutritionist, your prescribed diet might include more than one protein bar per day, or it may recommend that you avoid them entirely, depending on the goals of the program, the number of calories you’re burning per day, and what kind of training you’re focusing on.
Schedule
When you eat your Quest bar varies based on opinion and training practices. Some trainers recommend protein bars before a workout so that muscles are (hopefully) getting some of that metabolized protein as quickly as possible. Others recommend eating a protein bar after a workout because muscles at rest may absorb protein more effectively. And some recommend a protein bar as a snack during the day.
Net carbs matter
Quest prints the net carbs in its bars prominently on the label. It’s helpful when you’re calculating carbohydrate intake: Net carbs are the total grams of useful carbohydrates in the protein bar. They’re calculated by subtracting the amount of fiber and sugar alcohols (which aren’t used by the body) from the total amount of carbohydrates. For example, a Quest bar may have 21 grams of carbohydrate, but 14 grams are dietary fiber and 3 grams are erythritol (a sugar alcohol). Only 4 grams of carbohydrates will be utilized by your body when you eat that particular bar, and those are the net carbs.
Pillsbury developed protein cubes for NASA’s Mercury and Apollo programs. They introduced a commercial version called Space Food Sticks in the late 1960s.
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Quest protein bar features
Full amino acid profile
Quest bars contain all of the essential amino acids needed by the body, also known as a “complete” protein. These include: tryptophan, threonine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine+cystine, phenylalanine+tyrosine valine, and histidine. Keep in mind that a single Quest bar may not have the full recommended daily amount of these essential amino acids (or what you need for your specific body type).
Low glycemic index
Quest bars use ingredients and sweeteners that take longer to metabolize, preventing blood sugar from elevating and crashing.
Wide variety of flavors
Don’t like chocolate? Quest bars are available in many different flavors, including peanut butter, cinnamon, vanilla, and strawberry cheesecake, so that you never get bored with just one flavor and aren’t stuck with chocolate-coated protein bars.
Ingredients
Fiber: Some brands of protein bars add fiber from sources that aren’t exactly good for you, like cellulose derived from wood fiber. Quest protein bars that have added fiber use FDA-approved soluble corn fiber, which can safely pass through the digestive tract.
Metabolism friendly: More than just non-sugar sweeteners are at work in Quest protein bars. The ingredients are blended so that they’re optimal for most people to digest and metabolize.
Did You Know?
Quest has expanded from protein-rich bars to protein cookies and chips and is test marketing a thin-crust pizza.
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Note these features if you have certain dietary sensitivities
Every protein bar on the market has its pros and cons, and Quest bars are no exception. It’s important to know some of the features that might not fit into your personal eating regimen or might require some adjustment in your eating plan.
Dairy-based protein
Some people are sensitive to dairy products. Others, such as vegans, avoid dairy for personal reasons. Quest protein bars derive their complete protein from whey, a by-product of the cheese-making process, and from milk protein isolate. While some dairy-sensitive users have few to no problems consuming whey, others might experience digestive discomfort.
Calories
Quest bars tend to be calorie dense, and rightfully so because they’re consumed for energy as well as extra protein. If you’re counting daily calories, Quest bars must be included in the count. Quest does offer a mini version of its most popular flavors. At 80 calories, one is perfect for that mid-afternoon snack.
Fat content
Quest bars were developed by an athlete to fit into a keto-type diet, so they do have quite a bit of fat (palm oil). If you’re on a low-fat or macro regimen, be aware of this and make certain the Quest bar you want won’t unbalance your daily macros.
Flavor and texture
Quest bars have a very chewy and slightly gritty texture due to their high fiber content and other ingredients used to hold them together. These elements can be a real turnoff for some people. While the flavor of Quest bars is naturally derived, the sweeteners and protein isolates can create a mild aftertaste that some people don’t like.
Processed ingredients
Quest bars, like most protein bars, include ingredients that are highly processed. For most people, this doesn’t present a problem, but for those who suffer digestive upset from highly processed foods, and for people who want to focus on whole-food nutrition using only fresh ingredients with minimal processing, a Quest bar is not the number one choice.
In the 1950s and 1960s, weightlifters and bodybuilders could buy soy protein-packed cookies, fudge, and candies. These were often loaded with sugar and advertised for weight gain, not loss.
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How much do Quest bars cost?
Inexpensive
You can find individual Quest bars in grocery stores and retail fitness shops for between $3 and $5.
Mid-range
Four-packs of Quest bars are a good way to decide if you want to stick with just one flavor and only cost between $6 and $10.
Expensive
A case of 14 Quest protein bars costs between $19 and $27, depending on popularity and availability.
Tips
- Store Quest bars at room temperature. Storing them in the refrigerator will make them too hard to chew comfortably. They are shelf stable.
- Microwave your Quest bar. Putting an unwrapped Quest bar in the microwave for a few seconds will soften it and make the texture less gritty.
- Store the bars away from sunlight and direct heat. Too much heat will soften and deform a Quest bar. Sunlight can cause excess heat and cause any chocolate coating to bloom (harmless but unsightly).
- Check out Quest hacks online. Quest bars respond so uniquely to heat that people have been creating new dishes with them, like Quest s’mores!
- Choose your favorite. There are 28 different flavors available, so there’s a Quest bar for every palate.
FAQ
Q. What’s the most popular Quest bar?
A. The jury is out on that one because everyone has their own flavor preference. Based on recent taste tests by several food bloggers, a few versions land consistently in the top five, including Cookies & Cream, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Cinnamon Roll, Blueberry Muffin, and Birthday Cake.
Q. Will Quest protein bars improve fitness?
A. Consider a protein bar as a tool in your bigger fitness toolbox. It can be helpful in building muscle to improve strength and overall fitness, but it’s just one of the tools you need to really tune up your body.
Q. Can a Quest bar replace a meal?
A. Yes. A Quest protein bar has at least 20 grams of protein and a complete amino acid profile. Like any protein bar, however, it shouldn’t be the only thing you eat all day. And it’s a good idea to eat at least one full, balanced, and nutritious meal with fresh veggies and a whole-food protein like meat, chicken, or legumes each day.
Q. Are Quest bars good to take on hiking trips?
A. Quest’s lower-protein bars, such as the Snack Bars or Hero Bars, are a good source of energy balanced with protein (between 10 and 18 grams). On hiking trips or other all-day outdoor excursions, this kind of balance can help you maintain your energy and not feel too hungry. Quest’s higher-protein bars that have 20 grams or more of protein are good for staving off hunger pangs when you’ve got a few more miles to go before setting up camp.
Q. Can Quest bars cause digestive problems?
A. The sugar alcohols in Quest bars, and in most low-sugar protein bars, can cause cramping and bloating, especially if you eat more than one at the same time or close to each other. People with dairy sensitivities might have similar symptoms because Quest bars use whey isolates and milk protein isolates as their protein source.
