Dr. Melina Protein Bar, Lemon Raspberry, 1.58-Ounce Bars (Pack of 15)
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List Price: Our Price: $27.00 You Save: $2.85 (10%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Health Care See more product details |
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Product Reviews of Dr. Melina Protein Bar, Lemon Raspberry, 1.58-Ounce Bars (Pack of 15)
Product Review: Nice & Fruity!
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I have tried many so called "health" bars which are usually all centered around some kind of cereal, and then have vitamins, minerals etc. A lot taste like compressed wood shavings, or stale oatmeal covered in chocolate, but in fairness many are also very tasty. This bar (labelled as a protein bar) is light, fruity and naturally sweet tasting. Be aware if you are controlling calories that each bar is 180 calories (many other bars are considerably less) but it is also a good size snack, unlike many which seem to be gone in two bites. As for the health benefits, well if the packaging is to be believed this bar is certainly better than eating candy, and can help those who especially need a protein boost, if they are not getting it elsewhere in there diet. For me, I enjoyed it as a nice, fruity snack that was moist but not too chewy, refreshingly new in taste (no choc chips, brownie, or peanut butter for a change)and an easy snack between meals, or on the go. My kids love them too!Product Review: Not Bad, Not Great
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
As an avid weightlifter and biker, I'm always looking for healthy ways to get more protein into my diet, so I have tried a wide variety of protein bars. What I like in a bar is decent flavor, not too hard to chew, quality ingredients, and of course good fat/sat fat/carbs/fiber/protein numbers.
So how does this bar stack up against the competition?
Well, for this particular flavor, you better really like lemon, because it is certainly very lemony, so it is not really a great flavor to me, but better than many.
The texture and ease of chewability were very good, some bars are just impossible and my jaw actually hurts after I'm done with them, plus they stick in my teeth afterwards, this bar is more like a granola bar texture, so it is above average in that category.
Some of the ingredients leave something to be desired. They are not organic, or at least don't say that they are unlike Clif and some other bars. It also contains Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil, and I'm not an expert, but from what I understand any time you do that to oils it makes them much less healthy for you but gives the product a longer shelf-life, so good for the product, bad for us.
Last, but certainly not least, how does it stack up in the nutritional numbers. The Calorie to Protein ratio is pretty good, you get 1 gram of protein for every 12.86 calories, so 4 of those calories are from the protein and 8.86 are from fat and carbs. If you compare that to other bars, Clif Peanut Butter - 20.83/gram, Kashi GoLean - 18.75/gram, MET-RX Big 100 Super Cookie Crunch - 12.81/gram, it's doing pretty good.
How about the all important F word, fat. No Trans Fat, but really there aren't many bars left that do have that, but still a good thing. And the Saturated Fat is slightly lower than most bars I have looked at. The total fat is also in line with the competition, so really nothing to differentiate it in this category.
In fact when looking at Fiber, I come to the same conclusion, 5 grams is good, but most other bars also have around that amount.
Sodium is only 3%, which is much lower than the 10-20% many of the others have, so if lowering sodium is one of your goals, this bar excels in that category.
Also with only 7% of your carbs it comes out near the lowest on that front. However, it does use Sugar Alcohol to help meet this end, which has been linked with excess gas and/or laxative type symptoms in some people especially when consumed in large quantities.
And then we have vitamins and minerals, this bar is pretty sparse in this category, it does have 20% of the daily amount of calcium combined with 30% D to help absorption, plus just a hint of Iron 6%, but that's it. No A, C, E, B-6, B12...well you get the idea. So since science still has not, and may never, completely understand the total impact of vitamins and minerals on the human body, I tend to lean towards foods and bars that have a nice balance of many different vitamins and minerals, just in-case one of them is needed for a certain tissue or cell to recover properly from a workout, or even to prevent diseases.
So, in a nutshell, this bar does have some nice advantages in certain categories, but comes up a little short in others, so don't just buy 10 cases and think you are going to be the image of heath by just eating them. Like so many other things in life, moderation and variety will serve you better than putting all of your faith in one thing. Go ahead and add them to your list of reasonably healthy and quick options if you like the taste, but make sure to balance them with "real food" nuts, berries, greens, lean meats, beans, etc. if you want to reach your next level of health.
Product Review: Not bad, but not perfect either
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I've never written a review of a food product before so I'm not sure what exactly I should be including. But I'll give it a try.
I've been trying to lose weight for about 6 months or so now and the hardest part for me is eating healthy and not junky foods. I don't do well on a diet since I'm not much of an advance food planner. I'm more of a "what do I have in the freezer I can cook quickly when I get home from work" kind of person. So I thought trying protein bars may help curb the cravings for sweets. (My weakness!)
I've tried several different kinds in the past, even before it became important for me to lose weight, and often times they have a bitter aftertaste or leave a chalky-feeling residue in your mouth. These Dr. Melina's Protein Bars in Lemon Raspberry flavor aren't perfect, but they are loads better than many other kinds I've tried. There is no aftertaste or bad feeling you can't seem to wash away. They are a little dry and you'll likely want to have some water on hand to drink afterwards as a result. The taste is a strong pleasant flavor, though I'd like if I could taste the raspberry a little more. The lemon overpowers the berry flavor.
One thing I was hoping for was that these bars, being high in protein, would help keep me from feeling hungry in between meals. Unfortunately that didn't really work out. I tried eating them as a breakfast or lunch replacement bar and was hungry again in a couple hours. I found they worked better for me when I was having a craving for something sweet, not when I was eating them as a snack to fend off hunger until my next meal, or as a meal itself. As a fill in for a candy bar they worked quite well and I may have to try one of the chocolate flavors which would work even better to fend off the cravings.
© Kelley A. Hartsell, January 2008. All rights reserved.
Product Review: Not bad...what other flavor do you have?
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I figured I would divide up the review for this product in different criteria, i.e. content, taste.
Content:
The bar has decent calorie to protein to fat ratio. The carbohydrate content is decent enough but I'd prefer one a bit lower although that might happen at the expense of sacrificing the taste. I'll give this a 4 for content.
Taste:
You better love lemon. There is raspberry but the taste of lemon overwhelms it. A little on the sweet side but other wise not bad. I'd be interested in getting this in another flavor though. I'll give a 3.5 for taste.
Price:
Important factor. At $23 for a box of 15 bars, you are approximately paying $1.53 for each bar which is a great price in my book. I tried the Ironman and Muscletech Meso-Tech bars which costs over $3 at my local GNC. A solid 4 for price.
So, overall this product deserves a 4.
Product Review: Not the worst protein bar out there, but not the best either
Summary: 2 Stars
Well, as far as nutrition goes, these protein bars are pretty middle of the road. Some of the other reviewers took care of laying out the nutritional details quite well. They are also handy for in your purse or office desk. These positive attributes, however, are completely out-weighed by the disgusting taste. I took two bites out of one of these bars and threw the rest of the bar away. It has way too much of a fake sweet taste, and to go along with the fake sweet taste, it has a fake lemon taste. It is almost like old, stale, lemon candy or some strange stale cereal. Its hard to describe. The raspberry taste isn't too bad, but it would be better paired with vanilla instead of the awful lemon. Unfortunately, I bought an entire box of these things. Most likely I will throw the rest away. My advice, buy a single bar and try it for yourself before making the committment to a 15 ct box.