Dr. Melina Protein Bar, Lemon Raspberry, 1.58-Ounce Bars (Pack of 15)

by Dr. Melina

Product Features

• 180 Calories; 14 grams of protein; 5 grams of fiber
• No trans fat or high fructose corn syrup
• Main source of protein is high quality whey instead of soy
• Designed by Fit TV's Diet Doctor
• Deliciously satisfilling snack

Product Description

Satisfying; Delicious; Convenient. 14 g Protein. 5 g Fiber. 180 Calories. The new Dr. Melina protein bar provides just the right combination of protein and fiber for an afternoon snack or breakfast on the go. And you don't even have to be on a diet to enjoy it! Made in USA.

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• ASIN: B000V75Z66
• UPC: 899115001060
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,448 in Health & Personal Care (See Top 100 in Health & Personal Care)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad, Not Great, November 21, 2007

By 

Brian Koch "Aspiring Photographer" (MI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dr. Melina Protein Bar, Lemon Raspberry, 1.58-Ounce Bars (Pack of 15) (Health and Beauty)

(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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars an important piece of the puzzle..., November 21, 2007

By 

Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dr. Melina Protein Bar, Lemon Raspberry, 1.58-Ounce Bars (Pack of 15) (Health and Beauty)

(What's this?)

Dr. Melina's lemon raspberry flavored protein bar hits the spot when you're dieting and even when you're not! Each bar comes individually wrapped and the nutrition facts are neatly printed on the wrapping of the bar. The nutrition facts are also printed on the box containing the entire pack of 15 bars.

The bars taste great and they are indeed very satisfying. The protein bar is a little crunchy so you may want to have something to drink when eating these. The lemon raspberry flavor is not overwhelming and I like that.

The bars score high in fiber--there are five grams of fiber in each 1.58 ounce bar; and that's already 18% of the recommended daily intake of fiber. Each bar contains 30% of the daily recommended intake of vitamin D and 20% of the daily recommended intake of calcium. There are only five grams of total fat and there are no transfats. The bars are also low in sodium and cholesterol.

However, these bars are not perfect. They have 10 grams of sugar and each small bar has 10% of the recommended daily limit of saturated fat. Ouch! They contain milk and soybeans, too. Moreover, these bars are manufactured where, among other things, nuts are processed. If you are allergic to any type of nut I would avoid this product.

To sum it up, these lemon raspberry protein bars taste great and they will satisfy you--especially if you eat two at one time. (OK, so maybe I'm a pig!) There are two or three things to keep in mind regarding saturated fat and the possibility of some residue nut content on the bar that would be too small for anyone to see. I do, however, recommend these protein bars as a great alternative to junk food snacks including candy bars. Eat these protein bars as part of a healthy diet and I believe that you will be happy with this product overall.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but not perfect either, January 17, 2008

By 

Kelley Hartsell "Kelley" (Irving, TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dr. Melina Protein Bar, Lemon Raspberry, 1.58-Ounce Bars (Pack of 15) (Health and Beauty)

(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.