Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

These health bars are probably healthy enough when eaten in moderation, but like most snack bars they taste TOO good and you're liable to eat too many. That's why unless you have rock-solid food discipline, I would suggest snacking on a natural snack like fruit or cheese.

As someone who over the last few years has lost a bit of weight and is trying to keep it off AND eat healthier, I'm always on the look-out for things that satisfy my sweet tooth but are nutritious as well as being tasty. For me, this bar fits the bill. I liked the combination of sweet from the dried rasberries and lightly tangy from the lemon frosting on the one side of the bar. This bar is nice and soft, so not like a granola bar-if you prefer crunchy, this bar would not be for you. I love the fact that the bar has no high fructose corn syrup and helps me meet my calcium requirement (the bar supplies 20% of your calcium, which is especially important for women). The bar also has 5 grams of fiber and 14 grams of protein. I would definitely grab this as a healthier snack option or a light breakfast on the go. Did I mention it was created by a nutrition doctor? All the better!

I would definitely buy this product again and would be interested in trying other bars that are available.

Everyone in my family of four gives these protein bars a thumbs-up!

After eating junky snack bars for years, it was a bit of a shock to bite into one of Dr. Melina's protein bars. It tasted... Healthy. Which is to say, not all sweet and sugary. The lemon taste is strong. I would've preferred a bit more raspberry.

I like that the bar is not crunchy. I've had some that break apart upon the first bite and you end up picking crumbs off your clothes. My 9-year-old son said, "They're chewy, but not too chewy."

Best of all, they sit well in our stomachs and take away mid-morning hunger pangs. I could easily eat one of these for breakfast or lunch and feel good about the healthy ingredients. Better this than an Egg McMuffin.

As protein bars go, these are the best I've ever had. We'll definitely be keeping them around the house.

When I first started eating these bars, I really, really liked them. I felt like I was eating a candy bar and had no problem eating them in the morning between breakfast and lunch as a healthy snack to keep me going. After about a week, however, I felt like I couldn't even finish one bar. They started to taste way too sweet for me. Not sweet like candy sweet, but that fake sweet that makes you realize you are eating something imitation. It is hard to describe, but I started feeling a bit nauseous about eating these bars and had to take a break and eat other things for about a month. I found that I am okay with eating these bars if I rotate them in with a selection of other snacks and kind of limit myself to about 1 a week.

So, would I continue ordering these bars? Probably yes. I like the lemon flavor, as it is one of my favorite tastes (lemon cake - yum!), and it is difficult to find bars like this that don't come in a a faux chocolate flavor. I also liked that I felt full for about 3 - 4 hours after I ate the bar and did not think about snacking on anything else after I ate it. I work for a packaging company and am in charge of a potato chip company so I always have samples and rejects in my office. Anything that keeps me from munching my way through a few bags a day is a good thing in my book!

In our house, this item got mixed reviews, from awful to pretty good. Some said it was too lemony--and this from someone who really likes lemon. The health nut in the family pronounced it better than some and seemed pleased with the nutritional value. The general consensus was that this bar was tolerable but no one would go out of their way to buy it.

With 14g protein in each bar, these little guys make great on-the-go snacks. But beware, they also have 10g sugar and 5g fat (2g saturated). For me, they're a once-in-awhile, only while working kind of treat. They're very tasty, if a little dry. Hey, just another excuse to drink that water, right?

Although I normally hate raspberry-flavored foods, these were really tasty. They were healthy and did not contain any questionable ingredients (high fructose, gelatin). My whole family enjoyed these. Thank you Dr. Melina!