Everyone loves the healthy-looking wrappers around protein bars.

All those different styles and colors and textures appealing to every demographic. All branded for every market sector. Lots of italic typefaces. Lots of health promises.

Protein bars are everywhere. Supermarkets, gas stations, convenience stores, vending machines. They’re great for a quick snack on the run.

Technically, protein bars are more satiating than fats and carbohydrates. Protein also supports our immune system, hair, nails and bones as well as muscle growth and repair.

But as always, more isn’t better. Eat too much protein too often and we risk accelerated aging and some severe metabolic health issues.

Almost all American adults already meet or exceed the recommended daily dietary protein intake of about forty-six grams for women and sixty-four grams for men. We can easily meet our needs from whole foods, even if vegan.

Highly-processed protein bars contain industrial ingredients like sorbitol, maltitol, xylitol, polydextrose which all act like carbohydrates when ingested. But aren’t technically carbohydrates. Which is how food marketers can get away with saying ‘low-carb’ on the wrapper.

But these additives can upset stomachs and metabolism. Plus they taste horrible. This is why so many protein bars are loaded with sugar and artificial sweeteners.

Kind’s Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate bar has nine grams of sugar in a forty-gram bar. That’s almost a quarter of the bar. That’s around a tablespoon of sugar. That’s a massive glucose and insulin spike.

The less sugar and fewer ingredients, the better. They’re harder to find, usually in small batches made by people who actually care about health. They’re healthier than chocolate bars.

Can’t find any healthier protein bars? For a quick protein snack, reach for a couple of eggs, slice of cheese, some nuts or yogurt.

That’s the healthiest choice of all.