FJ's Verdict:

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Product Name: GO LEAN Chewy Protein & Fiber Bar
Company: Kashi
MSRP: $18.49 (For box of 12)
Availability: Medium ( Some Stores & Online)
Flavor: Peanut Butter & Chocolate, Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

A while back I wrote an article about protein & energy bars, and in it I gave you some guidelines to make sure you select bars that are actually worth a damn. Today were going to test out Kashi’s Go Lean Chewy bars. Their “GO LEAN” brand of bars come in chewy, crunchy and roll types… all of which are going to be reviewed in the future, but for today, we’ll focus on the chewy ones.

I got to test out the following two flavors: oatmeal raisin cookie and peanut butter + chocolate. Before we get knee-deep into the review, let’s check out the claims…

What Kashi Has To Say:

“Our original GOLEAN Chewy bars are naturally sweetened, soft chewy snack bars made with Seven Whole Grains and Sesame and covered in chocolate. GOLEAN Chewy bars are high in protein and fiber to help you stay satisfied.

Everyone’s favorite combination of real creamy roasted peanut butter and rich chocolate is simply divine.

The bars are made with seven whole grains to give you a steady stream of energy. High in protein that is essential to muscle development and made with 6g of fiber to help keep you satisfied.”

First Impressions:

The first thing I noticed was the size… at 78g these bars are no walk in the park. Some of you can even curl these babies! Their hefty size could easily replace half a meal or an entire snack since they pack 290 calories. I also like the fact that they have a good 6g of fiber in each bar. So far so good…

Unfortunately, once you take a peek at the nutrition label, this is where things start to become worrying. With 280mg of sodium, 4.5g of saturated fat and a whopping 31g of sugar… It instantly falls into the category of a “candy bar”. And no… The measly 13g of protein isn’t enough to even consider this as a “healthy snack”.

GoLean_Bar_Label

Think about it, in ONE bar you pretty much get the same amount of sugar as in a can of pop. Comon Kashi, haven’t you ever heard of Stevia? It could be a life-saver here. Another thing I wanted to point out is that the majority of the protein is from soy, not whey. Lame.

On the flipside, there are a few good things to note, specially Kashi’s proprietary flour mix. It contains: oats, long grain brown rice, rye, hard red winter wheat, triticale, buckwheat, barley & sesame seeds. Good shit, I like that. For those who are all hoo-haa about grains and how people should avoid them because of gluten… Please save me the speech. Cutting down on grains or eating properly fermented grains is a good idea, cutting out grains completely isn’t. The low-glycemic response is invaluable for providing a constant stream of lasting energy without a huge sugar spike. Unfortunately for these Go Lean bars though… The sugar spike can’t be avoided. *shrugs*

Taste & Real World Results:

First up is the peanut butter bar – I’m a big fan of peanut butter and for the sake of the review I was willing to look past the ridiculous amount of sugar and bite into this bad boy. The look was decent… But the chocolate coating had this “cheap” smell to it, kind of like the smell from one of those dry pieces chocolate you used to get in your bag during Halloween. You can instantly tell they tried to save cost or chose a shitty source for chocolate. No good.

GoLean_PeanutButter

The chew is pretty satisfying… It’s not too hard, and not too soft. Also, it (thankfully) didn’t get stuck to my teeth – so if you have a date to hit up, you can rest assured that you won’t have to toothpick yourself to death. The only problem I found was that it’s VERY dry. To be fair, you all should know by now that these bars are nutrient dense and therefore should be taken with a full glass of water (Kashi states this on the label). BUT… It would be nice to have something that is edible in case you are waterless at some point. Perfection is a beautiful thing. Too bad its so damn rare.

Next was the oatmeal raisin bar – Now I love oatmeal so again, I was looking forward to this one. Overall the taste was good, (better than the peanut butter chocolate) and the smell was enticing. I couldn’t help but notice the yogurt coating on this bar… This is un-fucking-necessary! Not only could this have saved Kashi some cash, it would have saved everyone from the high sugar count.

Golean_Oatmeal_Raisin

The oatmeal bar was slightly more “moist” than the peanut butter one, but I still HIGHLY recommended that you do drink a full glass of water along with it. The after taste was also better but it hangs around in your mouth for WAYY to long. Kind of like those losers that keep talking to you even after you’ve given them every hint that they’re not wanted. Yeah… So you can bet it gets annoying fast.

Golean_Oatmealraisin

I know I’m harping on the sugar thing, but here’s the REALLY disappointing bit. The sweetness is so fucking overwhelming… I couldn’t finish these bars in one sitting. I mean they are filling, which I don’t mind but oh man, the sweetness is TOO MUCH.

This is a very common problem with companies, I can understand when you try to mask the taste of fiber, but such an over-kill is complete jabrony! Guess I should’ve seen this coming. Oh and not to mention that this high-sugar nonsense makes you thirsty beyond belief. Parents, feed this stuff to your kids if they don’t hydrate properly… Just realize that it will make them fat.

Conclusion:

Here’s the really funny bit: All Kashi has to do is drop the sugar amount below 10g, replace the atrocious soy protein with 20g+ of quality whey and bring the saturated fat down to 1g. If Kashi does this, they will have a SERIOUS bar on their hands. Like 4-star worthy serious. No joke. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case and as such… I can’t give it more than a 1, especially since it’s marketed as a “GO LEAN” bar. Trust me, if anyone keeps eating these, they’ll “GO FAT”.

Here’s a better alternative to the Go Lean Chewy bars: A chicken breast and a can of Coke. If you are planning on ingesting 30+g of sugar ANYWAYS, at least this will be a more pleasant experience.

Now this isn’t the end, there are 2 other types of GO LEAN bars left… The “roll” and the “crunchy” ones. Stay tuned to see how they turn out. In the mean time let’s see how Kashi responds. Hopefully they don’t cry about it and fix the problems because this thing does have potential… Really.

Question - What do you think Kashi should do to turn this product around? Post your thoughts below… Show me you’re alive!

To Being Fit & Sexy 4 Life

-FitJerk

Flawless Fitness Book

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