quest barsSo after seeing QuestBars all over the fitness world on Instagram I was really curious. “What is all this hype about? Are these bars healthy?” Were just a couple of my instinctual questions. And of course, “What do they taste like?”

I recently sampled a variety pack of flavors and one of their Peanut Butter Cup treats too.

I had a good handful of questions for the people over there at Quest to find out more about what really is inside of these protein packed, low carb bars that taste really really good.

Let me get clear that I am not promoting packaged food over the real deal. We have our own chickens for eggs here on our property, we grow some of our own food, and have an orchard of trees. Fresh and from the earth is always best. But lets get real. At least in my world, sometimes a packaged protein bar works!

My Q&A With Quest

Not sure if they have ever received quite so many questions. But they were incredibly nice and really were helpful in answering any questions I had for them.

Can you tell me if the whey is sourced from hormone free and anitbiotic free cow’s milk please?‪

We specify that our suppliers of whey protein isolate use cold process cross-flow micro-filtration technology in their purification of milk. This process minimizes the level of denaturation delivering the highest level of native isolated protein. Our suppliers believe they are getting hormone free milk, but this is very difficult to police domestically, since they get milk from many different dairy farmers. At the present time there is no scientific testing method to ensure that the milk is hormone free, so our manufacturers are not able to certify that claim.‬

What plant sources do you derive your Isomalto-Oligosaccharides from?

Our IMO is mostly derived from corn.

Is the corn GMO free?

Yes, they’re very GMO free 🙂

Are you almonds raw?

Our almonds are raw.

What makes up your “natural flavors”? I know there are no regulations on that one so it always raises my eyebrow on how truly natural the ingredients are there.

We contacted the company that creates our natural flavoring and they got back to us saying it’s a proprietary formula. Knowing that wouldn’t be a satisfying answer, we dug in deeper with our resident experts and the natural flavoring company.

We use a combination of the following:

  • Natural Vanilla flavoring
  • Organic Natural strawberry flavoring
  • Organic Natural chocolate flavoring
  • Organic Natural apple flavoring

As per the FDA regulations, these natural flavors are the oils or extracts from fruit and fruit juices. The proprietary part comes from how the juice is extracted (the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice) which each natural flavoring company does differently and guards closely (similar to how the Coca-Cola recipe is a secret I suppose). The FDA regulates this and we use trace amounts in each bar (roughly 3 calories per bar). When they say natural flavoring, that’s truly what it means – natural flavors extracted from fruits, etc.

Flavors In Quest Bar Sample Pack

Includes 1 of each Flavor:

  • Banana Nut Muffin
  • Peanut Butter&Jelly
  • Peanut Butter Supreme
  • Lemon Cream Pie
  • Mixed Berry Bliss
  • Coconut Cashew
  • Strawberry Cheesecake
  • Chocolate Brownie
  • Cinnamon Roll
  • Apple Pie
  • Vanilla Almond Crunch
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter

My Favorite QuestBar, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Just to give you an idea about the macros of Quest Bars. Here is some info on my favorite bar, the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough! Stick it in the toaster oven for a few minutes, or the microwave for 10-20 seconds, and you have a soft and gooey treat from chocolate chip heaven land. 🙂

Quest macros

  • 21 grams of protein
  • 3 g active carbs
  • 17 g of fiber!
  • 8 g fat
  • 190 calories

 

Quest Protein Bars and Quest Sugar Free Cravings

With all the info that I gathered from Quest, and the fact that I LOVED the taste, protein, carb and fiber content of these bars, I will be keeping a stock of these at my home. Especially the chocolate chip cookie dough!!! Oh, and the peanut butter cups were yummm too. My 6 year old daughter didn’t love them because the stevia sweetener that is used to make these treats sugar free yet sweet was new to her (she did enjoy the bars though!). However, I really liked the consistency and have no problem with stevia so to me it was a great craving quencher for sure.

Nutritional Info/ Macros On Quest Peanut Butter Cups

  • 20 Grams of High Quality Protein
  • Only 4 Grams of Active Carbs (all from Nuts – Not Sugar)
  • 240 Calories

QuestBars and Quest Cravings On Amazon

Find the variety pack of 12 for only $31.99 here.

And 12 Peanut Butter Cup Packs for only $32.92 here.

quest peanut butter cups

If you wanna eat local food grown on Kauai, with Kauai sunshine and Kauai rain, come join my yoga and fitness retreat here in Paradise on July 20th! We will play, challenge our bodies, and celebrate this amazing life with waterfalls, sandy beaches and local and fresh cuisine too. Find out more about this soul quenching event here.