I had seen Mezcla Protein Bars on sale at Fresh Market — in the app. When I went to buy them, though, there were none to be found. Until finally, probably a month later — not on sale — there they were.
I tried two flavors and I love them! I knew you could get a mixed flavor box, but of course the bars are pricey, so I didn’t want to spend $$ before I knew I liked them.
What I like about Mezcla Protein Bars
There’s a lot to like!
- Soy, dairy, and gluten free (although made in a plant that might use milk/soy)
- Plant protein (pea crisps/protein, quinoa, amaranth)
- 170 calories, only 7 gm sugar, 10 gm protein, 20 gm carbohydrates
- At 170 calories they’re a true snack (perfect for post run IMHO), not a meal
- 2% of the profits go to fund art projects in underserved schools (browse through the amazing artwork here!)
- The flavors: Mexican Hot Chocolate, Peruvian Cocoa Peanut Butter, Japanese Matcha Vanilla
What about the taste?
Initially I tried the Mexican Hot Chocolate and Japanese Matcha Vanilla bars (all I could find) and loved both! The Chocolate bars have a chocolate coating on the bottom, while the Matcha bars have a vanilla coating on the bottom — so they’re not a snack to bring along on a hot day.
I did worry about the coating melting when I got my variety box from Amazon, but they are well packaged and even in summer they arrived in great shape. I did finally try the Cacao Peanut Butter bar — oddly, that wasn’t my favorite. Still good I preferred the other two flaovrs.
Final Thoughts
The ingredients are pretty natural. Sure, 7 gm of sugar is still almost 2 teaspoons of sugar, but it’s far less than many protein bars. These bars won’t weigh you down but they should help stave off the rungries as a post run snack. Best of all is the taste!
The only downside to Mezcla Bars is the price. Although I always say to Mr. Judy — what is your health worth?
You can buy Mezcla bars from their Website here or on Amazon here (Amazon Affiliate link, mixed variety box). I bought these bars on my own, and the opinions in this post are my own, too.
Do you use protein bars as post run snacks sometimes?
What’s your favorite one?
What’s your favorite healthy one, LOL!?
Linking up with Zenaida Arroyo and Kim @ Kookyrunner
This week I am also joining up with the new Runners’ Roundup linkup.
Chocolaterunsjudy 
Thanks for this review, Judy! I always love it when runners try out new things and post about them.
I know I would devour these protein bars, they look yummy.
However, that is also why I tend to stay away from yummy protein bars… if I had them around the house, I would keep on snacking on them (zero self-control). So we usually stick to nuts and yoghurt… a bit boring, sigh.
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Luckily I’m mostly good with self control! I actually 💕plain greek yogurt with honey & granola & eat that often. I really do like to get in that protein within 30 minutes, though, so not always doable.
I like to make my own bars but lately I haven’t had time & there have been so many days of travel where I truly didn’t have time to cook or reheat & bars save me!
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That’s true. Good point, Judy!
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Thanks for the review.
I looked at the price. Ouch.
Fig bars and bananas are my staple. Also raisins and nuts. My hubby devours yogurt.
What Catrina said. I don’t want them to be too yummy.
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I don’t have problems (mostly) only eating them occasionally, luckily. I need an emergency stash though!
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Interesting!!’ I’ve not heard of these. I’ll have to see if I can find them. We usually have the ones at Costco which aren’t bad but not great.
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We don’t have Costco here. Although even when we were members elsewhere we just didn’t use it. There’s just the 2 of us!
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We only use it for protein bars, meat, cases of water and paper products usually. There’s only three of us. The saving in gas prices helps too.
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I’ve kind of avoided protein bars because most taste like stale cardboard. These definitely sound a lot more enticing!
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There are a lot of good tasting bars out there. Sometimes I just need something easily portable but that one box will last me a long time. Most of the time I have yogurt or a smoothie but those aren’t always easy to bring with me, especially in the summer!
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I’m usually not a huge protein bar fan because of the taste and ingredients, but it sounds like this would be a good one for me to try. I love that it doesn’t have a bunch of ingredients of tons of sugar.
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It has a bit more sugar than I’d like, really, but it’s not too bad. Bob’s red mill makes a pretty good oat bar that’s low sugar, too. I recommend those, too & they’re cheaper.
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There are so many bars to try these days. I find most are too sweet for my tastes. I do love ones with a chocolate coating though — go figure!
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I do have a sweet tooth. 😊
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Thanks for the review.
I usually don’t eat protein bars but this looks very good.
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I would imagine protein bars aren’t as popular in Italy.
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It’s always good to have options. I don’t eat protein bars every day or anything like that but they definitely come in handy when I’m in a hurry and need something to sustain me for longer than something like a banana would. Thanks for the review!
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I don’t eat them every day either. They’re handy for travel, too! I took some — a different brand — on our vacation. It was unusually hot & humid for most of it. I also like Chomps (no sweetness!) with me — I ate several of them as snacks on various days when meals were far apart.
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Although you said that’s not the best photo, it’s done the trick for me – now I want to try some!! I’m gluten intolerant so always looking for anything GF to try out and this looks like it would work on a long run.
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I don’t know if you’ll be able to find it but LMK if you ever do! I liked the fact that it was seeds, not nuts.
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I had never heard of these. The Hot Chocolate one caught my attention and that would be one I would like to try. I would need to look for them at Whole Foods or maybe Trader Joe’s so as not to buy a whole box from Amazon.
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Unfortunately neither TJs or WF carries them. They are pricey, but I usually get them on sale.
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