Monday, October 24, 2011

PR* Bar: Great Taste, Nutrition, and Performance!

Several months ago I received some new nutrition bars to sample called PR* Bar. I’ve been sent a lot of bars to sample and most do what they propose they do, but the trick is making one that actually tastes good.  There have been a few that fall into that “tastes good too” category, but not many. PR* Bar is one of the few that has made the RunnerDude cut for both tasting good and delivering what it promises.

Companies are all about slogans and flashy phrases and PR*Bar has one that says “Think of PR*Bar as Fuel for your Dream.” Sounds a bit lofty and I first, I thought, “Hmm…that’s a big statement.” Basically PR*Bar is pulling in the idea of a PR “Personal Record” being something that’s specific to you, your goals, your progress and your results. 

I kind of like the idea that a company wants to help me with my personal fitness goals, not promise that I’m going to look like the fake fitness model hired to say “look what this product did for me” and then in fine print you read the model never even use the product.

So, I decided to give it a try. I also noticed that PR*Bar is the official performance nutrition bar of the U.S. Olympic Team. Must be pretty good if our top athletes are using it.

PR*Bar promises that it’s “fastburn formula” eliminates hunger, increases mental focus, and optimizes performance by controlling blood sugars and using body fat for fuel.  PR nutrition was the first company to offer 15g or protein in a 200 calorie bar. It’s also gluten-free, all natural, and kosher. It’s also free of sugar alcohols and it’s trans fat free.

All that healthy and free of “this and that” usually spells “Tastes Nasty” but PR*Bar actually tastes great. It’s a far cry of the cardboard chew available when I first started running over 25 years ago. The bars come in 9 flavors—Apple Pie, Chocolate Mint, Double Chocolate, Chocolate Peanut, Iced Brownie, Yogurt Berry, Granola Oatmeal Raisin, Granola Peanut Butter Berry, and Granola Peanut Butter. My favorite is the Chocolate Mint. I’m not much of a fruit-flavored bar kind of guy, but the Apple Pie and Granola Oatmeal Raisin is pretty dang awesome too.

The PR*Bar Fastburn Nutrition Program is personalized for you based on your lean body mass, individual requirements, and training.  Anyone interested in losing body fat, enhancing athletic performance, building lean muscle, a great tasting bar, or improving his or her nutrition will benefit from the use of the PR*Bars and the Fastburn Nutrition Program.

Here’s the science behind the bar:
The PR*Bars are designed to enhance your body’s natural ability to burn body fat while maintaining or increasing lean body mass. A diet high in carbs (like many athletes have) can store as much as 40% as fat. Diets low in protein can leave you weak and without the nutrients you need to help rebuild lean body mass. Low-fat, low-protein diets can cause you to feel tired and crave sweets.

A diet high in carbs and low in protein and fats increases your blood sugar levels. This causes your body to release insulin. If you have elevated insulin levels it can prevent you from burning stored body fat. You’ll just be burning the sugar from carbs for your energy. If you can stabilize your blood sugar and control the insulin levels, then your body will release glucagon which helps your body’s ability to use stored sugars as well as access body fats that can be burned for energy.

The company also provides a Fastburn Nutrition Program that if used in conjunction with the PR*Bar, the company says will help you achieve impressive results. You select the plan based on your height and activity level. The best part is it’s FREE! I can’t speak on to the nutrition program, but I did use the bars and really like them. 

To use the bars, simply have one with some water a couple of hours before your run or workout. I also discovered that they make a great mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack. It provides the energy needed to pick you up and get through the day without mindless snacking. If you have time, unwrap a bar and microwave it for about 25 seconds. Makes it taste even more awesome.

So, if you’re looking for a nutrition bar that tastes good and really does provide a great source of energy and will help improve your performance, give PR*Bar a try. It has the RunnerDude seal of approval and oh yeah, the U.S. Olympic Team likes them too. 

Note: While PR* Bar did provide samples of their product for me to test, I did not receive any payment for this review and was not encouraged to write a positive review. The post is a reflection of my personal use with the product.

4 comments:

Kenley said...

What a heck of a review man. Thanks for sharing, and I will def have to try this out. Thanks again. And you are right about all of the flashy stuff. Instead of all of that, their website deals more with what athletes are looking for "Valid Information Content", not dreamy pictures of what you can look like on a particular program. have a good one!

RunnerDude said...

Thanks, Kenley! The bars really are good and effective. Let me know if you try them out and what you think about them.

Kenley said...

Will do Man.

suzy d said...

going to give them a try--thanks for the review--i live overseas so there's not a lot to try here--hopefully they'll taste good as am convinced from your review they're trying to be a "good' bar--thanks again!