Often, nutrition bars are candy bars dressed up to appear healthy. Many of these nutrition bars are packed tight with extra calories and contain tons of sugar, awful oils and nutrient-stripped flours. Because of this, I stay away from this aisle in the grocery store out of habit. Recently, after my run-in with Ratio Keto Bars, I realized that I should return to this aisle, because there are a few brands trying to make a difference; you can find them if you look hard enough. One of these companies is GoMacro.
Summary
The Company
I have a positive view of GoMacro as a company. GoMacro has a respectable mission of spreading awareness for the power of a balanced, plant-based lifestyle. They claim to make their snacks with their highest quality, certified ingredients. A part of this claim includes their dedication to their farmers, sustainable sourcing and making a positive impact on the planet. Their five principles are Live Long, Eat Positive, Give Back, Tread Lightly (positive impact on planet) and Be Well. Unlike most companies out to make money, GoMacro lives by these principles through their actions. They use 100% renewable energy and are 100% carbon neutral. GoMacro also gives back to their community. I encourage you to read more about their program on their website here.
The ingredients in their bars back up their claim to support a balanced, plant-based lifestyle. These bars are fully vegan; they don't have the common milk-based ingredients that most other bars on the market have. They are also free of some other common, problematic ingredients like soybean oil and enriched (nutrient-stripped) flours.
So what are the ingredients in GoMacro bars, and are GoMacro bars healthy? Also just as important, do they taste good? In short, the answer to both of these questions are yes. GoMacro bars are healthy and they taste great. They contain loads of organic and nutrient-dense ingredients.
If you are interested in an in-depth understanding of why these bars are healthy for you and what they taste like, read on. I did a taste test of four different flavors of GoMacro bars: Protein Pleasure, Everlasting Joy, Heartwarming Retreat and Protein Purity. After a summary each bar is a nutritional analysis of the ingredients. One might call such an analysis a Nutrient Check.
GoMacro Bars In-Depth Analysis
Protein Pleasure
Buy: GoMacro - Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
Ingredients: Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Organic Peanut Butter, Organic Protein Blend (Organic Sprouted Brown Rice Protein, Organic Pea Protein), Organic Fair-Trade Chocolate Chips (Organic Coconut Sugar, Organic Cocoa, Organic Cocoa Butter), Organic Puffed Brown Rice, Organic Peanuts.
Taste: Out of each GoMacro bar, the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip flavor was the most solid. The texture of this bar was perfectly dry while maintaining its chewiness. The chocolate was a nice sweet addition to the peanut butter flavor, as per any chocolate chip peanut butter bar.
Everlasting Joy
Buy: GoMacro - Coconut Almond Butter and Chocolate Chips
Ingredients: Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Organic Almond Butter, Organic Protein Blend (Organic Sprouted Brown Rice Protein, Organic Pea Protein), Organic Puffed Brown Rice, Organic Fair-Trade Chocolate Chips (Organic Coconut Sugar, Organic Cocoa, Organic Cocoa Butter), Organic Unsweetened Coconut, Organic Almonds.
Taste: Not as sticky as the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, but the Everlasting Joy was super soft, almost moist with flavor. I enjoyed the hint of coconut in this bar, otherwise it would have tasted a bit bland without the chocolate chips. As a peanut butter lover, I enjoyed the peanut butter taste more than the coconut and almond butter.
Heartwarming Retreat
Buy: GoMacro - Oatmeal Chocolate Chip
Ingredients: Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Organic Sunflower Seed Butter, Organic Protein Blend (Organic Sprouted Brown Rice Protein, Organic Pea Protein), Organic Gluten-Free Rolled Oats, Organic Fair-Trade Chocolate Chips (Organic Coconut Sugar, Organic Cocoa, Organic Cocoa Butter), Organic Crispy Brown Rice (Organic Brown Rice, Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Sea Salt), Organic Maple Syrup, Organic Natural Flavor, Organic Puffed Brown Rice, Sea Salt.
Taste: Very sticky coming out of the wrapper. Tasted like a classic oatmeal chocolate chip granola bar, though it was far easier to chew and soft. I want to emphasize that the soft texture of the bar felt as though I could have ate it without teeth.
Protein Purity
Buy: GoMacro - Sunflower Butter + Chocolate
Ingredients: Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Organic Sunflower Seed Butter, Organic Sprouted Brown Rice Protein, Organic Cacao Powder, Organic Crispy Brown Rice (Organic Brown Rice, Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Sea Salt), Organic Puffed Brown Rice, Organic Coconut Sugar, Organic Sprouted Flax, Organic Natural Flavor, Organic Cinnamon.
Taste: The Protein Purity bar was chewy and moist, reminding me of the coconut + sunflower butter flavor with its texture. While this bar was still better than many other granola and protein bars that I have tried, it felt underwhelming in comparison to other GoMacro bars. The hint of coconut was nice, but the lack of chocolate chips or something else solid in this bar is apparent.
Ingredient Analysis
Summary: Organic Brown Rice Syrup is the magic ingredient of these bars. This syrup binds the bar together so it acts as an emulsifier and it also sweetens the bar. In one sentence, these bars are a bunch of organic ingredients bound together in a rectangle by organic brown rice syrup. Due to this, I do not recommend this bar for low-carbohydrate diets as this syrup contains glucose and therefore increases your glycemic index.
Organic Brown Rice Syrup
GoMacro has this page on this syrup which states that this sweetener is a glucose sweetener. In my opinion this puts GoMacro bars in the middle of the graph between a candy bar and a nutrition bar. While the source of their glucose if from organically grown brown rice, this does not change the fact that glucose itself has little nutritional value at the cost of higher amount of calories. The effect of this is demonstrated on their nutrition label.
Organic Sprouted Brown Rice Protein
A study shows that sprouted brown rice protein is a complete protein and is effective in rebuilding muscle. Note that sprouted brown rice protein is not as high in amino acids per gram as whey protein, and contains low lysine. That said, the study shows that it is more effective than soy protein.
Organic Pea Protein
Pea protein is a complete protein which is effective in building muscle. Pea protein falls into the same issues with amino acids as brown rice protein, in that, while it has lysine, it contains low amounts of it.
Parting Thoughts
I would recommend GoMacro bars to those who are physically active. This is a great snack to eat some time before you go to the gym or to bring with you on a hike. That said, I would personally not eat this bar if I was not exercising that day as it has far too many calories given its size.
I appreciate companies like GoMacro that have sustainable efforts of healthy eating, and I hope to see more positivity in the food industry in the future. Though, given the recent avocado oil scam, I think we still have ways to go.