LARABAR Bar Review

This LARABAR bar review will provide you with whether they are healthy, nutritious and good for you. Oh, and the best places to find them too.

Are LARABARS Healthy?

Each LARABAR is made with a short ingredient list. Just fruits, nuts and spices. The brand also claims that the larbars have no gluten, dairy, soy and not made with any GMOs. So, are LARABARS healthy? Yes, they certainly are.

They are not meant to be used as a meal replacement because they lack a lot of vitamins and minerals your body needs. But LARABARS are a perfect on-the-go snack which is exactly why we wanted to write this larabar bar review. We don’t do a lot of them, but this one was worth it.

Are LARABARS Good For You?

I really can’t say enough great and fabulous things about the LARABAR. I really, really wish I had been smart enough to invent these!

The LARABAR is truly a brilliant in concept. Each bar is made with “whole food” ingredients such as nuts and dried fruit and seasoned perfectly with spices. No need to add globs of oil and syrup. Instead, LARABAR is concentrated vegan “whole foods” nutrition in its purest form.

Each LARABAR flavor contains no more than eight ingredients. Pure and simple, just as nature intended.

For example, the ingredients in the “Apple Pie” LARABAR include: dates, almonds unsweetened apples, walnuts, raisins and cinnamon. That’s it! Stay tuned for larabar nutrition facts just ahead. But first, do you have lots of flavors?

LARABAR Flavors + Convenience

From Ginger Snap to Peanut Butter Cookie or Chocolate Coconut to Key Lime Pie … there are many LARABAR flavors to suit all palates. I travel a lot and I’m always on the go so I keep a LARABAR in my purse at all times. They make a super convenient afternoon snack and also a perfect for a pre- or post-workout snack.

You can’t say eating a healthy whole foods diet can get any easier … or any more convenient than opening up a wrapper!

LARABAR Flavors

LARABAR has done a bang-up job adding new flavors to their incredible offering. As much as you would like us to list all of them, we’re going to stick to the LARABAR flavors that we love the best. This will help you narrow down some first time choices!

• Apple Pie – buy here
• Blueberry Muffin – buy here
• Carrot Cake – buy here
• Cherry Pie – buy here
• Cinnamon Roll – buy here
• Coconut Cream Pie – buy here
• Key Lime Pie – buy here
• Lemon Bar – buy here
• Mint Chip Brownie – buy here

You can find a full listing of LARABAR flavors right on their website here.

Larabar Fruit & Nut Bars

These flavors of Larabar for the purposes of this Larabar Bar Review are seperated to show the most “nutty” flavor in these options. Think cashew, hazelnut, peanut butter and pecan.

• Banana Bread Bar – buy here
• Cashew Cookie Bar – buy here
• Chocolate Coconut Chew – buy here
• Chocolate Hazelnut Swirl – buy here
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bar – buy here
• Peanut Butter Cookie Bar – buy here
• Pecan Pie Bar – buy here
• Peanut Butter & Jelly Bar – buy here

Larabar Fruits & Greens Bars

LARABAR now makes a Larabar Fruits + Greens, which packs 1/4 cup of greens with the fruit in each bar and Larabar Protein which adds 11 grams of plant-based protein to your diet.

• Strawberry Spinach Cashew Bar – buy here
• Pineapple Kale Cashew Bar – buy here

Larabar Protein Bars

• Almond Butter Chocolate Brownie Protein Bar – buy here
• Apple Cobber Protein Bar – buy here
• Lemon Blueberry Muffin Protein Bar – buy here

Where do I find Larabar ?

You can find LARABAR at Whole Foods and many other grocery stores but by far the least expensive outlet we have discovered thus far is Vitacost.com. Vitacost is a great on-line source for many health oriented products.  Just search for “Larabar” when you get to the home page and you’ll see every flavor represented. 

You can also find LARABAR in most Targets. Once in awhile you’ll luck out on a buy 3 for $15 deal and be able to stock up for relatively cheap.

LARABAR Bar Nutrition Facts

We’re going to talk about LARABAR nutrition in this larbar bar review. But first – let’s tackle what else is found on the market. There is definitely a convenience value to energy bars and snack bars. But, to be honest there really aren’t very many on the market that I would recommend, much less eat myself!

So many packaged energy bars, even the ones that go out of their way to advertise themselves as being “All Natural” or “Organic”. They are loaded with processed empty calorie ingredients. Sure the ingredients might be “All Natural” and “Organic”, but that doesn’t make them nutrient-rich, healthy and anti-inflammatory.

Do Not Rely on Marketing Claims

You can not rely on marketing claims to tell you whether a food is healthy or not. Even the Nutrition Facts found on packages are highly misleading! Instead, to determine whether a packaged food is healthy or not you have to read the ingredients list.

If you take the time to read the ingredients on the majority of snack bars crowding the supermarket and health food store shelves you’ll be disappointed. The vast majority include some sort of pro-inflammatory, empty-calorie and highly refined vegetable oil, added sugars, syrups and coloring.

Such as: soybean oil, cottonseed oil, evaporated cane juice, organic oat syrup solids, highly processed soy in the form of soy protein isolate, and so forth.

In other words, most snack bars are basically candy bars dressed up in a healthy looking package. Not good if you want to “eat clean.” Which brings us to one truly healthy snack bar that’s anything but a healthy disguise…

I won’t name names, but compare the short and sweet list of “whole food” ingredients in the LARABAR to the lengthy list of ingredients in one of the leading makers of all-natural and organic energy and nutrition foods below. To make it easy for you I’ve highlighted in PURPLE the list of unhealthy empty-calorie or highly processed ingredients in the leading snack bar below. What’s most concerning is that the very first ingredient is not healthy (ingredients are listed from greatest to least amount).

FYI: Not So Healthy Energy Bar Ingredients

Soy Rice Crisp [Soy Protein Isolate, Organic Rice Flour, Calcium Carbonate], Organic Toasted Oats [Organic Oats, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice], Organic Soy Flour, Organic Flaxmeal), Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Organic Almonds, Organic Cranberries (Organic Cranberries, Organic Apple Juice), Almonds and Almond Butter, Inulin (Chicory Extract), Red Berries Extract (Derived From Elderberry, Chokeberry, Black Currant), Vegetable Glycerin, Organic Oat Syrup Solids, Dried Blueberries (Blueberries, Apple Juice Concentrate), Raspberry Juice Concentrate, Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Berry Flavors, Citric Acid, Unrefined Sea Salt, Natural Vitamin E (Antioxidant).

Enjoy our LARABAR bar review?

If you’re trying to add more clean products to your shelves, you must check out this 10 Healthy Products List. Of course, you can always make our homemade clean snacks too.