Food Fight: Bonk Breaker vs. Picky Bars
Gluten-free is all the rage right now, especially in endurance athlete circles. Whether a person has been diagnosed with Celiac disease or simply believes that gluten is inflammatory to their system, a wide variety of products have been made available to help fuel gluten-free runners and cyclists. Today, I put two such products to the test in a Food Fight, a head-to-head competition comparing taste, texture, nutrition and ingredients. Here’s what went down in the great battle of Bonk Breakers vs. Picky Bars!
Taste
Bonk Breaker: This brand prides itself on its freshness, as they should. Every bar I sampled really did taste like something you would have made at home. Bonk Breaker offers 10 flavors to accommodate different palates, which is nice when you’re in high-volume training and sick of eating the same thing all the time. My favorites in this test were Almond Cherry Chunk, Blueberry Oat and Apple Pie.
Picky Bars: Though Picky Bars offers fewer flavor selections than Bonk Breakers, they’ve really dialed in the taste of the four they do create. Seriously, try their Smooth Caffeinator flavor, which combines espresso and hazelnut. It is so freakin’ good.
The Winner: Bonk Breaker. On more than one occasion, I found myself craving their Almond Cherry Chunk with a cup of coffee.
Texture
Bonk Breaker: Bonk Breakers are different than most energy bars, with lots of density and textural contrast. The Peanut Butter & Jelly, for example, had a ribbon of jelly running through the bar. The bars are very moist and use a lot of home-cookin’ ingredients, like oats (gluten free, of course!). However, that also means they’re incredibly dense and take a lot to digest.
Picky Bars: Smaller than your average nutrition bar (Picky Bars actually fit in the palm of my hand!), many of the ingredients are finely chopped and blended together. I found these really easy to chew and digest on a long bike ride.
The Winner: Picky Bars, for packing a solid amount of nutrition into an easy-to-digest format. Though the texture of Bonk Breakers was unique, they were also way too heavy. I’d eat them as part of my breakfast, but certainly not before or during a workout/race.
Nutritional Facts
Bonk Breaker: Ranging from 220 to 257 calories per bar, Bonk Breakers provide a good amount of calories for a workout. Two of their flavors, Peanut Butter & Jelly and Almond Cherry Chunk, also boast a “high protein” count, with 15 grams of protein per bar. There is also a conscious effort to incorporate ingredients containing omega-3 fatty acids, including flaxseed, coconut oil and chia.
Picky Bars: All Picky Bars are 200 calories or less and always have a consistent 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio, making for optimal absorption in feeding your tired muscles. I really like that the Picky Bars website lays out the rationale behind each ingredient and how it ties in to athletic performance, too.
The Winner: Picky Bars. Both have solid nutrition contents, but Picky Bars is really dedicated to what they call “freakin’ science, dude” to make their bars the best they can be for each athlete.
Ingredient List
Bonk Breaker: If you’re avoiding dairy or soy in addition to gluten, then Bonk Breakers would be a good match for you. What bothers me about this is that the first ingredient listed on the label is Rice Nectar, a sweetener. I get that we like the sweet stuff, but does it really need to be so prominent in the ingredients?
Picky Bars: The first ingredient on Picky Bars’ list? Organic Dates—a food I often eat before a workout because it’s so easy to digest! Dates, too, are very sweet, but offer more nutrition than rice nectar. I really love the emphasis Picky Bars places upon using organic, local ingredients. Whenever they can, they use foods that are geographically nearby, which I think is really cool. Dairy-free Picky Bars do contain small amounts (less than 1 percent) of non-GMO soy lechithin.
The Winner: Picky Bars, for its commitment to making sure its ingredients don’t wreak havoc on your belly and on the environment.
And the Food Fight Champion is…
Picky Bars! Though both are great gluten-free energy bars, Picky Bars is more likely to meet the needs of the athlete. They’re great for all situations, from snacking in between meals to fueling long hours on the bike.
Do you agree with this decision? What is most important to you when choosing an energy bar? —Susan