Are Muscle Pharm Combat Crunch Bars Keto Friendly?

At the time of writing this post I’ve been on the ketogenic diet for over five years and logged over 250 blood ketone tests in an effort to estimate the effects of food and ingredients on my ketosis, including those in Muscle Pharm Combat Crunch bars.

I think keto dieters naturally gravitate towards protein bars like Muscle Pharm's looking for a convenient sweet treat that won’t kick them out of ketosis, but are protein bars the right place to look? In this post, I'll evaluate Muscle Pharm Combat Crunch bars, give them keto friendly grades, and see how they stack up against other low carb treats!

Savage Fuel Keto Friendly Grades:

• A: Completely compatible, positive or no impact on ketosis.

• B: Highly compatible, but don't go too crazy.

• C: Moderately compatible, be mindful and limit intelligently.

• D: Barely compatible, detrimental to ketosis and not recommended.

• F: Not compatible, overdo it just a little and kiss your ketosis goodbye.

Keto Friendly Grading Factors:

• Net Carbs per Serving: How many carbs are in this thing?

• Net Carbs per 100 calories: Since serving sizes often vary significantly, a net carb per 100 calorie ratio is a more consistent measure of keto-friendliness than net carbs per serving. Lower ratios are also an indicator of higher fat content because fat has more calories per gram than protein and carbohydrates.

• Sugar: Sugars have a higher glycemic index and larger negative impact on ketosis than other carbohydrates.

• Hidden Carbs: Hidden carbohydrates are based on the caloric values and glycemic indexes of ingredients sometimes classified as fibers or sugar alcohols.

• Easy to Overeat: Some foods are easy to over-eat and require extra willpower to limit overeating which is an important factor to consider.

• Nutritional Density: Foods that are relatively high in net carbs per 100 calories but are high in nutrition per calorie can still be worth eating like broccoli and cauliflower.

RULE of thumb for net carbs per 100 calorie ratio:
0-1 great, 1-2 ok, 2-3 caution, 3+ red alert

Muscle Pharm Combat Crunch Protein Bars Keto Friendly Grades:

Overall factors: Muscle Pharm Combat Crunch protein bars use Maltitol and Isomalto-Oligosaccharides, both of which have a glycemic index that is more than half of table sugar. Because of this I'm counting 50% of the Maltitol and IMOs as net carbs since that is the approximate effect they have on your blood sugar. This is reflected in the net carb counts and grades below. These bars are also low nutritional density and easy to overeat.

Nutrition facts are here, the last image in the list.

• Cinnamon Twist: F-
  17.5g Net carbs per 230 calorie 63g bar
  7.6g Net carbs per 100 calories (Red++++)
  7g Sugar
  

• White Chocolate Raspberry: F-
  19g Net carbs per 230 calorie 63g bar
  8.3g Net carbs per 100 calories (Red+++++)
  7g Sugar
  

• Cookies n' Cream: F-
  18g Net carbs per 230 calorie 63g bar
  7.8g Net carbs per 100 calories (Red++++)
  6g Sugar

• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough: F-
  18g Net carbs per 230 calorie 63g bar
  7.8g Net carbs per 100 calories (Red++++)
  6g Sugar
  

• Birthday Cake: F-
  20g Net carbs per 230 calorie 63g bar
  8.7g Net carbs per 100 calories (Red+++++)
  7g Sugar

• Chocolate Cake: F-
  18g Net carbs per 220 calorie 63g bar
  8.2g Net carbs per 100 calories (Red+++++)
  6g Sugar
  

• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup: F-
  18g Net carbs per 230 calorie 63g bar
  7.8g Net carbs per 100 calories (Red++++)
  6g Sugar

Muscle Pharm Combat Crunch Bars Keto Friendly Conclusion:

Muscle Pharm Combat Crunch protein bars are getting chucked in the ever-growing pile of keto unfriendly protein bars. They use IMO's and Maltitol, but even without those terrible ingredients, these bars have way too many carbs to be keto friendly.

Let's compare these Muscle Pharm Combat Crunch protein bars to some real keto friendly sweet treats:

Muscle Pharm Combat Crunch Bars vs ChocoPerfection and Keto Bars

As you can see, when comparing Muscle Pharm Combat Crunch protein bars to the best keto-friendly treats out there by net carbs per 100 calories, which is the most consistent indicator of keto friendliness, they're not even close. If you’re looking for a meal-replacement or snack bar, I’d recommend Keto Bars. If you’re looking for an ultra-low carb sweet treat, I recommend ChocoPerfection chocolate.

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