Your Guide to Protein Snacks That Actually Make You Feel Good

Protein snacks, powders and bars that look healthy but leave you bloated, tired, and inflamed—plus the whole food swaps to choose instead.

Welcome to the final part of our Wellness Guide series, where we’ve been cutting through the wellness noise and breaking down “better-for-you” products that aren’t always what they claim to be.

If you missed the last ones, check them out here:

Your Guide to Spotting Fake “Healthy” Foods

Your Guide to Clean Dairy (and Dairy-Free) Swaps

Your Guide to Sneaky "Healthy" Condiments & Dressings

Your Guide to Fake 'Healthy' Snacks—and What to Choose Instead

---

Quick Reminder - Skip the flashy labels. Real food doesn’t need a marketing team.

🛒 Stick to the perimeter of the grocery store where you’ll find simple, nutrient-dense staples like eggs, sweet potatoes, leafy greens, berries, chicken, nuts, and seeds.

📦 Buying something packaged? Flip it over. If you wouldn’t cook with the ingredients listed — or can’t pronounce them don’t put it in your body.

✨ Rule of thumb: The louder the health claims ("low carb!" "high protein!" "all natural!" "keto-friendly!"), the more skeptical you should be.

Eat what’s grown, not engineered.
Ingredients > inventions.

If it comes from the earth, you're good to go.
If it’s made in a lab, leave it on the shelf.

---

💪 Let’s Talk Protein Snacks

This week, we’re tackling protein snacks, powders, and bars — categories that scream health and promise a host of benefits but often contain lab-made ingredients, inflammatory oils, artificial sweeteners, and synthetic additives.

If you’ve ever wondered why you’re hitting your protein goals but still don’t feel great, this guide is for you.

Reaching your protein target through real, whole foods feels very different than hitting that same number with processed protein products that are likely making you feel worse.

🧬 Why Protein Matters

Protein is made up of amino acids — the building blocks of your body. It’s essential for energy, structure, and repair. Your body needs protein for key functions like:

• Building bones, muscles, skin, and hair

• Repairing tissue

• Carrying oxygen through your blood

• Aiding digestion via enzyme production

• Regulating hormones

• Reducing muscle loss

• Supporting recovery

• Building lean muscle

• Keeping you fuller, longer

✅ But Here’s the Key: Quality Matters

Not all protein is created equal. Aim to get yours from real, whole food sources like:

• Organic, pasture-raised eggs

• Organic chicken breast

• Organic, grass-fed dairy (if tolerated) — like plain yogurt or cottage cheese

• Organic, grass-fed beef

• Wild-caught fish

• Organic lentils

• Organic quinoa

• Nuts and seeds

I personally try to avoid protein powders and bars and opt to get my protein from real, whole food sources most of the time. At the end of the day, no matter how you spin it, protein bars, powders, and snacks are still processed foods.

That said, some are definitely less processed and more whole-food-based than others.

In this guide, we’re cutting through the noise of one of the hottest (and most saturated) categories in wellness — helping you spot the truly better-for-you options and avoid the sneaky products that leave you feeling worse, not better.

---

🚨 What to Watch Out For

🥩 Jerky – The Real Protein Bar (IMO)

Jerky is an awesome, whole-food source of protein when it’s high quality. But…

⚠️ Watch out for:

• Added sugars (brown sugar, cane sugar, agave nectar, high-fructose corn syrup, molasses, evaporated cane juice) → spike blood sugar, increase inflammation and leads to metabolic dysfunction

• Artificial flavorings and additives → Many additives in ultra-processed foods are linked to gut issues, ADHD, obesity, and even cancer. Artificial colorants, preservatives, emulsifiers, and sweeteners may harm mental and metabolic health

• Low-quality meat → Industrial grain-fed meat contains hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides, and has an unhealthy fat profile—higher in inflammatory omega-6s and lower in anti-inflammatory omega-3s

  ✅ Choose organic, grass-fed jerky with minimal ingredients—no added sugar, artificial flavorings, or additives.

🧃 Protein Powder – Sneaky Ingredient Central

Protein powders are masters of front-of-package marketing.

“High protein,” “no sugar,” “tastes like a milkshake” sounds great—until you flip the bottle and find a list of questionable ingredients that can seriously derail your health goals.

⚠️ Red flags to watch out for:

• Gums & emulsifiers (xanthan gum, guar gum, cellulose gum, carrageenan, arabic gum) → can irritate the gut and cause bloating, gas and digestive issues

• Artificial sweeteners (sucralose, acesulfame potassium, aspartame, sucralose) → linked to gut microbiome disruption, increased cravings and metabolic dysfunction

• “Natural flavors” → Natural flavors are highly processed and can include over 100 hidden chemicals

• Sugar alcohols (erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol) → may cause bloating, gas, or even affect blood clotting in excess putting you at higher risk for heart attack or stroke

• Filler fibers (inulin, dextrins, polydextrose) → overly processed, can cause GI distress

• Refined oils & emulsifiers (sunflower lecithin, high oleic sunflower oil) → often oxidized, inflammatory, and disrupt cellular health

---

🍫 Protein Bars – Often Candy in Disguise

Don’t let “high protein” fool you — many bars are ultra-processed.

⚠️ Common offenders:

• Sugar alcohols & synthetic fibers (maltitol, erythritol, glycerin, oligofructose) → may cause digestive symptoms like gas, bloating, or a laxative effect in some individuals, especially when consumed in large amounts

• Refined industrial oils (sunflower oil, palm kernel oil) → often used in processed foods; certain types are high in omega-6 fats or saturated fats and, when consumed in excess may contribute to inflammation

• Artificial additives & flavorings (sucralose, “natural” flavors, cellulose gels) → used to enhance taste, sweetness, or texture; some may affect gut microbiome or appetite regulation in certain individuals, and contribute to the hyper-palatability of processed foods, which can drive cravings

✅ LFG tip: If the ingredient list is longer than a few words and includes things you wouldn’t cook with, skip it. Choose bars made with real ingredients like nuts, seeds, dates, and minimally processed protein sources.

🥩 JERKY

1. Archer Grass-Fed Beef Jerky - This one almost checks all the boxes! It’s grass-fed, which we love, and it advertises 9 grams of protein on the front. But when we flip it over, we find brown sugar, sugar, molasses, and evaporated cane sugar. Woah… suddenly, 9 grams of protein doesn’t sound so great when it comes with a side of four types of sugar!

2. Country Archer 100% Natural Turkey Jerky - This isn’t organic and is full of sugar!

3. Trader Joes Natural Jerky - The turkey isn’t organic, and they add sugar to all their jerky — even the organic beef jerky!

4. Whole Foods Grass-Fed Beef Jerky - From Whole Foods, grass-fed, 11 grams of protein — how could this be bad? Well, when you flip it over, you’ll see it’s full of sugar.

These are just a few examples from very popular brands. The important point to note is that many brands add sugar to their jerky.

The two biggest things to check for are added sugar and whether it’s organic (we don’t want added hormones and antibiotics in our healthy protein snack!).

So what jerky should we buy?

1. Chomps Variety Pack - Grass-fed. No added sugar—ever. Just clean, real, whole food protein!

2. Epic Bison Bacon Cranberry Bars - These are my personal favorite — they are delicious. Epic is an amazing brand: incredibly clean, grass-fed, with no unnecessary added ingredients.

3. Paleovalley 100% Grass Fed Beef Sticks - All clean whole food and 100% grass-fed.

4. The New Primal Grass Fed Beef Sticks - Super clean, delicious and LFG approved!

🥤 PROTEIN POWDER

1. Orgain Organic Protein Powder - The ingredients in this product that are not whole foods include organic acacia gum, organic high oleic sunflower oil, organic inulin, organic rice dextrins, organic erythritol, organic natural flavors, natural flavor, organic guar gum, organic stevia, and xanthan gum. These are all processed or refined substances added for specific purposes like flavoring, thickening, or sweetening. Just because the label says "organic" doesn’t mean it’s made with whole, unprocessed ingredients—we can’t stop at the organic label on the front!

2. Core Power High Protein Milk Shake - Packing in 26g of protein per serving doesn’t mean much when it comes with a side of natural flavors, carrageenan, cellulose gel, cellulose gum, acesulfame, and sucralose.

3. Quest Nutrition Vanilla Milkshake Protein Powder - Advertising 24g of protein, 1g of sugar, low carb, and gluten-free, but it also comes with a serving of natural flavors, sunflower lecithin, xanthan gum, cellulose gum, sterol glycosides, and sucralose.

4. KOS Vanilla, Organic, Plant-Based Protein - Marketed as organic, high-protein, and 'nature-powered,' but it also contains ingredients like organic acacia gum, a digestive enzyme blend (amylases, lactase, proteases, lipase, cellulase), chia seed, KOS vitamins, DL-alpha tocopherol, and a synthetic mineral blend including manganese amino acid chelate, potassium iodide, zinc oxide, selenium amino acid chelate, molybdenum amino acid chelate, copper oxide, riboflavin, niacinamide, phylloquinone, chromium picolinate, folic acid, and cyanocobalamin.