For years, I was in Camp Not Completely Opposed to artificial sweeteners.  I didn’t love them but when people said “They give lab rats cancer”, I would often reply  “Yeah, but they also injected them with like 800 times more than you’d consume as a normal human being.” Diet Coke was my parents’ drink of choice when I was growing up (side note: I hated it).  Aside from making my beloved orange soda taste like battery acid, I didn’t see anything terribly harmful in artificial sweeteners when consumed in moderation.  They lowered the calorie count on some of my favorite foods.  What’s not to love?

About a year ago, I started experiencing weird side effects from certain foods.  I’d drink a diet soda and feel wobbly, or have a protein bar and get a headache six ibuprofen couldn’t fend off.   But the safety of those chemicals is so embedded in me that even now it still sounds silly to admit that the source of my problems seemed to be artificial sweeteners.  Scary.

Before I started eating fish (occasionally), I was a strict vegetarian for four years.  Vegetarians in America are constantly barraged with the message that they aren’t getting “enough” protein.  This is a cultural thing.  But I also don’t eat many soy products (like Boca burgers) and I avoid regular dairy, so I must admit to being mildly concerned about my protein intake.  I found that aside from a few more natural options, many protein bars were loaded with sugar and food chemicals.  Low-sugar or sugar-free bars were also loaded with chemicals and gave me migraines.  So I stopped eating them altogether.

So after my excellent experience with their Crispy Cat Mint Coconut Bar, I was stoked to hear about NuGo’s new Slim bar.  It is gluten free and has 15g of protein and 9g of fiber with only 2g of sugar and no artificial sweeteners.  The bar is also dipped in real dark chocolate, which beats the pants off of the mockolate dip often given to protein bars.  My boyfriend picked up a NuGo Slim Roasted Peanut bar for me at Natural Products Expo East because they aren’t yet available for me locally and he is a wonderful man.

When I opened the package, I found an unassuming, average looking bar, and no scent accompanied its presence.  Breaking it in half still yielded nothing and it wasn’t until I held it directly to my nose that I got even a hint of anything, which was just a very light cocoa essence with a slight peanut note.   The bar has a good bite, delivering an unexpected crunch, which I liked.  The actual bar without chocolate tasted like soy and whey protein with chunks of peanut, which is exactly what it was.  While whey protein is a milk product, whey protein isolate has been processed to remove the fat and lactose.  The dark chocolate really is a nice touch on this very lightly sweetened bar.  And there was no funky aftertaste that usually accompanies things containing artificial sweetener.

I really liked this bar.  It was light and crunchy and perfect for my needs.  And best of all: no headache!  I’d really like to try the other varieties and I was super sad when I finished it and knew I had no more of them at hand.  They aren’t available in many places yet, but you can order them online.

Disclaimer:  The Candy Fan received this product free of charge from the manufacturer or distributor.  Products are supplied for review on the understanding that the manufacturer/distributor has no right to influence the final conclusions or ratings.