David protein bars are seemingly everywhere in the US: from big box stores to Instagram ads to influencer promos. The company is founded by the founders of RXBAR, and promoted by health influencers like Andrew Huberman.
But are David protein bars healthy? Do they contain any questionable additives? Does the high protein content make them healthier than regular protein bars? And is David better or worse than popular protein bars like Pure Protein Bars?
In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in David protein bars to give our take on whether or not they're healthy.
We'll also explain why the relatively high protein content doesn't matter that much, and compare David bar to other popular protein bars, in terms of healthiness, to pick our winners (and losers).
Key takeaways:
- Contains artificial flavor
- Contains artificial sweeteners
- We do not consider David protein bars to be healthy
Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavor of David bar are shown below:
image source: https://davidprotein.com/
EPG, short for esterified propoxylated glycerol, is a synthetic food ingredient which is indigestible and can cause oily stools and abdominal discomfort.
Artificial flavor can cause oxidative stress on the body and have a negative impact on lung function, according to a medical review published in the Medicina journal.
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener which is clinically shown to have negative impacts on insulin function, as we documented in our review of Isopure protein.
Acesulfame potassium is another artificial sweetener which was shown to have negative impacts to the microbiome in a 2017 animal study.
Natural flavor and salt are other ingredients we consider (mildly) suboptimal -- "natural flavor" fails to define the specific flavoring compounds used, and sea salt is clinically shown to be more favorable to blood pressure than table salt.
We do not consider David bar to be healthy due to the ingredients highlighted above.
Does Higher Protein Content Mean Healthier?
It's become common in marketing for health products to suggest that higher protein content necessarily means a healthier product.
The David bar website includes this graph:
image source: https://davidprotein.com/
The suggestion is that David bar is superior because it contains more calories from protein as a percentage of total calories.
However, from a health perspective, the main issue with the American diet is that too high of a percentage of calories is from "processed" food like David bar.
A population study published in the Public Health Nutrition journal suggests that replacing processed food with minimally-processed food would improve American diet quality.
We disagree with the suggestion that more protein content means a better product. The primary health issues faced by the vast majority of Americans is obesity and metabolic syndrome, not lack of protein intake.
David Bar vs. Popular Protein Bars
Here's how David bar compares to other popular protein bars in terms of healthiness, in our opinion:
Quest Bar
Contains a sugar alcohol which is clinically shown to be associated with significantly increased stroke risk in some individuals.
We consider David bar to be the safer and healthier option.
Winner: David bar
Pure Protein Bars
Pure Protein Bars contain ingredients we consider unhealthy.
However, as documented in the above-linked review, they're free of artificial flavor and acesulfame potassium.
Thus, we consider Pure Protein Bars to be healthier than David bar.
Winner: Pure Protein Bars
BUILT Protein
Contains artificial flavors but is free from artificial sweeteners.
We consider BUILT to be the healthier option.
Winner: BUILT Protein
